‘Get your share of Xtra Fund’

Schools urged to sign up for cash from digital pot

Schools in West Lothian are being urged to sign up to a new fund to help boost their digital activities.

Formula 1, 3D printed drones, lighthouses and coding for social good are just some of the latest activities to receive support from Digital Xtra Fund, a charity dedicated to inspiring Scotland’s future digital workforce through highquality extracurricular digital activities.

S c h o o l s a c ro s s Scotland have received a sum of £ 50,000 which has been shared between 11 sustainable initiatives to introduce over 3,000 young people to digital technologies and show them the range of career opportunities these skills will provide.

Inveralmond Community High School is one of the new fast-paced projects to receive funding which will enable the school to become Scotland’s first F1 in Schools Centre for Excellence.

The scheme supports adrena l i n e - junkie pupils from secondary schools across Scotland who are keen to take part in the Schools Technology Challenge where they will design, construct, and race miniature Formula 1 cars powered by compre s s e d a i r, reaching speeds of up to 20 metres per second.

The aim of Digital Xtra Fund is for every young person in Scotland to have access to a digitally creative activity regardless of their gender, background, or where they live. The Fund is particularly keen to engage audiences underrepresented in the digital technologies industry, especially girls and young women, and looked to support initiatives that showed a healthy gender split and were delivered in areas often excluded from extracurricular digital activities through lack of local resources or facilities.

Kraig B r ow n , partnership and development manager for the Digital Xtra Fund, said: “The digital skills gap is well documented, and we believe the best way to tackle this gap is to engage young people through extracurricular activities, where they can be themselves in an informal and creative setting. Initiatives supported by the Fund will inspire them to be more than just digital consumers; they can be digital makers too.

“It’s been incredibly inspiring to see the quality and diversity of activities that organisations across the country have come up with. They are fun, engaging, and with the help of Digital Xtra Fund, they are more widely available than ever before. This is very encouraging for the future of digital technologies in Scotland.”

Now established as an independent charity, Digital Xtra Fund is seeking further support to give every young person in Scotland opportunity to get involved in extracurricular digital activities.

For more information visit www.digitalxtrafund. scot.