TechResort began with us imagining that we were going to teach kids to code – it’s all the rage at the moment. But we think that’s missing a trick. Some teens want to program, but others want to make stuff, dabble in electronics and more besides. So we’re not going to restrict ourselves to one thing.

We set up a limited company to get the ball rolling, but it’s not the best fit for what we’re doing. We actually need to be a Community Interest Company and are doing the paperwork now. Briefly, this means we’re working for the public good rather than to make money for directors or shareholders.

Our first six months…

We’ve started our first project already. Adam and I are working with an extremely talented 15 year old from Cavendish School on a very exciting product – watch this space for details.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be reaching out to existing digital and creative projects around Eastbourne to see if we can work together. We’re very happy to promote other people’s projects as it helps us tell a story about how great Eastbourne is. If you’re working on something in Eastbourne or the surrounding area that’s tech flavoured, please do get in touch.

In the new year we hope to start fortnightly coding clubs for local students. If you’d like to join in, or help mentor our talented teens then let us know.

We also need to do more homework. As in properly funded research into the needs of local and national creative firms, and then compare that with what our local schools and colleges are teaching. We’ve got a pretty good idea of what’s happening already, but some hard evidence will help.

After that…

We hope to look at all aspects of making Eastbourne a more creative town. That includes mentoring students, training teachers, helping businesses relocate here, providing expertise (and funding even!) for start up firms.

There’s a lot to do, but we’re over the start line at least. If you’d like to work with us we’d love to hear from you.