Virtual Garden Project at Parklea Branching Out

Things have been busy with our Virtual Garden project at Parklea; three of the young people have been documenting their work around the gardens through videography and blogging.

Virtual Garden is a project in partnership with Parklea Branching Out, a local voluntary organisation who use horticulture and their community garden to provide a variety of support services to adults and young people with additional support needs or mental health problems. Virtual Garden is funded by Children in Need and is helping young people build 'digital portfolios' of their work around the community garden. Through varied sessions that stem from website building to videography, the project gives the young people an opportunity to develop essential skills in technology, team work and creative thinking.

Colin, Ryan and Aidan took part in our website design sessions, and also in camera and video editing workshops throughout January and February. The videos displayed here were filmed and edited entirely by them.

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Colin, Ryan and Aidan will be finishing off their websites / digital portfolios this week, complete with lots of video and photography content accumulated over the last few months. They have become proficient in using Canon cameras, website builders and Adobe Premiere Pro. If you would like to hear more about the project, check back soon for links to their portfolios and individual blogs.

Virtual Garden is delivered every Friday morning at Parklea Branching Out in Port Glasgow.

Leading The Fight Against Online Cyber Attacks

Software Training Scotland (STS) is leading the fight to help protect small businesses from cyber-attacks through additional support from Scottish Enterprise.

STS is a Cyber Essentials practitioner and we have already carried out over twenty Cyber Essentials certifications for local businesses to help protect them from 85% of all cyber attacks.

SME’s in Scotland can apply for the Scottish Enterprise voucher scheme to get financial assistance with achieving their Cyber Essentials certification. The Scottish enterprise provides SME’s with a voucher up to the value of £1000 to reimburse companies for the cost of gaining their Cyber Essentials certification.

Some of the businesses that have taken advantage of the voucher scheme so far include AGM Group in Glasgow, The Balmore Group Scotland, Coffee Conscience, Homefinders, Swordfish Signs, BEP Signs, ARB Growth and Remix Hairdressers in Gourock.  

Roddy MacPhail, Business Development Manager of AGM Group, had this to say about AGM’s experience in becoming accredited:

“Software Training Scotland provided us with all of the advice and support we required to gain Cyber Essentials Certification. 

“I am grateful for their every effort, the way they instantly understood our IT and integrated with our team. They could not have been more helpful or accommodating”

Unfortunately, it is becoming more common for more organisations to be targeted, and seeking help after a cyber-attack decreases the likelihood of a full recovery. Thankfully, Cyber Essentials is a relatively easy certification to obtain for businesses, especially through the Scottish Enterprise Voucher scheme.

Cyber Essentials certification is vital for local businesses; it highlights that an organisation takes cyber security seriously, but more importantly, it protects that organisation with a baseline of security measures that dispel 85% of all cyber attacks.

If this is of interest to you and your business, you can contact us here at STS to take care of your Cyber Essentials needs, and with the Scottish Enterprise Voucher Scheme covering costs, it has never been easier to for your business to confidently stay safe and secure in the digital world.

Any businesses keen to learn more can click here :

https://www.softwaretrainingscotland.co.uk/cyberessentials.

 The Scottish Enterprise Voucher Scheme can be found here :

https://www.scottish-enterprise.com/learning-zone/business-guides/components-folder/business-guides-listing/keep-your-business-cyber-secure/cyber-security-voucher-enquiry