Young Rewired State Information

Young Rewired State (‘YRS’) is a worldwide community of coders aged 18 and under. We introduce them to like-minded peers, and expert mentors, at free events around the world where they use freely available open data to build apps, websites and algorithms to solve real world challenges. YRS aims to find and foster a community of young coders and digital makers and get them working together, and using their skills, to improve their communities. We promote peer-to-peer learning and provide a fun, inclusive and supportive environment, which equips these young people with the skills they need to become the tech stars of tomorrow. Since it’s inception in 2009 we have worked with over 2000 young people in the UK and beyond, predominantly through running the largest annual hack event in the world, the ‘Festival of Code’. The Festival sees over 1000 young people and 300 expert mentors team up in local centres across the UK, run by a variety of partner organisations, for a week in the summer holidays to build digital prototypes, before coming together to present what they’ve made at the Festival weekend. The YRS Hyperlocal scheme then gives them the opportunity to continue developing their skills throughout the year at regular meet-ups, assisted by an online platform of resources. Members of the YRS community go on to utilise their digital skills in a number of ways. Many go on to study computer science or work for technology firms, whilst the experience of doing rapid ideation, prototyping and development at YRS events leads many to choose an entrepreneurial path.