Nominet programme helps young people gain work experience

Nominet is bringing its digital skills programme to Preston, giving 18-to-24-year-olds the opportunity to bolster their digital skills and find paid work experience opportunities.

Nominet is the internet infrastructure company behind the .UK web domains. Its Digital Neighbourhood programme has trained more than 100 young people and matched them with local SMEs.

The programme arrives in Preston, taking place at Cotton Court in Preston across August 20 and 21.

Attendees will embark on a two-day training course with a qualified expert covering social media skills, Google AdWords and SEO, and will also be advised on the importance of creating online profiles to promote their services such as LinkedIn and The Dots.

At the end of the second day of training, students will meet and be matched with a suitable local SME that requires their skills for a paid work experience placement. Each young person partnered with a local SME will be paid in line with the London Living Wage and meetings will take place to fit in with both parties’ needs.

Depending on the business’s need, the placements with the SMEs are between six and 12 hours over a two-week period.

Russell Haworth, CEO of Nominet, said: "While Nominet Digital Neighbourhood may seem a small project compared to others, it is a pioneering approach to meet the demands of digital transformation and help address the digital skills gap in the UK.

"If not, we face playing a dangerous game of catch-up which could be disastrous not only for individuals and SMEs, but the UK digital economy.”

Ellie Bradley, COO, Nominet says: “There is a huge pool of untapped talent that businesses can benefit from, and we’ve created a programme that is completely new in its approach and can benefit young people, local communities and the UK economy as a whole.

"The ambition is that other funders and companies can replicate Nominet Digital Neighbourhood anywhere in the UK, as we all work towards building a strong UK digital economy and develop new approaches to support digital transformation.” Nominet has supported hundreds of tech-for-good projects, donating £45m to positively impact over 10m people since 2008. Other initiatives focused on helping advance digital skills among young people include Nominet being a founding patron of the Prince’s Trust Online portal, and working with the Micro:bit Foundation as founding partner, which is helping to promote STEM and develop digital skills in schools.