Passion, purpose, play — why do volunteers run Code Clubs?

Passionate individuals around the world run Code Clubs, but what motivates them?

We spoke to four Code Club mentors from around the world — both long-time leaders and newcomers — to learn why they started Code Clubs and continue to run them in their communities.

Creating a community 

Vipul at his Code Club

The Code Club community is expanding worldwide! Vipul Rathod, based in Gujarat, India, started his club at a community centre in Jamnagar in 2022. As he explains, he wanted to create a space where everyone could collaborate and learn together:

“As the leader of this Code Club, I’m driven by the chance to spark innovation and create a space where collaboration thrives. It’s exciting to build a dynamic community that’s passionate about technology. Every session sharpens not just my skills, but everyone’s, while also developing leadership abilities. The greatest reward is watching others grow in their coding journeys and embrace the potential of future technologies.”

Opening up possibilities

Code Club mentor, Bob

Bob Bilsland from Malvern, England has been with Code Club since its launch in 2012. He runs three Code Clubs in the area, with one of them — the club at Malvern CofE Primary School, which launched in 2013 — standing as the longest-running club in the world! Bob shares what brings him back to Code Club week in, week out:

“What brings me back week after week is the sharing of what I enjoy doing. It’s so much fun to help others explore this space themselves, to see what they can personally create. I see that giving others the opportunity to explore and familiarise themselves with computing as something that could open up a world of possibilities for them in the future.”

IIiana (left) attending the Clubs Conference in 2024

Coding as a creative spark

For Iliana Ramirez in Mexico, Code Club is about more than just teaching young people to code. It’s also about equipping them with new skills so they can thrive in an increasingly digital world and prepare themselves for the future. She points in particular to how Code Club empowers young learners by unlocking their creativity:

“[By running a Code Club] we prepare young people to live in a digital world. They understand that this world is interconnected and we prepare them to think and solve problems. They start to believe they can do things that they thought they couldn’t do before. They find it to be like magic and discover that they can have that power in their hands to create games, and share their stories. That’s what I see, I see them fly.”

Learning flexibly and deeply

Long-standing Code Club leader, Rachael

Meet Rachael from Stevenage, who’s been a champion of digital technologies for over a decade. She started a Code Club after she and her young son became curious about coding and now continues to inspire learners at the school where it all began. Rachael emphasises the benefits of Code Club’s flexible structure:

“I started running a Code Club when my son was seven and I wanted to learn what this whole programming/coding stuff was about. And I still run a Code Club in the same school where he started! In a lesson, there’s often an end point and they have to stop. Whereas in Code Club, we’re meant to run for an hour, but we rarely stop at the end of the hour. So there’s that ability for them to really stick with something and come back to the same project week after week to develop it.

And, you know, the mistakes, the debugging we learned together. And that was a really powerful process to go through.”

You don’t need to be a coding expert to start a Code Club! It’s a fun and rewarding way to connect with young people and help them learn valuable skills for the future. Visit the Code Club website to learn how you can get involved.