The Scottish Tech Army was founded in April 2020 as a response to the challenges facing many charities which suddenly found themselves unable to deliver their services face to face. Online solutions were in many cases going to be the only way to reach those in need – but the charities were often missing the necessary in-house skills and know-how to design and implement them. At the same time many tech professionals with valuable skills found themselves furloughed, redundant or otherwise out of work. Recognising an opportunity to bring these two groups together in a mutually beneficial way, the Scottish Tech Army founders reached out on social media asking for volunteers and the tech sector responded magnificently. Since then we’ve delivered or are working on more than 200 projects across the country.

Projects include organisations like Young Enterprise Scotland, a Glasgow-based charity that works across Scotland with pupils in primary, secondary and tertiary education to inspire and equip them with entrepreneurial skills. We’ve helped them accelerate their plans to deliver their services online with appropriate safeguarding in place. Geoff Leask of YES heard about us online in May 2020 and says “it was like manna from heaven” to find there was a group of people coming together to help charities and other organisations.

Another example is Gregarious Chinwag, a community support group that helps people connect and make new friendships in south east Edinburgh. We helped founder, Jean Duncan, get online and set up with management tools so that she could continue to offer her community such a vital service at this time of social isolation. Jean told us “knowing that the Scottish Tech Army is out there and willing to help is wonderful”.

It's not just the organisations we’re helping who benefit from our work. We have a highly engaged volunteer force who have found meaning and purpose in the most difficult of times, helping reduce their sense of isolation and concern for the future. We are building pathways within the Scottish Tech Army to make sure that our volunteers have the opportunity gain as much as they are giving.

We know that over the last nine months the third sector has faced a huge increase in demand and is struggling to cope with a myriad of new challenges. While technology can make a big difference, we know you have limited time to do the necessary research and often lack the resources to take full advantage of the digital opportunities available. This is where the Scottish Tech Army can help. While staying true to our original mission to bring rapid delivery of tech solutions to the sector, we are now much more than a crisis response project. We are an enduring force for tech for good in Scotland. With more than 1,400 volunteers to draw upon, we are here to show you what’s possible and work with you to deliver meaningful impact to the way you operate.

You can submit your support requests via our website www.scottishtecharmy.org where you’ll also find blogs and podcasts about the work we’re doing. You can also follow us on social media, thanks to our volunteer digital marketing team.