PIXIES may be the stuff of fairytales but they’re making career wishes come true for a group of Oxfordshire mums.

The 12 women have been chosen for a six-month Tech Pixies project, targeting those who have been out of the workplace because of caring for children or elderly relatives.

Candidates learn digital marketing skills and are paired with local firms and charities to gain hands-on experience.

Organisations receive social media and marketing support, while Pixies gain valuable experience and references.

The project, which started in November, is based at Iffley church hall and is designed to fit around school hours.

Tech Pixie and mum-of-three Emma Woo, 35, from East Oxford, worked as a PA for a charity before becoming a stay-at-home mum eight years ago.

She explained: “I was perfectly confident before I had children but there is something about being at home with a child and being undervalued that seeps into you.

“Now, my confidence is coming back and it feels great.”

Entrepreneur Joy Foster, who came up with the idea, lives in East Oxford with husband, former Olympic rower Tim and their two children.

She said: “We could have just run this as one-off digital workshops but I didn’t feel that would have such a lasting effect.

“I knew how well women work together and how good it is being in the same room and learning together.”

Mrs Foster added: “Every woman on the project has a degree and a couple were marketing executives before they had children but couldn’t get jobs because they didn’t have the right tech skills.”

The former archery champion said confidence is often low among women who have been out of the workplace, so an important element of the project was providing a life coach to boost self-esteem.

She explained: “There is a crisis of confidence among women who have been at home with children. They don’t think what they have been doing is significant, even though it’s incredibly so.

“It’s about reminding them not only that they have a skill set but that they have the ability to learn new skills.”

Organisations who have taken on a Tech Pixie include the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Justice in Motion, Restore and the Emmanuel Christian School in Littlemore.

Funding for the £20,000 project came mainly from the government’s Equalities Office, via Better Broadband for Oxfordshire and the Oxfordshire County Council.

For more information, see techpixies.com