2025-09-30-accounts - The Somerscience Trust

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Trustees' Annual Report for the period

	Period start date	Period start date			Period end date
From	01	10	2024	To	30 09	2025

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name The Somerscience Trust

Other names charity is known by Registered charity number (if any) 1198113

Charity's principal address 12 Westrow Road Southampton Postcode SO15 2LY

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (ifany)
Alan Champneys	Chair	Continuous as Trustee. Chair from July2025	-
Gavin Costigan	Secretary & Treasurer	Continuous as Trustee. Secretary & Treasurer from July2025	-
Christopher Budd	Safeguardinglead	Continuous	-
Darren Wilson	Trustee	Continuous	-
LucySmith	Trustee	Continuous	-
Teresa Colleen Bower	Trustee & Chair	Until April 2025	-
Simon Connell	Trustee & Treasurer	Until June 2025	-

Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)

Name Dates acted if not for whole year

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Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)	Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)	Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
Type of adviser Name Address
Accountants	Linden Accountants Ltd	Scrapstore House, 21 Sevier Street, St Werburghs, Bristol, BS2 9LB

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

None - The Charity has no staff

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the charity’s trusts

Type of governing document Constitution (eg. trust deed, constitution)

How the charity is constituted Charitable Incorporated Organisation (eg. trust, association, company)

Trustee selection methods Appointed by existing trustees (eg. appointed by, elected by)

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:

With the exception of the Founding Trustees, trustees are appointed by a properly constituted meeting of the Trustee Board. They are appointed for a three year term, which is renewable twice.

policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;
the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
relationship with any related parties;
trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.

Section C Objectives and activities

Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document

To advance the education of the public in Somerset in science, technology, mathematics and engineering and to promote public engagement in all aspects of STEM developments for the public benefit.

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The Somerscience Trust organised an annual family science festival on 5 May 2025. This is the primary mechanism that the Somerscience trust uses to deliver public benefit, in accordance with it’s charitable objects. The 2025 festival attracted 5000 visitors. The primary demographic was children attending with their families.

In the post-event survey:

Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)

100% of visitors rated the festival between Good and Excellent – an improvement compared to 2024.
96% of visitors would recommend the festival to their network.
88% of visitors gained more interest in STEM after the festival.
59% gained more interested in a STEM career.
• 91% felt the festival had a positive impact on their belief that STEM is relevant to their daily life.

At least 90% of professional contributors reported Good or Excellent:

The number of interactions they had with target audience.
The level of engagement from the audience.
The quality of interactions had.
Number of visitors (51% rated this as excellent)

We are bringing STEM to the local rural population and developing inspiration and a sense of the future possibilities for careers, learning and wellbeing.

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

All trustees, implementation team members and event assistants on the day are volunteers and we could not offer this festival as a free benefit to the public without their generous contribution of time and expertise.

The Somerscience Trust does not give out grants, nor are its finances sufficient to hold investments.

You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:

policy on grantmaking;
policy programme related investment;
contribution made by volunteers.

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Section D Achievements and performance

We had 6 objectives for this festival round:

Summary of the main achievements of the charity 1. Afford a minimum of 20,000 engagements by young people from
during the year South Somerset. Fully met. Demographic data suggests that 26% of attendees were under the age of 18 (around 1250). 20,000 engagements from this group would require an average interaction with just 16 of the 68 activities on offer.
Recruit at least 80 contributing organisations and 100 discrete activities. Partly met. We had enquiries for closer to 80 organisations, however with the available space and the nature of the activities, the number of organisations was restricted to 60. Of which, 53 were present at the festival.
Achieve a quality experience for participants and attendees. Fully Met. 100% of visitors completing the survey rated the quality of the event between ‘Good’ and ‘Excellent’. Contributors gave the festival an average rating of 8.52/10 in terms of meeting expectations.
Build on the baseline of visitor numbers and demographic profile achieved in the first year. Partly met. Although visitor numbers remained around 5000, for the scale and nature of the event this year, that considered a good number and was matched well with the activities and event space available.
Effect positive change on attitudes towards STEM and STEM careers from visitors leading eventually to a quantitative increase in STEM uptake at choice points and after-school clubs. Partly met. 59% of attendees said the festival made them more likely to consider studying or working in a STEM field. Post festival, ‘Very Positive’ attitudes to STEM became 59%, an increase of 38%. No work has yet been done on tracking changes to uptake of STEM qualifications or destinations, given this is only year 3 of Somerscience. One to monitor in future years.
Positively impact the learning and specific skills development of the apprentice project team. Fully met. The experience gained by the apprentice project team has been invaluable and has led to a more structured and repeatable process to be developed. Thereby improving the sustainability of the festival over the long term, removing reliance on individuals. Key skills learned include Stakeholder Management; Communication; Leadership; Design (2D modelling) and Scheduling/Time management.

