In a few days’ time we will be opening our round of grant applications for 2016. As with last year, one of our grant schemes is especially for community groups that work with audiences who are traditionally under-represented or not engaged in science activity.
If you have not previously put on a science event before, please do consider it – of the 50 groups that were awarded grants in 2015, 42 had not previously been involved in British Science Week and over half of respondents surveyed afterwards said that this was the first time that their organisation had run a science event. 72% said that organising a BSW event has made them either “a bit more interested” or “much more interested” in science.
The community groups involved represented 11 out of the 12 regions of the UK; their audiences were drawn from a range of groups including BAME, low socio-economic status, NEETs, those in isolated or rural communities and people with learning disabilities or mental health issues; and events spanned everything from arts and craft activities to science films and trips to local discovery centres.
Read other people’s stories
If you are considering applying for a community grant on behalf of your organisation or group, we have put together four case studies from organisers who successfully applied for grants for British Science Week 2015. Explore their stories here.