CodeClan ties up with Scottish Tech Army to help tackle pandemic fallout

CodeClan, the digital skills academy, has partnered with the Scottish Tech Army to allow its graduates to work on critical Covid-support projects while providing a springboard into new digital careers.

Melinda Matthews-Clarkson of CodeClan and Alistair Forbes of Scottish Tech Army. Picture: Ken Sjöberg

Scottish Tech Army was launched in April to harness the skills of the tech community and support organisations on the front line of dealing with the effects of the pandemic.

Since that launch, more than 1,200 volunteers have joined the Tech Army and worked on some 175 projects. Organisations supported include Young Enterprise Scotland, Govan Community Project, Edinburgh Community Food, Voluntary Services Aberdeen, Inspiring Scotland and the National Library of Scotland.

Alistair Forbes, founding director and chief executive at the Scottish Tech Army, said: “CodeClan graduates have found that working on these projects has given them a valuable opportunity to put the skills they gained at CodeClan to practical use, work with experienced technologists and build their professional networks.

“They have also played an important part in the delivery of our services across Scotland and we’re delighted to be extending our partnership with CodeClan.”

CodeClan chief executive Melinda Matthews-Clarkson said: “We are excited to formalise our partnership with Scottish Tech Army, which has already done so much important work for so many Scotland-based organisations that have faced incredible challenges because of Covid.

“For our graduates, working on real world projects can provide invaluable experience – experience which we can see has also helped many of them to secure employment.”

The skills academy, which said it was experiencing record demand for its programming, data and bespoke courses, recently marked its fifth anniversary and has now produced more than 1,000 graduates since opening its doors.

The organisation has made a series of appointments to its leadership team over the last few weeks, with Neil Brown joining as chief operating officer from The Data Lab, Damien Miller’s hire as chief delivery officer and Bill Douglas replacing Polly Purvis as chairman.

Matthews-Clarkson added: “We’re pleased to have strengthened our leadership team in recent times and as we look ahead to 2021, our focus will remain on our team, our graduates and continuing to build our employer and partner networks.”

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