As part of a West of England Combined Authority project called Women into Digital Jobs, Education and Training (WIDJET), Making It was open to self-identifying women from across Bristol (plus men from the immediately local area) aged 16+, and offered up a number of opportunities for participants to have a go at digital design and making, learn new skills and grow in confidence.
The programme began with a number of taster workshops across the city, in which The Factory team brought their mobile maker kit into community spaces and organisations in areas such as Filwood, Hartcliffe & Withywood, Easton & St. Paul’s, to give attendees an introduction into digital fabrication and allow them to make personalised items to take home. These tasters were also an opportunity to promote the main part of the programme: a 2D & 3D design course to take place between May and July 2019.
A cohort of 11 participants completed the course, learning a range of skills including how to use digital design software, follow a design process, and operate machinery including laser cutters and 3D Printers. They were also given access to one-to-one mentoring and supported sessions where they could experiment, prototype and test ideas for their own self-guided projects.
Alongside this, The Factory hosted a number of specialist workshops in topics such as Wearable Technology, Animatronics & Puppetry, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence, which were open to course participants and those who had attended tasters or applied to the course, and were designed to broaden participants knowledge of digital technologies and potential applications.
The Making It programme culminated in a successful showcase event on Thursday 25th July, where participants had the chance the present the projects they had been working on to potential industry employers, as well as friends and family and other creatives and makers from across the city.
The Making It programme is now finished, please contact us at makingit@kwmc.org.uk if you have any questions.
Making It was part of the Women into Digital Jobs, Education and Training (WIDJET) project. WIDJET is a West of England Combined Authority project, funded by the Government’s Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.
Photography by Ibolya Feher.
On 25 June we welcomed the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) Regional Mayor Tim Bowles to KWMC and KWMC: The Factory to meet two groups of women currently taking part in our digital training programmes. Over the last few months, the groups have been learning a range of skills to help them design and build everything from furniture and
