Social media for Young Rewired State

We run hack days. We take between 10 – 150 talented developers and give them money, time, space, caffeine, sugar and food, whilst they build cool/creative prototypes to solve problems. Young Rewired State is the philanthropic arm of Rewired State and is a network of developers aged 18 and under. Its primary focus is to find and foster the young children and teenagers who are driven to teaching themselves how to code, how to program the world around them. This is a mighty challenge though well-supported with free tutorials online, but inevitably an isolating and solitary activity. YRS works to seek out these people and mentor them primarily through a week long hack event in the Summer. This always runs in the first week of August. During that week businesses, small and large, around the country act as hosts to local young people, YRS alumni, Rewired State mentors and other volunteers. A challenge is set to build digital products: mobile and web, using at least one piece of open data. It is free for every child to enter, so long as they are aged 18 or under and have a rudimentary understanding of programming — although we do send out free resources in advance of the week for those who are unsure of their skills. At the end of the week everyone piles on coaches, trains and cars to the The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park where they will have a night of camp and code, pizza and camaraderie. On the Saturday afternoon, they will show what they have made to an audience of their peers, Press, government and industry. Prizes are awarded and lives are changed.