Calling all girls 13 to 18 who love TEC: become a TECgirls Mentor!

Are you 13 to 18 years old and enjoy coding, tech or engineering? Maybe you like animation, gaming or digital design? Well we would love to talk to you!

We are looking for older girls who are interested in joining our TECgirls Mentor group, supporting us in getting young girls (6-12 years old) interested in the technology, engineering and creative sectors. To be a mentor you don’t have to be studying design technology, computer science or engineering. You can just enjoy TEC and want to share that joy with others. We don’t expect anyone to be an expert, just happy to help.

To kick things off we are having a TECgirls Mentor session on Sunday, the 1st of March from 10am-12pm in Truro. It’s a great way to see if you want to be a Mentor and to meet other young women in Cornwall who are also interested in TEC. Women in the Cornwall tech, engineering and creative community will be there to help you understand what it means to be a mentor and how you can help at our events, starting with TECgirls LIVE in April. You will also have a chance to learn about other opportunities to help young girls and will be able to connect with other women in these spaces around Cornwall.

Even if you're a bit shy, there are lots of ways you can help. Here are some of the things we are looking for from our TECgirls Mentors:

1. Help us “test” our activities. Can you help provide us feedback and ideas on the activities we have planned for the TECgirls LIVE events? You get to try them out first with a few other mentors and let us know what you think. Your thoughts will help us put together a really great event.

2. Suggest activities or things you’re done or read that inspired you. We might look at adding these things to our event or share them with other girls on our social media channels and on our blog.

3. Contribute to the magazine. Would you like to write an article, create a comic, share an activity or design some images? We would love to have more content created by young women around Cornwall.

4. Help on the day. We would love to have some girls help us on the day. Working with the younger girls and their parents as they do some of the activities . This could include anything from helping them find their materials to providing some tips. You will not be doing this alone – every activity will have 1-2 TECgirls organisers running the activity. You're just there to help.

5. Promote technology, engineering and creativity to other girls around Cornwall. If you see other young girls interested in the things you like, encourage them. Let them know how much fun it is and give them advice on new things they might want to try. From Code Clubs to building Greenpower Cars, it's important to help more girls get involved.

Want to become a TECgirl Mentor? Great!

Please send us an email info@TECgirls.co.uk with the subject Mentors and let us know you want to be involved. We will provide you with more details on the TECgirls Mentor day and how you can get started.

NOTE: If you are under 16 you will need to ask your parents and will need an adult to join you at the TECgirls Mentor session and at TECgirls LIVE.

As we continue to develop and grow as an organisation, there may be future opportunities for TECgirls Mentors to meet up and get involved with TECgirls, so it is OK if you can't make it on the 1st of March or the 4th of April. Still get in touch and sign up to hear more.