Sidmouth Science Festival Sidmouth Science Festival Trustees, Annual Report 06 April 2023 to 05 April 2024 Sidmouth Science Festival. also known as SSF Registered Charity No. 1168115 Bickwell Gardens, Stadway Meadow. Sidmouth EX10 8TB Trustees Michael Pincock- Chairman Rita Hedley- Treasurer David Bramley Peter Daniel Robert Miles Christopher Lockyear Alan Clarke Introduction The Iwelfth Sidmouth Science FestiV81 was held from 6" to 15" October 2023. This report provides an overview of the festival activities as part of the annual submission of accounts to the Charity Commission. In addition to this event. it should be noted that Science Festival related activities were held throughout the yearwith the wider community. It is also writlen to acknowledge that the festival demands some 1.5 man-years of effort from over 100 volunteers. The organisers are grateful to all of Ihe sponsors. volunteers, f riends and attendees who made the events possible by giving their time and skills freely. This year some 34 local and national groups took part. Structure, Governance and Management Sidmouth Science Festival is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation governed by a Constitution (adopted 28 June 2016} for which the onlyvoting members are its charitytrustees I"Foundation" modell- The Trustees are supported by an overarching committee that is responsible for organisingthe main festival and complementary events throughout the year. This. in turn. is supported by three subgroups that focus in detail on the festival programme. funding and communications. Trustees are appointed or reappointed as set out in the Constitution at the Annual Gener81 Meeting. This year a number of changes were made. The role of Chairman was changed to Michael Pincock. The previous Chairman. David Bramley remains a Trustee. Pamela Burtt stepped down from the trustees. including her role as Secretary. The Secretary duties have been taken up by the Chairman.
Sidmouth Science Festival Whilst the SSF has no formal relationship with other organisations it works in close collaboration with the Norman Lockyer Observatory, Exeter U niversity, Sid Vale Association. Jurassic Coast Trust, the Met Office, Local Councils, Devonshire Association. Art Society ot Sidmouth, Institute of Physics, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, East Devon Schools and many other local and national scientific organisations. All trustees and subgroups give their time voluntarily and receive no remuneration or other benefits. Objectives The objectives of the Sidmouth Science Festival. as outlined in the SSF Constitution, are as follows.. to inform, to inspire, to promote and to advance the education of the public in science, technology, engineering and mathematical ISTEMI disciplines. The aim is to show how these disciplines impact on our everyday lives by integrating science, art. music. comedy and drama with serious technical events. The aim ofthe festival is to reach out to all parts of the community, particularly those who would not normally engage with STEM subjects such as the more socially disadvantaged orthose less conf dent with respect to this subject matter. In addition, Sidmouth Science Festival aims to play a part in promoting STEM subjects as a career option for young people and reinforce the importance of STEM subjects to our Society. While the emphasis is on the - currently annual- festival itself, Sidmouth Science Festival also organises STEM focused events all year round. Sidmouth Science Festival will focus its 8Ctivities on the Sid Valley and East Devon In planning and carrying out activities, we keep in mind the Charity Commission's Guidance on public benef it. Activities The 2023 Sidmouth Science Festival, the twelfth, attracted 3,200 attendances across 80 events with most people coming from the East Devon area but some from much further afield. This number does not include those who have watched the talks on YouTube after the Festival. It was promoted locally on Facebook. X and Instagram. We asked attendees for three words to describe their exp8rienGe. The most common were Fun, Great, Interesting, Amazing. Exciting, Educational, Creative and Informative. Super Science Saturday Super Science Saturday was. as usual, held on the first Saturday of the Festival. This year it benef itted f rom good weather with 1.400 visitors and 49 volunteers on this day alone. Hands-on activities were well attended and further enhanced by the Make and Take marquee on the lawn at Kennaway House. The day provided an opportunity for the public to engage with a whole range of schools, institutions, university outreach and other public bodies in a wide variety of STEM re18ted activities. Contributors included the Met Office, University ot Exeter Optics and Photonics, Exeter Science Centre. Exeter Maths School. Exeter School, University of Exeter Outreach, Royal Geographical Society, Geologists Association, Devonshire Association IGeology Section), Institute of Physics, Institute of Civil Engineers, Royal Society of Chemistry, Exmouth U3A and Colyton Grammar School.
