Some great new projects (& funding opportunities)

After the year we’ve had its nice to see lots of local initiatives (with wider backing) out there to support the local tech industry and future workforce

Virtual Work Experience (VWEX)

This is a call for companies to offer up support to the next generation of talent

We need you if you are interested in offering work experience virtually (VWEX) to young people. You may have offered work experience before, this may be an opportunity to do it for the first time. Learn how your business can be supported to engage virtually with school and college students to develop your talent pipeline, business brand, highlight future skills and inspire! Just to start we have a seminar on December 16th which will show how you can work with us and Speakers for Schools to offer young people VWEX opportunities for spring-summer 2021. (there is no cost to employers or schools for this!) Please click on the Eventbrite link here to register for the event and find out more.

29th November 202031st December 2020

Well, that’s a wrap for this year’s events!

What a year its been, we’ve moved everything online along with the rest of the world which has had its pluses and negatives as for everyone. We’ve been getting a bit zoomed out but interestingly its also given us the opportunity to stretch our wings out as it allowed access to events for members who normally couldn’t make the previous in-person events (and it’s saved us a fortune in pizzas and drinks!).

Its not the end yet though and we do have some exciting changes that we are making and when it happens you’ll be the first to know about it! Don’t worry as we are not dissappearing – just improving some stuff, hopefuly you’ll bear with us and the new changes should enable us to support you all more. (Its good news!)

22nd November 202022nd November 2020

How well is Bristol Business doing on Gender Equality?

As an ambassador for this group which we believe is a great initiative and we would like all Bristol companies to join them and get involved. If you’ve not heard of them or want to simply sit in and find out more then this is a great opportunity to do that this week.

The Charter recognises and supports the work of Bristol Businesses to create workplaces that are gender equal

Recognising the progress towards gender equality in Bristol businesses on November the 25th

More than 30 businesses have signed up to the Bristol Women in Business Charter since its launch in 2019, and they’re all making progress on gender equality.

This progress will make a positive difference to their businesses, the women that work in them and the communities they live in. We welcome all employers to join this community of progressive businesses who are changing the world.

Join us for the launch of our interim impact report, 6 months after we launched as a Community Interest Company and 18 months after our signatories began focusing on the 7 goals of the Charter to make change happen in their businesses.

We’ll share numerous examples of good practice that are making a difference to gender equality in businesses in Bristol. All attendees will receive a digital copy of the report at the end of the event.

15th November 202015th November 2020

Christmas is coming

The new John Lewis Advert is out so we now know that Christmas is coming to distract you all from lockdown

If you are not soo keen on saccharine adverts it looks like Lidl also isn’t and is even taking a sideswipe at ALDI carrots in their Christmas Ad here. Although we still think that the music should be less soporific and much more Christmassy – get this old school recorded off the TV footage Andrex puppies and Slade singing – what’s not to love? (plus it gave us an excuse to put a puppy on our page – they are very on trend)

On the subject of Christmas has anyone checked out the new Mozilla Privacy not included site for when you consider your shopping options this year? Is your gift not creepy or very creepy when it comes to Data collection?

8th November 20208th November 2020

Living la Vida lockdown

2nd Wave lockdown blues? On the plus side for parents who were furloughed last time with their children at home .. schools open, so not all bad news and its also nice not to have a commute in the current cold weather. Plus time to upskill – check out the training page for affordable ways to do it. If you’re looking for a Job however as yours has come to an end check out some of the new Jobs on offer on our Jobs Board or get on our candidate’s board and we’ll keep you updated.

#GiveNTech Campaign

On the subject of the lockdown and what it uncovered this year, we are fully behind Digilocals #GiveNTech campaign to get old laptops to disadvantaged children. Also considering that Christmas parties are tax-deductible and we’re unlikely to be seeing many of those this year, why not swap it for another tax-deductible option of giving to a charity to help children have access to tech.

DigiLocal is working with a number of partners across the region to provide re-conditioned laptops for vulnerable families. If you have a laptop that is no longer needed for your purposes, there may be a family that would greatly value it for online schooling, accessing social support, etc.