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CoderDojo is a movement orientated around running free not-for-profit coding clubs which teach young people to learn how to write computer code, develop websites, apps, programs, games and more. 

CoderDojo Belfast was founded by Belfast Metropolitan College in April 2012 and makes development and coding fun and tries to make coding a sociable and rewarding experience which will hopefully encourage young people to pursue a career in ICT. 

On Saturday 4th June belts were awarded to those who have participated in CoderDojo Belfast over the past year. To date over 400 children aged 6-16 have been involved in CoderDojo Belfast with over 500 belts awarded to acknowledge the achievement of them learning new skills and assisting others in various technologies.  

Jonathan Heggarty, Director of Curriculum of Belfast Metropolitan College, said: “The College embarked on the CoderDojo as an initiative to promote and encourage software engineering from an early age. The initiative has been more successful than we could have imagined and this is down to the support from industry, volunteer staff from our own college and, of course, parents. We hope to develop the initiative further, helping create the programmers of tomorrow.”  

CoderDojo Belfast is supported by a number of local, national and international organisations such as Capita. Part of the support Capita provides, along with volunteer mentors, is the donation of equipment such as BeeBots which are used to develop the younger attendee’s knowledge of logic and procedures and expand into using Scratch – a drag and drop programming environment. 

CoderDojo champion, Peter Doherty, said: “Capita has supported the CoderDojo project and contributed greatly to our success, allowing us to expand our provision to an ever younger age. It is fantastic for both the college and the young coders to have the support of such an important world class industry leader and the week to week support of their volunteer mentors.” 

Ed Brown, Managing Director of Capita Managed IT Solutions said: “Capita are delighted to be sponsoring the CoderDojo initiative and awards.  The work of the CoderDojo team continues to enhance the skills of those students involved and promote ICT as a worthy career choice.”  Ed continued, “Capita would like to congratulate all the CoderDojo winners receiving belts today and wish Belfast Metropolitan College continued success with future CoderDojo programmes.”  

Further information on CoderDojo Belfast can be obtained from Peter Doherty, CoderDojo Belfast Champion and organizer by visiting www.coderdojobelfast.com or following us on twitter @CoderDojoBMC.