Sidmouth Science Festival The Geology Hub continued to be very popular with talks as well as hands on activities. Subjects of talks included The Giant Granite Boulders of Hueigoat, Sea Level Changes and Cave Records in South Devon. The Great Giant Clam Hunt and New Fossil Discoveries from the Triassic Red Rocks of Sidmouth. In addition, the Methodist Church Hall was a hub for making things to take home with Technology for Fun. Darlh Vader was also to be seen wandering around between the venues and around town. FamiLy Fun Day The Family Fun Day was. as usual. held on the frnal Sunday of the Festival at the Norman Lockyer Observatory INLOI. This year the day was sunny and the event was especiallywell attended. There was plenty to do with Space Detectives, Sciencedipity, Science Boffins, Leonardo Helicopters and the ever- popular jet Car races, as well as access to the Historic Domes, Planetarium and Storytelling. A talk on I nterstellar Tours was given by Brian Clegg. Other Activities During Festival Week There was a wide variety of activitles held throughout the week at a range of venues around the town. T81ks during the week at the various venues were again ot a high calibre with over 20 speakers: Science in the Pub took place at the Blue Ball in Sidford with fascinating talks from the University of Exeter and the Science FestivalTeam. Emily Summers, Project Development Engineer with Simply Blue Group gave the Ada Lovelace Day talk on Floating Offshore Wind Projects on behalf of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Dr Andy Middlebrook gave us the lowdown on the Pros and Cons of the latest sports. technology: Stonehenge was the subject of the Art Society of Sidmouth talk given by Dr Julian Richards: a visit to the Knowle Flood Relief Scheme was preceded by 8 t81k about the flood defence by Paul Hargreaves and Gloria Rugual Munoz from Jacobs Engineering. This was followed by another local topic from Professor Brian Golding on Severe Thunderstorm Warnings. Professor Ashe Toye gave a particularly interesting talk on Lab Grown Blood and Freya Thomson-Alberts talked about ¢ons8rvation at th8 National Marine Aquarium Plymouth. An Environment Day was held on the first Sunday which was based around food and food production. The day was enhanced by presentations from a group of Italian students from Sidmouth International School. On the final S8turday, Colin Walls ran a very popular robot workshop. In Kennaway House there was a successful Biodiversity Day with well-attended talks about Pine Marten5, Butterflies, The Rivers Sid and Camel and the very topical River S8wag8 Pollution Scandal. Visits this year were to the Energy from W8Ste p18nt ai Exeter, walks were fungi recognition and a Harvest Mouse Nest Survey as well as History walks around the Norman Lockyer Observatory. The Observatory also provided two evenings of live streaming of their telescopes. The Festival has 8 very strong Schools 'progr8mme too with over 800 primary school pupils benetitting from the workshops, comprising 11 hands-on activities across 12 local schools. EDDC countryside rangers led workshops in kick samplingand bug hunts in the Byes in Sidmouth and on the Riverotter in Newton Poppleford with Sidmouth CE. St John's International and Newton Poppleford Primary Schools. Year 516 from St John's International School and Sidmouth Primary took part in a tree search provided by Sidmouth Arboretum and Year 516 from Sl John's International School also did stream flow measurement in the Sid. This year's Schools. Art competition was on the theme ofweather. This resulted in 1400 hexagons from 11 schools being produced by the schools and exhibited at Kennaway House. The Primary schools contributingwere.. Awliscombe. Feniton, Newton Poppleford, Offwell, Payhembury, Sidbury, Sidmouth, St. John's. Tipton St John, West Hill and Whimple.
Sidmouth Science Festival Sidmouth College benefitted from a visit from Engineer Hannah Nobbs, Dorset and Somerset Air ambulance and Years 7 and 8 had a Science Magic Showwith lan Dunne who also gave a performance at the Youth Club. Financial Review Monies are raised each year to finance each festival and are spent on running costs. We do not have property, or assets or salaried staff to support on an ongoing basis. Any surplus money raised in any given year is used as a float to support the running costs of the following year's festival. There are no funds in deficit. Our annual Accounts are shown as an Appendixto this Report. This year the SSF received more income than in previous years. and the float currently stands at about one year's expenditure. This is higher than the target outlined in our reseNes policy but we expect this to be temporary. We continue to be heavily reliant upon grants but anticipate increased expenditure due to higher cost of facilities hi re, higher payments to professional presenters and increased use of paid 'back orfice. support in response to technology and social media developments. Reserves PoLicy The SSF is highly dependent on grants and on donations from attendees at the Science Festival, levels of which are uncertain f rom year to year. Financial commitments are required well in adv8nce of the festival and before the status of grants is known. Afurther consideration is to make sure there is a minimum level of funds available to meet commitments in case the charity had to be wound down unexpectedly at a time of maximum financial exposure legjust before Festival Weekl. In practice, this means holding enough f unds to cover the following year. Future Plans We aim to sustain an annual Sidmouth Science Festival and related activities, keeping its tried and tested format whilst incorporating innovation and current scientific research. Where possible we will reach out to new audiences in the Sid Valley and East Devon. Declaration The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees, report above. Signed on behalf of the charity's trustees: Name.. Michael Pincock Position: Chairman Signature- Date: I f[?/25
Sidmouth Science Festival Annual Accounts submitted to the Charity Commission CHARITY COMMISSION FOFI ENGLAND ANO WAIES Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the porlod from To Section A Recei ts and ments Unr05tilcted funds R•strl¢l•d tunds Endowtneiil funds Total funds La•t year to th• n•or•4t to th• n••r•4¢£ to th• rw•sl e A1 R•co1 ts GranLS and $ Advoitisin 9,718 17,711 12J• 2.566 2,058 550 I,so• 2,437 916 kei sal¢ Other 2.651 550 Sub total(Gmss incom8 lorAR) A2 Assot and Investmont $al•s, s•• tabl• 15.400 23,4 1J,160 Sub total Tol41 r•c¢lpl8 15.490 9,000 2J,4 13,160 AJP m•nts Communicattong 382 vtrues ano 110sPrtallty S4k*fI, pronIers, evenli Geneiai admin 795 235 Sub total 6,000 17,809 1•,2J2 A4 Assèt and Invgslmont urchas•s sé• t•bl• Sub total Totalpaym•nt$ 9,809 8,000 17,109 18262 Net of r¢e¢lplW(wym•nt8J A5 Transfors botw•en funds A6 Cash funds last y•ar end Ca•h lundJ th1• year end 5,681 S.102 11.B37 17.519 16.939 11,837