Apply to Digital Xtra Fund

Digital Xtra Fund

Since its inception in 2016, Digital Xtra Fund has distributed £550,000 to 55 high-quality, exciting extracurricular computing and digital technologies initiatives across Scotland. This funding has helped engage nearly 30,000 young people in tech and showed them the breadth of opportunities these skills can provide. In September 2019, an additional £75,000 was released to further boost interest in computing and technology amongst young people across Scotland. Grants of up to £5,000 will be awarded to extracurricular activity providers that teach skills and concepts such as coding, computational thinking, digital creativity, data science and cybersecurity from an young age and help inspire Scotland’s next generation of digital makers, leaders and technologists.

Applications for the Round V (2019/20) grant application cycle are now closed. Successful applicants will be announced in January with supported initiatives running throughout 2020.

To be eligible for a Digital Xtra Fund grant award, applicants must demonstrate that:

The Main Applicant is a UK registered company, registered charity, chartered body, Local Authority, school, college, or university actively involved in the provision of computing education and/or digital technologies related activities
The proposed initiative meets the Core Objective of Digital Xtra Fund as outlined in the current Grant Application Guidelines
The grant requested is between £500 and £5,000
The primary audience are young people aged 16 years and under
The proposed initiative will run during the timeframe outlines in the current Grant Application Guidelines
The proposed initiative will be delivered entirely in Scotland
The activity is extracurricular as defined below:

An extracurricular digital technologies activity is any activity that enables young people to learn various advanced digital technologies skills outside the realm of the core school education curriculum; whilst providing a safe, fun, and sociable environment.

Activities delivered in a school environment – such as youth organisations, clubs, or touring programmes – are defined as extracurricular provided they do not form part of the core school curriculum.

Activities relating to only the use of technology or which teach entry-level or basic digital literacy skills are excluded from this funding.

What we want to achieve

The core objective of Digital Xtra Fund is to inspire young people to learn advanced digital technologies skills through high quality, exciting extracurricular activities, thus expanding the talent pipeline of young people who might study related disciplines and ultimately pursue a career in digital technologies. Initiatives must clearly demonstrate how participants will be involved in the digital making/creation and what skills they will learn.

Applications are sought for initiatives which tangibly demonstrate exciting and stimulating ways of engaging young people. In particular, Digital Xtra Fund is keen to support projects which appeal to:

audiences currently unengaged in digital technologies
audiences from areas often excluded from digital tech activities through lack of local facilities or geography (i.e. areas of high deprivation and/or rural isolation)
groups underrepresented in the digital technologies sector (i.e. girls and young women and/or minority groups)

Activities which provide ‘real-world’ context to the skills learned and promote industry engagement or highlight career pathways are also particularly of interest. Partnerships with other organisations such as industry, industry bodies, charities, schools, other extracurricular activity providers, etc. are strongly encouraged to help achieve this aim.

The Digital Xtra Fund grant awards are made possible by the generous support of the Fund’s Partners. The binding commonality across Digital Xtra Fund and our Partners is a will to engage and inspire more young people to understand and create with digital technologies and give them the skills needed to succeed in an increasingly digital world. In addition to providing financial support, many of the Fund’s Partners will also help successful applicants via employee engagement, further contextualising skills and promoting various career pathways.

What we are looking for

Digital Xtra Fund will be looking for evidence that the grant is needed, is of value, and that the activity will provide a positive impact on the provision of extracurricular digital technologies and computing science activity across Scotland for young people aged 16 years and under.

Applicants will need to clearly demonstrate how the proposed activity aligns with the objectives of Digital Xtra Fund and well as:

Define measurable and realistic targets and outcomes for the proposed project
Indicate how participants will learn about the proposed project and become involved
Explore partnerships with industry and other key stakeholders to generate synergy
Outline plans to sustain and/or develop the activity post grant
Provide a project plan including key personnel, budget, and key milestones
Provide post-project evaluation

Round V (2019/20) Grant Awards

Applications for the Round V (2019/20) Grant Awards closed on 31 October 2019. Thank you very much to everyone who has applied.

The application evaluation period will take place throughout November and successful applicants will be contacted shortly thereafter for a further round of due diligence. All applicants will be notified regarding the outcome of their application by the end of the year. These dates are indicative and may be subject to change with notice provided via our social media channels.

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