Annual Report

It's that time of the year to compile our annual report and reflect on the accomplishments of the past reporting session.

We are delighted to share the notable milestones and initiatives achieved by dressCode, a non-profit charity dedicated to closing the gender gap in Computing Science.

**Initiatives:**
1. Launched a Halloween Coding competition for primary and secondary pupils in the UK and Ireland.
2. Introduced the Turing Award for Excellence in Computing Science and the Hopper Award, offering two free awards for every secondary school in Scotland.
3. Ran annual Christmas coding competition and Cyber Advent Calendar for both primary and secondary pupils.
4. Launched Hopper and Turing certificates for all primary schools, fostering excellence in Computing Science from Nursery to Primary 7.
5. Hosted a dressCode hackathon with Scottish Power and the University of Glasgow.
6. Halloween competition was part of the code week EU.

**Partnerships:**
- Supported the Digi Inventors Challenge for schools in Scotland and Dubai for the second year.
- Engaged with universities and industry partners for various events and hackathon.
- Sponsored the Tech Tour 500 initiative, inspiring pupils into Computing Science in the Highlands and Islands, an exclusive competition.

**Ada Scotland Festival:**
Participated in the Ada Scotland Festival for the 3rd consecutive year. Participants all working to address gender balance in Computing Science education.

**Significant Events:**
- Toni was awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree from RGU for dedication to computing science education and advancing women in technology.
- Attended the Point of Light celebration at 10 Downing Street and met the Prime Minister.
- Delivered talks at various events, raising awareness of the landscape of Computing Science in Scotland.
- Toni being recognised as the 17th most influential person in UK tech.
- Invited to Morgan Stanley's podcast and featured in Ada Scotland event.
- Special guest speech at St David’s High School, awarding the first Hopper Award.

**Specific Goals:**
Our aim is to close the gender gap in Computing Science and increase its uptake at the school level, fostering a sustainable tech talent pipeline from the classroom.

Toni Scullion, the founder of dressCode, accomplishes all this in her spare time. dressCode reaches thousands of pupils and engages with teachers across the country through our various initiatives.

We're immensely proud of what we've achieved and will be included in our annual report. Thank you for your continued support!