2025-04-30-annual-report - Science Festivals NI

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OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

The purposes of the charity are to advance the education of the public about science by offering accessible, creative and relevant activities to the broadest possible range of people in particular (but not exclusively) by:

Providing events that enable the broadest possible group of people to have a better understanding of how science is part of, and impacts on, their everyday life;
Providing an annual science festival in Northern Ireland accessible to all members and the public to enable and promote better understanding of how science, technology, engineering, maths and the arts are part of, and impacts on, their everyday life;
Collaborating with local educational institutions, businesses, arts organisations and charities to engage the public with scientific and technological developments;
Providing a platform for the scientists in Northern Ireland and/or United Kingdom and/or Ireland to talk to a diverse audience about what they do, and stimulate interest in their work;
Facilitating dialogue between scientists and the public providing hands on, interactive science events with broad and lasting impact which will encourage increased public engagement across Northern Ireland;
Building relationships with other similar science activities and festivals to share best practice, ideas and resources;
Promote openness about science in society between scientists and the public;
Promote the intercourse of those who cultivate science, particularly through the arts, in different parts of Northern Ireland, the reminder of the United Kingdom, Europe and beyond;
Maintain, developing and extending the social and international relations of science.

In shaping our objectives for the year and planning our activities, the trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.

We review our aims, objectives and activities each year. This review looks at what we achieved and the outcomes of our work in the previous 12 months. The review looks at the success of each key activity and the benefits they have brought to those groups of people we are set up to help.

The review also helps us ensure our aim, objectives and activities remained focused on our stated purposes. We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aim and objectives and in planning our future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Activity

The main activity and duty of the Festival is to run a 12 day Festival taking place in February. This took place across over 110 venues across Northern Ireland with live events for all ages. We had over 300

unique events and performances, which consisted of a mixture of international and local speakers, with events developed by both the Festival and its partners for the public, schools and educators programmes.

Performance

With an audience exceeding 52,500 people, the NI Science Festival exceeded our expectations of what was achievable in a challenging year of cost of living concerns, increased activity and the team working on multiple projects. Audience and stakeholder feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with 92% of respondents saying they were satisfied with the quality and the amount of activities in the programme. 51% of respondents were new visitors to the festival. The NI Science Festival team continues to work exceptionally well together, showing real commitment, flexibility and creativity in delivering a diverse and ambitious programme. Their collaborative approach and strong professional relationships were key to the festival’s continued success.

Our extensive reach has always been important to us and balancing this direct engagement activity alongside that of our partners is key to continuing the connection we have with communities across the whole of Northern Ireland. This year over 46% of the festival was free to attend and 31% was between £1 and £10 per ticket. Regional events increased by 6% this year, with 43% of the public event programme taking place outside Belfast City.

The Festivals partnership with the Nerve Centre continued with the team focusing on delivering the schools programme and assisting the core team with programming the North West programme. This approach paid dividends with the schools programme continuing to grow and develop. Continued investment in the schools programme should be explored as an option in future years.

The quality of events surpassed the high bar reached in previous years, and has shown growth since the effects of the Covid Pandemic have subsided, providing a firm foundation for future consolidation and growth for our twelfth festival in 2026.

Key events

Science Communication skills.

Year two of being a regional hub partner with Queens and Ulster University for FameLab. The project is designed to find and support the next generation of NI Science Festival science communicators and equip them with the skills to engage the public in their research in an exciting and engaging way. The process provides training and support to upskill researchers in best practice for communicating their research to the general public. FameLab also gives access to a worldwide network of trainers and institutions for sharing resources. The second year was more difficult to recruit participants. We had over 40 people for training but only 5 applied for the competition. 4 finalists presenting their work during the festival. The winner Dr Erin McEvoy went on to take part in the UK Final.

Regional Roadshow

The festival is committed to reaching across Northern Ireland and bringing high quality science communication to families through the Regional Roadshow. The tour went to Bangor, Newcastle,

Strabane and Limavady and featured two newly developed shows. With support from ALMAC Group we developed a new show with Scientific Sue - Chemistry and the Celts and Look Closer, a mini lab and film activity for young children developed with Queens University and CBeebies. Chemistry and the Celts has since been performed in venues throughout the Island of Ireland at various other science festivals and celebrations.

