Like many institutions, Barclays Bank recognises that digital literacy is an essential component of modern life. It was for this reason that, back in 2013, the bank launched its Digital Eagles initiative. Branch volunteers offered to give up their time and skills to teach members of the community how to get online, perform web searches, use email and video chat, and of course how to use online banking.

The Digital Eagles have since expanded, and the project now includes an initiative to get kids coding, called Code Playground. This is more than just a website, however. Digital Eagles now run monthly sessions at branches and other venues, all over the country, where kids aged from seven to 17 can come along and learn the pleasures of coding.

So what has this to do with Raspberry Pi? Well, where there’s kids and code, the Raspberry Pi is sure to follow. Last week, the Foundation’s education team hauled themselves down to the marble-and-glass palaces of Canary Wharf to deliver workshops to a group of specially selected Digital Eagles, that they might then cascade the training down to their colleagues, and bring Raspberry Pi to Code Playgrounds all over the country.

https://twitter.com/jodielou14/status/664033143750590464/photo/1

It was a spectacularly successful day, as we ripped through sessions on physical computing with Scratch, the new GPIO Zero library, hacking the world of Minecraft, and motion-triggered animations with the Sense HAT.

I should, by now, be accustomed to the excitement and sense of achievement that people get from blinking an LED with the touch of a button and a few lines of Python, yet each time I see it happen it brings a smile to my face and renewed enthusiasm for the Foundation’s educational mission.

Loving my @Raspberry_Pi training today just made my traffic light flash using Python & a button ? @Digitaleagles pic.twitter.com/EozSuI4DfO

— Charlotte Snell (@Snell2512) November 10, 2015

The Sense HAT, in particular, went down a storm. The unique combination of sensors and the LED display means that you can jump right into physical computing with ease. Several of the Digital Eagles mentioned that they thought the little device would be a perfect addition to the Code Playgrounds, and couldn’t wait to get using it with the kids who attend.

So my bear gets angry when you shake him! @Raspberry_Pi training for @Digitaleagles #CodePlaygrounds pic.twitter.com/bk7kSWUXgp

— Charlotte Snell (@Snell2512) November 10, 2015

So now it’s over to the Digital Eagles! Soon, Raspberry Pis, Sense HATs, CamJam EduKits and a variety of other goodies will be wending their way to Barclays Bank branches the length and breadth of the country. There the Eagles will be able to pass on their new-found skills and spread the joys that the Raspberry Pi can bring to the next generation of eager coders. We’ll be sure to report back to you on their progress and successes in the near future, so keep checking the blog for updates, or maybe check out a Code Playground near you!