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Over 250 young people aged 12-16 attended a Digital Design Open Day at Blackburn Youth Zone on Friday 28th September 2018. The event was the first of its kind hosted by Blackburn Youth Zone and allowed students from local schools and colleges to have a taste of different aspects of digital design.

Rolls Royce, Graham & Brown, Workhouse Marketing, Create Education, Blackburn College, UCLAN, CoderDojo and Chorley Youth Zone all provided contributions to the day alongside a range of animation, music and designing activities.

The event was part of a project piloted by Blackburn Youth Zone, which combines ideas from digital technologies with those of creative design, covering all activities required to create software, products and art using the latest technology.

Greg Hughes, Digital Design Coordinator at Blackburn Youth Zone, said: “Design is a key skill-set in demand across the UK, with a range of applications from app development and animation, to video-editing, fashion design and jewellery making.

“Our aim is to develop new, engaging open-access activities for young people to develop digital design skills as they participate in the new activities, rather than the technical teaching of digital design skills.

“The day was a great success, engaging a wide range of young people from across Blackburn with Darwen.  The feedback from young people on the day was great and we are excited to watch this project grow. None of this would have been possible without the support of our patrons and supporters.

“Everyone who came along managed to have a taste of digital design activities and some young people have now signed up to come back and take part in digital design during their leisure time to continue their journey.”