THE first Ideas Garage coding club took place last Wednesday (23rd September) at Chepstow library.

The Ideas Garage is a volunteer led programming club for 11 to 17 year olds, where new and emerging technologies can be explored in an informal and creative environment.

It encourages peer mentoring and youth leaders, increases social inclusion and provides children within the local community with skills and confidence to use in the workplace.

The sessions are run by mentors who will assist young people in their own self-led learning by creating their own projects, applying them to websites, games, apps, animations are more.

20 young people ranging from eight to 16 years of age attended the first club and came up with some great and unusual ideas for future projects, such as making a wind power computer, exploding chocolate and creating an app.

Mentor David Rogers, the CEO of Copper Horse Solutions, explained how coding is used in his company. Other mentors included musician Robert Hickman and university student Ben Bonsor who were on hand to provide their valuable and technical expertise.

Sessions run weekly on Wednesdays from 4pm to 6pm and all levels of coders are welcome.

For more information, visit: theideasgarage.eventbrite.co.uk

If you are interested in being part of this rewarding and worthwhile project and becoming a mentor by sharing your technical knowledge with young people, contact Claire Lewis on 01291 635649.