In an exciting display of inspiration, Year 9 girls from The Whitehaven Academy (TWA), William Howard School (WHS) and Workington Academy (WA), alongside representatives from 12 other schools, came together on Thursday 29th February, for Cumbria’s inaugural Girls Empower event. Organized by IN4, this initiative aimed to ignite a passion for computing careers among young women.

The event was a fantastic opportunity for the girls to explore a career in technology. They eagerly embraced a variety of challenges, ranging from deciphering cryptic codes to embarking on simulated cyber heists, all designed to test their problem-solving skills and technical prowess. One of the highlights of the day was the ‘Patient 0’ challenge, where the girls scoured the internet for clues in a race against time – congratulations to Poppy M and Poppy S, who emerged victorious in cracking cypher codes and securing Amazon vouchers.

The event not only provided a platform for girls to showcase their existing skills but also served as a catalyst for sparking new interests and ambitions in computing – a necessity in an increasingly digital world.

Mrs Fowler, Curriculum Lead for Business, Creative Media and Computing at TWA, said “The event was an amazing chance to see hundreds of girls fully engage themselves, competing to complete a range of technical challenges with excitement and purpose. Thank you to the CyberFirst team for bring such an opportunity to the county.”

Well done to all of the girls who participated; your teamwork, resilience, and cyber skills performance were inspiring. This event was a fantastic opportunity to empower the next generation of female leaders in computing and we look forward to attending more of these events in the future.