Lewes Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) Festival 2017

The aim of this application is to support the ongoing development and expansion of the Lewes STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Festival. The festival aims to encourage the general public to take an interest in STEM disciplines while also serving as a showcase for research undertaken in the local community (including the University of Sussex, University of Brighton, and local businesses). The festival provides an efficient way to reach a large audience encompassing STFC's key target demographics as outlined in the strategic roadmap. The event complements other education and public outreach activities (for example, the University of Sussex Department of Physics and Astronomy organises a large number of school visits) by more actively engaging with families and the general public.

The first event of the first (2016) Lewes STEM Festival was held on the 23rd April 2016. This event took the form of a "STEM fair" with a range of STEM-related activities aimed predominantly at KS1-3 (ages 5-13) students. Despite limited publicity (a result of the lack of resources) the fair ran at capacity (i.e. we had to operate a one-in one-out policy) attracting ~600 visitors over 3 hours and received extremely positive feedback.

Despite the success of this first event the tenability of the event in future years is at risk without additional resources, particularly in the form of a publicity budget (to produce flyers, posters, and banners etc.) and administrative assistance (for the production of publicity materials, organising the various activities, making contacts with local businesses etc.). The immediate aim of this grant is to provide some of the resources critical to maintaining and further expanding the festival.

As in 2016, the fair component of the festival will be freely open to members of the public (this is to ensure a large reach and ensure there are no barriers to participation from families with limited financial resources). Depending on the availability of resources events aimed at adults may incur a small cost to cover the cost of the venue.

Despite limited publicity in 2016 (due to a lack of resources) the festival attracted around 600 visitors. With the resources requested in this proposal we will be able to dramatically increase the publicity for the festival resulting in a larger number of visitors.

Some specific examples that will be undertaken include:

- A comprehensive online presence (including a website, social media presence etc.).

- Advertising in the town centre through print media.

- Advertising in local print and online media including the Viva Brighton/Lewes (a widely read print and
online publication delivered to all dwellings within the town of Lewes and the city of Brighton and Hove),
Lewes.co.uk (a widely read community website), the Sussex Express etc.

- Advertising in the local primary and secondary schools (and local further education colleges). In 2016
this had some success; with the help of East Sussex County Council posters were distributed to all the
schools in Lewes District. In the future we would like to deliver a flyer for the fair event to every
student in the district.