CC4G clubs sponsorship

An economically and socially damaging fact is fewer young women are entering the UK’s IT workforce – currently females represent just 17% of the 1.2 million individuals designing, building and running the systems on which all organisations depend.

And the future IT workforce gender balance is worrying too, with only 9% of A level computing candidates, and 15% of applicants to computing degrees being female.

Our research proves the cause. Girls as young as 8 are simply turning away from IT because they consider it unappealing and geeky. They are unimpressed with what they see as a ‘boy-topic’. This is a critical problem. Young women are missing out on exciting and rewarding careers, and organisations are missing out on half the talent pool.

The above is true except for the 135,000 young girls who have taken part in CC4G to date! These are after-school clubs where girls use leading-edge technology in a colourful, purpose built, girl-friendly online environment designed by Aardman, creators of Wallace & Gromit. The topics and challenges are fun, engaging and lively, and the girls gain skills and confidence, and come to see that technology is exciting, inspiring and, most importantly, cool.

The clubs have been running since 2005, and 84% of girls undertaking CC4G state they are more likely to consider further education or a career in technology as a result. 98% of teachers who run the clubs say that members’ IT confidence levels have improved. This is great news for young women, the gender imbalance issue, employers and the economy.

In today’s economic climate nothing could be more important than giving young people the resources to have bright futures – and now more than ever, that means IT. 90% of all new jobs require good IT skills these days, and every year 110,000 new people are recruited into IT specialist careers. In fact employment in the IT Industry is growing five times more than the UK average. For UK businesses to win globally, we need a hugely talented and high volume future workforce pipeline, so our challenge is to get hundreds of thousands more girls into IT.

But of course there is a cost to schools to run a club, and with budgets so hard pressed many struggle to find these funds from their own resources. That is why we are searching for organisations to sponsor a school, or several schools, get a club up and running, and extend the benefits of CC4G to a generation of young girls.

The cost of a single club per annum in one school is just £500. For that we will recruit a school on your behalf and provide them with access to all the online facilities and support to get a club up and running for a year. Whether you sponsor one school or dozens, we’ll make sure your name receives the appropriate publicity – and if you want to get more involved, there may be opportunities to work more closely with the school. Who knows, these young girls may be your future employees and customers.

We believe this is a small price to pay for the long-term benefits that result, and a potentially great return on investment for any organisation wishing to be associated with such a proven and worthwhile cause.

"One of our goals is to ensure that as many people as possible have the key skills to take advantage of modern technology.  This excellent initiative will help to encourage girls to take a greater interest in computers and internet technology and perhaps consider it as a career choice."
Ronan Miles, BT

"Some of the most rewarding careers are in IT, because it involves creativity and innovation. Technology is very much at the forefront of business success nowadays, not at all the ‘geeky’ back-office stereotype that the industry has developed throughout the years. We are delighted to be sponsoring CC4G and are committed to supporting and encouraging more ladies to get into IT through initiatives like this."
Sheila Flavell, FDM Chief Operating Officer

"There are few careers more relevant, creative, varied and rewarding than IT – it touches everything – and Britain is good at it! We need to find the best talent and what makes that doubly difficult is not enough girls are exploring IT as a potential career. CC4G is a practical, fun, safe way for them to get them involved"
Craig Wilson, HP Enterprise Services, Managing Director and VP, UK and Ireland

"Helping girls to understand that technology can lead to an exciting course or career is incredibly important. It’s important for these girls’ own hopes and dreams; for the industry to improve its gender balance and for the UK as a whole to make the most of our talented young women. And so I am delighted to sponsor CC4G at Phoenix High School, which is local to both where I live and work."
Tiffany Hall

"We at Quicksilva know how important it is to get girls excited about technology, whether for future studies or careers. They have the potential to make a real impact on the industry by bringing their creativity, energy and passion. The more of them that choose to enter IT in the UK, the greater our pool of talent and the stronger the industry will become. That’s why we’re thrilled to sponsor CC4G at The Corsham School and help to inspire this generation of girls about careers in technology."
Gayna Hart, MD Quicksilva

"Having witnessed firsthand the impact of the clubs last year, and level of interest shown by the girls that participated we were keen to get involved for a second year. I am confident that the clubs will do much to encourage more female students to at least be more open to the idea of using ICT and to consider taking their interest further into their studies and future careers."
Eleanor Lee, Marketing Director, Northgate Managed Services