CodeYourFuture is not just any other coding school; we are a community with a mission to fight inequality. We support motivated individuals from the most disadvantaged groups – those who have limited access to training and opportunities and who are underrepresented in the tech sector.
It has never been more apparent how important it is to build pathways to opportunity for everyone in our society. Incredible teams of CodeYourFuture volunteers and partners help our students learn the technical and employability skills required for the modern workplace.
Today, we want to celebrate three years of hard work by students, volunteers and partners through the successes of our students and their stories. Their words tell you what’s possible.
Every student comes to us with their own unique story and struggles. We work with all of our students to remove the barriers they face and give them the opportunities to grow and thrive.
One such student was Madiha, who now works at Capgemini:
Madiha
Madiha says, “During my years off work, I lost most of my confidence: with the constant struggle of working too many jobs I didn’t like to pay the bills. I was wearing so many hats, working so many jobs. I came to the point where I was wondering when everything was going to stop… I just wanted to change my life, being on survival mode for a long time is really hard, I just had enough of that.”
CodeYourFuture is like a second family:
Abdoulrazack
Abdoulrazack says, “Attending CodeYourFuture was an opportunity to get the knowledge and the skills required for this field, more important than the lessons is the atmosphere and the feeling of belonging to a second family. I started to build friendships with classmates and mentors and leave behind the isolation. Going to the class was fun and I was enjoying talking to people and having fun, cooking and tasting different kinds of food and helping my classmates made me feel better.”
The community is a driver for learning
Mohammed
“It was different from college. Help was easy to find and people didn’t feel nervous about asking for it when it was needed… We were a community, we did social things together and this was very helpful as this is important for learning, in general. The mentors supported students and students supported each other.” says Mohammed
Support from their first steps until they get a job
Our greatest strength is the community and environment we create in our classes and across the entire CYF family. The CodeYourFuture community empowers students from the start of their journey and supports them until they get a job. Not just in their learning, but in their personal development.
We believe that the technical skills we teach are only a small part of what we offer and that the sense of belonging students gain when studying with us is essential to building the confidence and self-determination needed to thrive in a career setting:
“What is special at Code Your Future is putting students in real work conditions, this helped me to communicate more efficiently and how to work in a team and share knowledge.” says, Abdoulrazack
The relationships keep growing
The relationships we build over the 8-month course don’t end on graduation. Our amazing volunteers continue to support students until they find their first job and it is wonderful to see so many students staying in touch and even coming back to volunteer and train the next cohort of CodeYourFuture students
Mohammed: “I thought it was not going to be easy to find my first job in tech… and I was right! This is what it is like for most people. However, I had great support from the CodeYourFuture community. I got to work remotely on a project in London through networks at CYF. I also got to work on a program that was going to be used by British Red Cross and Refugee Council in London. This work was really important for me eventually getting a job. I think I did around 7 interviews around different cities in the UK, but now I was sure I’d get one.’
Madiha says, “CYF was a boost of confidence for many of us. During my time at CYF, where I now volunteer, one of the most important things I learned is that, there will be times when life will bring you down, but you just need to go back up.”
And Abdoulrazack says, “Having finished the course, I wanted to give back what Code Your Future gave me and I am now contributing with other mentors and transferring my knowledge to people who are hoping to join the tech industry.”
We can’t do this without brilliant partners
We help our students to thrive through the incredible support of our volunteers and partners; Capgemini, Workday Foundation, Ticketmaster, Slack, AMIF, Skyscanner, The Federation, WMCA, Airtame, Inemmo, Lumina learning, The Honeycomb works, Kinning Park Complex in the UK and AMIF, LVenture Group, LUISS EnLabs and OneMify in Rome.
Working with these generous organisations gives us the ability to create opportunities like no other for these students. Whether through providing space and resources, training, work experience opportunities, funding, volunteering opportunities, or guidance the work we do would not be possible without their support.
Sally, from Capgemini, says, “I wasn’t prepared for the emotional connection to both the organisation and students that this would bring me – or the huge sense of pride that would come from working with them. It has been a privilege to be part of such an inspirational community from whom I continue to learn.”
If you want to know more about partnership opportunities with CodeYourFuture, contact Barny at barnaby@codeyourfuture.io
Read more about our partnership with Capgemini: https://www.capgemini.com/gb-en/2019/10/reflections-on-the-first-year-of-our-partnership-with-code-your-future/