More Than Code: The Story of Code Club, with Owen Cutajar
Event Details
How one person's passion became a Saturday club that beats the rest of the British Isles. A fireside chat with Owen Cutajar.
In 2022, two teams of Isle of Man teenagers went to London for a cyber security competition. They finished second out of roughly 400 teams from across the British Isles. A later team went back and won it outright.
They came from a volunteer-run Saturday club with no payroll, no office, and £15 a year in membership. Owen Cutajar started it and still chairs it.
He built all of it around a full-time career.
This one is called "More Than Code" for a reason. It is not a talk about programming. It is a talk about turning a personal passion into something that outlasts you.
What we will get into:
The passion first: why he started it, and what he thought it would be
Getting people behind an idea when you cannot pay any of them
Building momentum on borrowed rooms, donated kit and £15 a year
The bit nobody warns you about: keeping it alive after year two
Where the island's next developers actually come from
What a close-knit island lets you build that a city genuinely does not
The honest version of what has not worked
You will leave with practical lessons in turning a personal passion into something that lasts: bringing people behind an idea, building momentum with limited resources, and making the most of the Isle of Man's close-knit community.
Who it is for:
Founders and builders. Anyone running something on the side of a job. Anyone who has ever said "someone should start a…" and then not started it. Technical or not, it does not matter.
Free to attend. Will be recorded for YouTube.
Where: Launchpad Event Space, Hillary House, Prospect Hill, Douglas, IM1 1EQ
When: Tuesday 6 October 2026, 17:30
Hosted by Launchpad, the Isle of Man's Builder's Playground.