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We finished a few jobs that began in 2020:
- building an online gallery for an East Sussex County Council youth project
- helping EU citizens in our community apply for their EU Settled Status
- partnering with 100% Digital Leeds and Croydon Council to launch the Digital Inclusion Kit, a new home for digital inclusion advice on the internet
There’s a few projects we’re continuing with for as long as they’re needed:
- repurposing laptops to donate to people without them. This will continue to be an important role for us since there are so many people in our community who are digitally excluded and at risk of wider isolation from work, studies, support and friends and family. Thanks to Sussex Community Foundation for its vital funding
- working with East Sussex Library Service to support their code clubs either by running them ourselves, or by training staff and volunteers in some of the skills they need to run them
Also, we started a few new projects:
- helping Culture Shift run their holiday activities programme for children
- founding an after school club of tech activities for pupils of Cavendish and Stafford junior schools, paid for by left over funding from a UK Youth grant
- partnering with Citizens Advice 1066 in St Leonards to supply laptops and skills coaching to clients facing challenges with their financial capability
- delivering the second phase of the Digital Inclusion Toolkit where we focused on the content that local authorities really need to help with their inclusion projects
- developing online learning packages for a major UK institution
- working with the newly formed digital inclusion team at East Sussex County Council to help build their skills and capacity to ensure that citizens are able to access support and services with loaned devices and appropriate skills
- revamping this website as part of ongoing work to open source our resources and better explain why investing in digital skills is so important to the UK
The project closest to our collective heart was a pilot scheme, funded by the Blagrave Trust, to give young people access to work experience because much school-arranged work experience has had to be cancelled. Twenty students have participated so far, completing 270 hours of work experience in all the activities that TechResort does. We’re hoping to find grant funding to continue this programme next year.
Our new home in Devonshire
Our biggest undertaking of the year was the decision to find a new HQ closer to the centre of Eastbourne. It was no mean feat to find the right building. After several months, many visits to buildings and a lot of spreadsheet calculations, we found a perfect base in Cavendish Place. The last few weeks of the year have been super busy as we set up our new home and got everything ready.
Just a day or two before Christmas we got the fantastic news that we had been awarded grant funding by the Sussex Community Foundation which will help us start 2022 with a bang. We’ll be running creative and digital skills workshops, drop-ins and activities for the local community, all based at our new centre.
As the year draws to a close, everyone at TechResort is looking forward to meeting new people and renewing connections with old friends as we develop new workshops, events and services. Come and see us soon.
Please support us in 2022
TechResort relies on grant funding and donations from people like you. We receive no public money for our core activities. All profits are reinvested in our community, and many of us give time for free. Could you support us this year with a monthly donation? Thank you!