This week I am volunteering at the Young Rewired State centre in Edinburgh.

Young Rewired State (YRS) is a national event running during a week in early August where young people from up and down the country gather in centres to sit and make something with the help of volunteer mentors from the local area.

This year the theme is open data with the participants taking data from a variety of sources to try and make something interesting from it.

A quick scan of the hashtag #YRS2012 will reveal both the number of projects people are working on, the passion of both the kids and the mentors is teaching and demonstration their skills, and the fun people are having.

We have only two kids here at the Edinburgh centre, being hosted by the University of Edinburgh’s School of Informatics in Appleton Tower and the Mentors outnumber the participants by 2:1. This has not been a problem as the expertise of the mentors is reasonably well spread.

The knowledge and enthusiasm that the teenagers brought here has been breathtaking. Within 3 hours of getting here they had already selected their project and had got down to it.

It has been called Project F, mostly started as a joke, but it kind of stuck. All to be released shortly as soon as they get it working. But they are presenting at Edinburgh Techmeetup tonight so hopefully they will have something working by then.

I am enjoying myself. I have always enjoyed teaching and teaching people who actively want to learn is a joy.

We head down to Birmingham on Friday for the Festival of Code. Centres from all over the country will gather in the Custard Factory to hear presentations, win awards, eat pizza, and generally have good time.