Europe’s biggest digital skills initiative announces Youth Ambassador

Meet and Code Youth Ambassador, Jamie Holroyde

17-year-old Jamie’s coding journey started at the age of 6 when his parents bought him a coding book for Christmas. At the time, he had no idea that a book called Python Hunting would spark his passion and serve as the foundation for his most thrilling endeavour, coding.

Since then, he has conquered the coding space and was recognised by Crest, the British Science Association's scheme for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) project work that inspires young people to think and behave like scientists and engineers. Jamie received the gold award a year ahead of his peers, which meant that he could create longer coding assignments packed with authentic research.

His main interests are Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics, but he excels and enjoys the research side of coding.

He said: “As a purely self-taught person, I have had to do research and work out how to apply the code I am reading about. This has strengthened my research skills and capabilities.

“I aspire to become a computer scientist by expanding my existing coding skills and have already applied to university to pursue my dream. I love computer science. Not only is it exciting and interesting, it is needed in every industry and in our daily lives.”

Jamie’s application for the Meet and Code 2022 Ambassador Search was sent in by the Cromar Future Group, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing education in Tarland.

He has been a part of the Everything Electronic Youth Club since it was established and currently serves as a volunteer tutor for the group.

Lesley Ellis, Managing Trustee at Cromar Future Group spotted the ambassador search announcement posted on social media and then submitted Jamie's entry. The Cromar Future Group are an active participant of the Meet and Code educational initiative and run a coding event, as part of the programme, each year.

Nataliia Shkurka, Project Manager at TechSoup Europe and Spokesperson at Meet and Code, said: “We are excited to celebrate our next winner and look forward to working together to further ignite youth’s passion for all things digital across Europe.”

As the Meet and code 2022 Youth Ambassador, Jamie will work closely with the Meet and Code team to advocate for coding initiatives across Europe throughout 2023.