About Us
Cambridge Science Centre is all about empowering children and young people to discover science for themselves through hands-on activities.
Our charity exists to:
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Spark scientific curiosity within every child
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Fuel self-belief in children and young people who doubt their own potential
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Illuminate pathways into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and careers
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Showcase Cambridge science and innovation.
We do this by engaging directly with people of all ages through our schools and community outreach programmes. As an educational charity, we help establish the value of STEM subjects as vital skills for day-to-day life and future careers.
We do this by engaging directly with people of all ages through our schools and community outreach programmes. As an educational charity, we help establish the value of STEM subjects as vital skills for day-to-day life and future careers.
We make science fun
All our science activities are hands-on and interactive. Young people learn best when they get the chance to explore and experiment for themselves in an informal and playful environment.
We make science friendly
Our staff are tremendously talented, friendly communicators. Their energy and enthusiasm captures the imagination and attention of children of all ages. This creates positive memories, and helps sow those all-important seeds of curiosity in young minds.
We make science easy to find
We take our love of science out into the community by providing a wide range of fun and transportable exhibits and activities. These can be taken to schools, town halls, churches, city centre shops, sports halls – in fact almost anywhere! This allows us to reach out to all communities including those disadvantaged and disengaged communities (young people with low ‘science capital’).
How many people do we reach?
In the community
Our reach has been impressive with over 39,000 people engaged as part of our community pop-ups in 2022.
And this has taken place in a huge range of places from the Cambridge Festival to Queensgate Shopping Centre in Peterborough; from the North Cambridge Community Partnership Centre to the Big Biology Day at Hills Road school. We’ve been constantly on the road appearing at over 30 community events over the year.
School outreach
Demand for our fabulous outreach to schools has gone through the roof! As the restrictions of the pandemic end, teachers are desperate for the energy and excitement of in-person delivery. Consequently, 2022 has been our busiest year ever for delivery in schools across the region!
2022 has seen us engage over 8,500 students and 679 teachers across 100 visits, many of which were part of our multi-day Roadshows which turn school halls into Science Centres.
“The children all found the talk extremely interesting and they particularly enjoyed the practical creating the food web using the string. They also had lots of interesting questions, so thank you to the facilitators for taking the time to listen to the children and answer their questions so thoroughly.”
St Matthew's School - Primary Assembly