Foyle Science Showcase

After the success of the showcase in 2024 we brought back the Foyle Science Showcase to the Foyle arena in Derry-Londonderry. We had over 1000 attend the public day and over 600 at the schools and community groups day. Featuring stands from Loughs Agency, Acorn Farms, various AR/VR and AI based events from the Ulster University, CCA, Nerve Centre, Kainos and Geoenergy NI. We were excited to be able to have a mini Planetarium from the W5 team, plus live shows from Mark The Science Guy and The Big Maths Gameshow with Kyle Evans.

Spread Across NI

The NI Science Festival continues to demonstrate its commitment to ensuring audiences across Northern Ireland can access innovative and inspiring science engagement. In year three of our work on Rathlin Island, we strengthened partnerships with the RSPB, Manor House Hotel and Future Island Island, delivering place-based programming that connects communities with local environmental science and wildlife conservation.

Beyond the coast, we expanded our geographical reach with events delivered at the Marble Arch Caves in Fermanagh, celebrating the unique geological heritage of the region, to walks on Divis Mountain, tasting chocolate in Kilkeel and looking at the stars in Hilltown. Further activity across rural and urban venues enabled us to engage with new audiences and deepen participation in areas traditionally underserved by major cultural events.

National Museums NI partnership

The Festival worked with National Museums NI and presenter Grace Webb to curate a new show ‘Graces Marvellous MAchines’ which took place across two days in the Rail Gallery in Cultra. 97% of attendees said they would like to see more events like this at the Transport Museum.

We also partner with the team at the Ulster Museum to bring back the successful Late Lab night, reimaging it as Late Late Love Lab for valentines night. With speakers from the National History Museum, Wild Belfast, tattoos of objects from the museum collection, talks by curators and music. Feedback praised the accessible, informal format and unique opportunity to engage with science in a fun, social setting.

Year Round Programme

Over 6500 people were engaged in our year round programme of events including: Our Stories Festival as part of Belfast 2024

Power Plants

Brink Summer Solstice

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Reserves policy and going concern

Reserves are needed to bridge the timing gap between spending and receiving of income and to cover unplanned temporary shortfalls in income should they arise. Holding adequate reserves safeguards the provision of our services in the event of unexpected significant financial pressures. The organisation is currently dependent on a small number of key funders to sustain its activities. This means that if there were to be a gap in this income or a funder(s) did not commit to the next Festival, Science Festivals NI would face significant financial pressure threatening its contractual commitment to deliver a Festival and the future sustainability of the organisation. To mitigate risks associated with funding difficulties the board has agreed to set a target level of financial reserves to ensure that main operations can continue and the organisation can still deliver its primary objective of delivering a Festival each year.

Unrestricted reserves freely available to spend, therefore excluding fixed assets, restricted reserves and designated reserves amounted to £ which was in line with the target level. The trustees believe this represents a sufficient level of reserve to ensure that the going concern assumption is appropriate.

PLANS FOR FUTURE PERIODS

Science Festivals NI is continuing to grow in scale and had a strategic review in 2023-24 to plan for the next four years of the festival, with further planning and a new website due in November 2025. The organisation is also planning to continue to grow its reach and range of events throughout Northern Ireland.

Cost of Living Crisis

The trustees are mindful of the risk to the festival due to the cost of living crisis which will affect funders and audiences. The festival will continue to provide free or low cost events for people across Northern Ireland and look at new funding pathways to protect the organisation.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing Document

Science Festivals NI is a company limited by guarantee governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 15th April 2014. Science Festivals NI is a registered charity with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. Science Festivals NI is a membership organisation each of whom agrees to contribute £1 in the event of the charity winding up.

Appointment of trustees

The Chairperson and the Trustees recruit and select new Trustees as needed. New Trustees are recruited on the relevance of their professional skills, and their potential to be able to make a helpful contribution to the governance of the charity. As part of the recruitment process they are made aware of a Trustees' legal obligations under charity and company law, the content of the Memorandum and Articles of Association,

the committee and decision making processes, the business plan and recent financial performance of the charity.

Once the potential new Trustee has agreed to be considered for appointment to the role, the Trustees meet to review and to vote on the candidates' suitability for appointment. If there is unanimous agreement their names are then proposed for appointment to the voting Members of the Company at the next Annual General Meeting.

TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES IN RELATION TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The trustees (who are also directors of Science Festivals NI for the purpose of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.

Company law requires the trustees to prepare accounts for each financial year. Under company law the trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and the income and expenditure of the charity for that period.

In preparing these accounts, the trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charity's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Independent Examiner

Finegan Gibson Ltd has been re-appointed as independent examiner for the ensuing year.

Signed by order of the trustees

Printed name:

Position: Director

Date: