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The free of charge camp which was held at the Met’s state of the art Titanic Quarter Campus ran from August 1 to 5 and was aimed at helping young women aged 15 to 19 to develop their creative digital skills, learn how to make mobile phone apps and develop websites using HTML5 and CSS3. 

The girls also got the chance to meet, chat and learn from successful females in the IT and digital related disciplines. Among the guests at the camp were industry professional Siobhan Gallagher and Nuala Murphy who founded the Belfast Lean In Chapter which is aimed at helping women come together to support each other, reach their full potential and realise goals. 

Siobhan, also a member of Lean In Belfast, said: “It is so important to reach these females at this age to inspire them and show them that yes they can make it in a career such as IT that is male dominated. There is a huge demand for coders, developers, project managers and other roles in the industry – it is a very exciting time for students at the moment who are considering going into this field. We reckon there are around two million jobs world-wide that haven’t been filled. We need more women in this industry. Women have skills that all businesses need. Courses like this are fantastic for increasing confidence and teaching basic IT skills to young women who are considering a career in the industry.” 

Nuala added: "Young women need positive role models to help them achieve their goals and a make a change in both the IT industry and wider society and one of the best things about this camp is that it's about women helping other women, something we're really passionate about at Lean In Belfast." 

For more pictures of the Belfast IT Girls event visit - www.belfastitgirls.com