News
Launching ‘High Peak Youth Robotics’ youth group
You heard it right, folks. Funny Wonders is delving into the world of robotics!
This September, we launch a new youth group for young people aged 12-18 years old in the High Peak with an interest in engineering, coding, design and robotics. See our leaflet below.
Robotics is a bit of a diversion away from our usual traditional, craft and puppetry activities but it is a creative, multimedia endeavour which supports young people in our local community, which is what Funny Wonders is all about. Plus, it’s animating a constructed object, which is puppetry at its core.
The project is youth-led, following a group of young people approaching us in 2023 to help support them in setting up and facilitating a club during which they could work towards the FIRST Tech Challenge, a national robotics competition. Find out more about it at https://firstuk.org/. The Tech Challenge follows on from FIRST’s LEGO League, a competition for younger children. Local sessions for this are run at LEGO cafe, Brick Corner on South Avenue.
Cue funding applications (many funding applications!) and subsequent delight when we managed to secure enough funding to go ahead for the 2024/2025 academic year.
This first year of High Peak Youth Robotics has been made possible through funding from Herefordshire Community Foundation (Joanies Fund) plus further grants and donations from Buxton4Youth, Tarmac, Timpson, High Peak Mayoral Charity (Buxton & District) and Otter Controls Ltd. We are also in receipt of a bursary from FIRST UK which enables us to participate.
“LEGO League has been a big part of our lives the last few years and we were ready for the next level of challenge that Tech Challenge offers. I’m really grateful for the FIRST bursary and our other funders for making it possible to set up and enter a team this season for teens and to get to build robots together with the higher tech kit.” Louis, 14
Weekly, term-time workshops will run on Tuesdays, 6pm-7.30pm at Buxton Methodist Church – the church on the Market Place – starting on Tuesday 17 September. They will run through to Easter time (and beyond if the team is successful at the regional competition) and will be led by Dave Lydford from Brick Corner, supported by members of the Funny Wonders team.
Dave says “FIRST Tech Challenge is an excellent progression on from the success of these guys participating in FIRST LEGO League over the last 4 years. I am excited to have the opportunity to coach the next level of robotics challenges run by FIRST.”
Participation in the workshops is free but places are limited so booking is essential. Everyone is welcome but we are particularly looking to welcome girls (to achieve a 50:50 split with boys), those who are home-educated or not in education, those with neurodiversity or those who experience barriers to accessing (or enjoying) STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects in their traditional form whilst at school.
As part of the project, we also hope to arrange inspirational tours of local engineering businesses and robot-using factories and to invite local engineers to mentor the group during their workshops. If you’d like to invite the group to your business or help the group in their endeavours, please get in touch! Email highpeakyouthrobotics@funnywonders.org.uk.