Section E Financial review

At The Somerscience Trust we believe in transparency and accountability Brief statement of the in our operations, including the management of reserves. We maintain charity’s policy on reserves reserves for the following reasons: Financial Stability: Reserves act as a financial safety net, providing a cushion to navigate unexpected challenges or economic fluctuations. They help us weather unforeseen events such as economic downturns, changes in donor funding, or emergencies that could impact our ability to carry out our programs and services.

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Programme Continuity: Reserves enable us to sustain ongoing programs and services during periods of uncertainty or when there is a delay in anticipated funding. By having reserves in place, we can ensure that critical activities, such as providing aid to beneficiaries or conducting research, can continue uninterrupted even if there are temporary fluctuations in revenue.

Details of any funds materially in deficit

None – Positive Balance at year end of £7055.

Further financial review details (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about:

the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;

Income is raised each year through a mixture of grants, donations and sponsorship. Grant income comes from trusts and foundations. Corporate Sponsorship of the Somerscience festival comes from companies mainly in the Somerset region.

We spend this money on delivering the annual Somerscience festival.

We have limited reserves each year and therefore we keep these in a savings account. At present there is no need to have a social investment policy.

investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.

Section F Other optional information

Section G Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s)

Full name(s) Gavin Costigan Position (eg Chair, Secretary & Treasurer Secretary, etc)

Date

10/05/2026

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	The Somerscience Trust Charity Name	The Somerscience Trust Charity Name	The Somerscience Trust Charity Name	1198113 No (if any)	CC16a
	For the period from	01/10/2024 Period start date	To	30/09/2025 Period end date

Section A Receipts and payments
A1 Receipts	Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ - - - - 4 - - - 4 - - - 4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4 - - 4	Restricted funds to the nearest £ - 1,000 22,500 6,500 - - - - 30,000 - - - 30,000 12,105 15,515 - - - - - - - 27,620 - - - 27,620 2,380 - 4,664 7,044	Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -	Total funds to the nearest £ - 1,000 22,500 6,500 4 - - - 30,004 - - - 30,004 12,105 15,515 - - - - - - - 27,620 - - - 27,620 2,384	Last year to the nearest £
Charitable activities	-				6,000
Corporate Donations	-				2,200
Grants	-				15,350
Sponsorship	-				650
Other income	4				150
	-				-
	-				-
	-				-
*Sub total*(Gross income for AR)	4				24,350

A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table).
	-
	-				-
*Sub total*	-				-
*Total receipts* A3 Payments
					24,350

Charitable activities	-				16,637
Separate Material Expense Items	-				12,295
	-				-
	-				-
	-				-
	-				-
	-				-
	-				-
	-				-
**Sub total **	-				28,932

A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table)
	-
	-
**Sub total **	-				-
*Total payments* *Net of receipts/(payments)* A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end *Cash funds this year end*
					28,932

	4	2,380	-	2,384	- 4,582
	-	-	-	-	-
	-	4,664	-	4,664	9,246
	4	7,044	-	7,048	4,664

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

10/05/2026

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at	Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at	the end of the period	the end of the period
Categories B3 Investment assets B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B1 Cash funds	Details Details Details *Total cash funds* (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details	Unrestricted funds to nearest £ 4 - - 4 OK Unrestricted funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs	Restricted funds to nearest £ 7,044 - - 7,044 OK Restricted funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - -	Endowment funds to nearest £
				-
				-
				-
				-
				OK
				Endowment funds to nearest £
				-
				-
				-
				-
				-
				-
				Current value (optional)
				-
				-
				-
				-
				-
				Current value (optional)
			-	-
			-	-
			-	-
			-	-
			-	-
			-	-
			-	-
			-	-
			-	-

Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B5 Liabilities	Details Signature	Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name Gavin Costigan	When due (optional)






			Date of approval
		Gavin Costigan	27/02/2026

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

10/05/2026