WoW Wearable Tech Workshops with FDisruptors Liverpool
By Michelle Hua @MadeWithGlove
After securing funding from Awesome Liverpool we were able to deliver our wearable tech halloween workshops to FDisruptors girls aged 14-18 in Liverpool.
The location was at Launch22, a fantastic incubator space for start ups and early entrepreneurs space to grow.
Rachael Yeung and I started the workshop by providing the girls with an overview of the wearable tech fashion industry and showed them how wearable tech can be used to create something that is fashionable and FUNctional.
The girls listened intently, asked relevant questions and we could see their minds already ticking to how they can use wearable technology to improve and enhance their daily lives.
We showed them some of our wearable tech projects and went straight into delivering our workshop.
It was tricky at first with needles and conductive thread to make their pretty gloves "smart" by making them touch screen compatible. After getting the hang of it, they all breezed through it quickly before taking a pizza break and we went straight into the halloween light up bracelets.
It was inspiring seeing the girls engaging in the workshop, learning about textiles as well as circuitry to make their bracelets light up. We could see the determination in their eyes to make them work and as we ran out of time, some were adamant they would finish their bracelets at home.
By the end of the workshop, not only did their faces light up from a practical, fun and engaging workshop, but they also made their bracelets light up too!
It was great to meet the FDisruptors girls and Debbie Edwards who started this program to make an impact on 10 girls' lives. Upon asking them why they joined her 4 month pilot program, they said they wanted to find out how they can learn about technology and where it could take them in the future. FDisruptors certainly does that with Debbie's guidance, support and leadership.
It was fantastic to be part of FDisruptors because we were given the opportunity to teach and pass on our knowledge to young girls and make an impact on their lives.
We'd like to thank the Awesome Liverpool Fund which allowed local creative projects like ours get off the ground and bring joy to the people of Liverpool.
We learnt that collaboration with 3 partners made this possible for 10 young girls; 2 start-ups and a local fund; FDisruptors who had the vision and idea, Women of Wearables who are aligned with FDisruptor's vision and could deliver the outcomes and Awesome Liverpool who believed in us to provide the funding.
We also discovered that Liverpool has a great thriving creative, digital and tech community that we couldn’t help but feel inspired from our visit to Launch22. We will definitely spend more time there and deliver more wearable tech workshops to the people of Liverpool.
For more information on how we won funding from the Awesome Liverpool Fund and the impact of the Trustees' altruistic acts, find out more here.
If you would like to help Debbie and inspire 10 young girls in Liverpool, contact Debbie at Debbie@FDisruptors.com.
And if you would like to learn more about our WoW Wearable Tech workshops, find out more here!