The low down on Upload York

On Saturday 8 October, alongside Freeformers, and City of York Council, we hosted a workshop giving 60 young people in York the chance to enhance their digital skills, understand how to stay safe online and how they can use social media to market their own skills and future career.

Digital skills are a key tenant of social mobility and inclusion in today’s digital world and events like this form a part of our long standing promise to ensure our customers and the communities we serve benefit from the positive power of connectivity.

Freeformers, who are experts at providing digital skills, delivered the day through exciting workshops, breakout sessions and challenges. Here’s the low down on how the event ran:

The day kicked off with short speeches from the Chief Executive of City of York Council, Virgin Media’s Regional Public Affairs Manager and local entrepreneurs, who all spoke about the importance of digital literacy for young people getting into work.

This set the scene for the first workshop where attendees learnt how to code and create an interactive online CV. This CV was then transformed into an app, giving eager participants the chance to enhance their digital knowledge and ask plenty of questions.

The day wasn’t all learning, however. Attendees got the chance to show off their best selfie skills in the social zone, the aim of which was to help boost their understanding of how to use social media to build a brand. Armed with this new knowledge, the final workshop was focused on staying safe online by foreseeing risks and creating strong passwords.

Rounding off the day with the awards ceremony, Virgin Media provided the star prize of a new GoPro camera, and awards ranged from the best selfie to the best social media strategy for new businesses. Winners announced and goodie bags collected, all those involved left with a new understanding of the potential of the digital technology available at their fingertips.

With digital skills being increasingly desired by employers, workshops like this are vital to help young people set themselves apart in their future workplace. Previous Upload Live participants have gone on to launch their own successful apps and get digital and technology jobs. We can’t wait to hear what attendees from this event get up to in the future.