Coderdojo Galway volunteers have been teaching coding on Saturdays since Febuary 2013, helping to turn our Galway youth from digital users into digital creators. Some of the children we taught in the early days of the movement are now studying computer science and data science at third level.
I always get chuffed when some of those 'kids' of yesterday come up to you on campus or on the street to tell you that their interest or love of computer programming started at those Saturday morning sessions at NUI Galway.
Today coding thankfully has gone mainstream in many Irish primary and post primary schools and is now part of the national educational curriculum.
But we still find that there is a need for our Saturday morning volunteer training.
Photo shows my fellow Codordojo mentor colleague David with his own two boys who are part of the Scratch beginners class of 2021.
Ireland - A Nation of Volunteers
A 'Bualadh Bos'/big thank you to our Coderdojo champion Aksana Ch and to our mentors Justine, David, Zoltan, Mairead, Paul, Irina, Freha, Adrien, Conor and Cristina who give up valuable time and energy every weekend to upskill our Irish youth. Ireland has a strong tradition of volunteerism that many other countries do not possess and it is something that we should feel very proud off. Add up those that are involved as trainers, coaches, organisers in scouts, heritage, arts, culture, community, cycling/walking groups, conservation, environmental, charities, sports etc and you will find a large percentage of the Irish population are active and willing to help others.
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