Member Article

Mentors wanted on Teesside

Following the news that Institute of Digital Innovation (IDI) has secured £5 million in funding to deliver DigitalCity Fellowships for the next three years, the University of Teesside-based project is looking to recruit more professional mentors.

The IDI currently has around 40 mentors who work with its fellows on creative and technical projects. Each mentor provides essential one-to-one support to graduates working in industries such as video games design, photography, mobile technologies and medical projects. The mentor provides the expertise to help the fellow produce work to industry standard, develop existing skills and take their ideas to market.

The DigitalCity Fellowship Scheme provides financial support and facilities for regional graduates to develop digital and media-related companies or portfolios of work. The main aim of the scheme is to retain talent and increase business opportunities in the North East.

The fellowship scheme has been running for four years and the mentoring provides vital industry contacts to help the fellows develop their ideas. Past mentors have included Bob the Builder creator, Curtis Jobling, and music video director Richard Fenwick.

Scott Watson, enterprise co-ordinator for DigitalCity, said: “The mentoring support has always been a popular part of our fellowship programme because it provides our fellows with vital links to their chosen industry.

“We are now looking to increase our pool of professional mentors who come from a diverse range of backgrounds and areas. We are keen to hear from anyone, in any area of the UK, with the expertise to mentor the development of new ideas for research or business and who has the desire to support new talent emerging and growing in the North East.”

Anyone interested in becoming a mentor should contact DigitalCity’s Cheryl Evans on 01642 384324 or Cheryl@thedigitalcity.org.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .