After two years of helping to shape the future of our Charity, our amazing and award-winning Young Steering Group are ready to pass the torch to a new group of children. To congratulate them on their hard work and successes we invited all the members of the Group and their families, plus our new members and their families, to a celebration evening.
The event marked the achievements of the current cohort and welcomed the next group of inquisitive young minds, ready to help shape the work that our Charity does. From playing on the exhibits to painting plant pots to drawing their favourite things about science and nature, the evening was endless fun! And in The Planetarium, the children took a trip down memory lane with a video of some of the highlights from their time with us, including a special message from our Patron Megan McCubbin.
The current group's ideas and opinions have been invaluable in helping us understand what really matters to children when it comes to science. They have been our activity and workshop testers, they've provided feedback to make sure we continue to create the best science experiences possible and they have made sure we continue to make the Science Centre a fun and inclusive place for all our visitors. The Group played an instrumental role in the development of an outdoor science engagement programme, with some of their suggestions being made into actual activities that visitors to the Science Centre can now enjoy – like our brand-new outdoor Natural World Exploration workshop for schools in collaboration with Butterfly Conservation! Their passion and dedication for volunteering was also recognised, when they were presented with the Marsh Volunteer Youth Prize Award.
Joshua, aged seven, said: “Being in the group has made me feel good inside, it helps me feel like I know more and have experiences and knowledge to share.”
Iva, aged nine, said: “It was so fun, and it really means a lot to me. It made me feel like being neurodivergent was really easy, fun and educational and wasn’t hard. I didn’t tell you I was neurodivergent. Well, I am! And for me, it’s really hard to learn and for it to be fun and coming here made it easy to learn and be in a fun place too.”
Ellie said: “I’m really grateful for this amazing opportunity, so thank you so much! I’ve had a lot of fun, and it has been really good to meet other people around my age who love science as much as me.“
Ben Ward, Chief Executive of Wonderseekers, said: “Working alongside these young people over the past two years has been a real privilege. Together they have made a huge impact on the work our Charity does. I want to thank them all for their dedication and support. I’m also really excited to welcome the new group to the Wonderseekers team. I’m looking forward to hearing all of their thoughts on science and I can’t wait to see what we will achieve together over the coming months.”
This is part of our Charity’s mission to create more science experiences for children, co-created with children. Find out more about our fantastic Young Steering Group.
