How Hearts and their sponsor teamed up to teach kids cyber security in an escape room

A leading Scottish football club and its headline sponsor area teaming up to teach teenagers about cyber security.

Heart of Midlothian and partners Stellar Omada are using the club’s Tynecastle Park innovation centre to host the Cyber Security Escape Room project this month.

The aim is to raise awareness of online safety issues including catfishing (using false identities to trick users into relationships or friendships), grooming and abuse.

Educational programme aimed at raising awareness of online safety, with over two hundred secondary school pupils participating in the sessions at Tynecastle Park between 9th-11th December | Stellar Omada / SNS / Canva

More than 200 secondary school pupils from Edinburgh will participate between December 9 and 11 following a successful pilot scheme.

Stellar Omada is a longstanding partner of Hearts and the club’s Innovation Centre, and became Hearts’ front of shirt sponsor earlier this year.

The initiative was created by Stellar Omada’s Elevate division, and will see small groups of pupils work together to tackle simulated cyber security scenarios with expert guidance from the Stellar Omada and Innovation Centre teams.

Founder and managing director Colin Frame said: “Like many people, I am continually alarmed at the spread of cyber crime and its impact not only on the business world, but also how it impacts society and young people in particular.

Stellar Omada partners with Heart of Midlothian Innovation Centre to launch Cyber Security Escape Room initiative for Edinburgh schools | Stellar Omada

“We hope this initiative with Hearts can provide a blueprint for further activity in this important area.”

Last month, gaming platform Roblox restricted its youngest users from more violent, crude, and extreme content, in the face of warnings about child grooming, exploitation, and the sharing of indecent images.

According to the World Economic Forum Risk Report 2024, cybersecurity is ranked highly alongside the climate crisis as a systematic risk worldwide.

Ann Park, Director of Community and Partnership at Hearts, said: “The Innovation Centre works with over 2,000 young people every year from a broad range of socio-economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds.

“We deliver free courses across a range of STEM and STEAM disciplines including coding, app development, and robotics.”

“We are acutely aware of the increasing dangers faced online by young people and welcome this forward-thinking initiative.”

Park added: “Stellar Omada’s Escape Room concept is a highly engaging way that will help learners gain a deeper awareness of the threats posted by cybercrime, cat fishing, and grooming, and equip them with vital skills to keep them safe online.”