New members of the Regional Team!

Code Club’s amazing Regional Coordinators are our eyes and ears on the ground across the country, attending events and supporting our volunteers and partners on a local level.

We’re really pleased to welcome three new members to the team – Victoria who will be covering the North East, Yorkshire and Humber; Mark who will be our Wales Coordinator; and Caroline, our new South West Coordinator.

We spoke to each of them to find out a little bit more about what brought them to Code Club:

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VICTORIA SAURON

I’m Victoria, and I am very chuffed indeed to be working for Code Club in such a wonderful part of the world as Yorkshire, Humber and the North East of England.

I grew up in North Yorkshire where as a child I spent many hours coding in BASIC on a ZX Spectrum and saving my very quirky invented games onto a little cassette tape. I continued being an ultra geek by learning the viola and studying Old Norse at university. Since then, I have literally made following my passions into an art form – gaining a PhD in history of art, qualifying as a French translator, singing in a swing trio, and curating my own bilingual children’s library.

I finally began work in a real library in North Yorkshire in 2012 before coming full circle back to coding, and now have the enormous privilege and fun of running Code Clubs and getting to talk and write about them all day!

Do follow me on my personal Twitter for forays into feminism, humanism, libraryism and veganism at @yorkshirewords, but for Code Club chat, it’s @codeclubYandH or @codeclubNE. And my email for anything and everything Code Club related across the whole region is yorkshireandhumber@codeclub.org.uk.

MARK ELLIS

Hi – or ‘Schmae’ (Welsh for hello) – I’m Mark the new Code Club Coordinator for Wales. I live in Rhyl on the beautiful North Wales coast.

My exposure to the world of software and computing started in high school way back in 1982. We used a tele-type machine linked to the local college mainframe. I subsequently went on to study computing at the same college and spent two years learning COBOL, BASIC and various other programming languages. After that I went on to work in various roles in software development, technology and skills training.

I now come to Code Club after returning to North Wales and starting an artisan bakery, of all things! Over the last couple of years I’ve developed a strong desire to help build the homegrown Welsh ‘tech’ and creative capability; and key to this will be skills. So having the opportunity to work with Code Club is perfect for me.

I look forward to working with and supporting our volunteers and supporters across Wales. If you want to get in touch please do, via wales@codeclub.org.uk.

CAROLINE VAAN-CANNING

Hi there, my name is Caroline and I am the new South West Coordinator for Code Club. My interest in computing started in the 1980’s, with a personal computer called the Sinclair ZX-81, shortly followed by the ZX Spectrum. I literally spent hours typing in the programs from the “Sinclair User” magazine, tweaking the code.

Some years later, it was my maths teacher at Sixth Form who finally convinced me I should drop the idea of studying Graphic Design at Art College and instead concentrate my efforts only on studying Computer Science.

After a BTEC OND (Ordinary National Diploma) in Computer Studies and a HND in Computer Studies, I started my Bachelor of Science Degree Course at Brighton University. After graduating in 1993, I joined Microsoft, where I continued to work for a little under ten years. After having my second child, I decided to take a break from my career.

Giving up the day job however, was not an excuse to miss out on technological advancements and I found volunteering at my children’s school a great way of keeping in touch. When I discovered that Code Club were looking for new volunteers, I decided to get involved. With the help of the STEM Ambassador programme and three other like-minded people, I launched not one, but two Code Clubs in Taunton.

With my experience as a volunteer, I am looking forward to helping others get their own Code Clubs started in my new role as Regional Coordinator. Feel free to drop me a line at southwest@codeclub.org.uk, I look forward to hearing from you!

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Our Regional Coordinators are there to support you! Got a question about volunteering, a problem or an issue to address? Get in touch with your local coordinator for support and advice:

Mark Ellis: Wales Coordinator – wales@codeclub.org.uk

Una McDermott: Northern Ireland Coordinator – northernireland@codeclub.org.uk

Lorna Gibson: Scotland Coordinator – scotland@codeclub.org.uk

Liz Smart: North West Coordinator – northwest@codeclub.org.uk

Victoria Sauron: North East and Yorkshire Coordinator – yorkshireandhumber@codeclub.org.uk

Tim Wilson: West Midlands Coordinator – westmidlands@codeclub.org.uk

Katharine Childs: East Midlands Coordinator – eastmidlands@codeclub.org.uk

Dan Elwick: London and East of England Coordinator – london@codeclub.org.uk

Caroline Vaan-Canning: South West Coordinator – southwest@codeclub.org.uk

Dan Powell: South East Coordinator – southeast@codeclub.org.uk