The Nottinghamshire Festival of Science and Curiosity has announced the organisations that have been successful in receiving grants of £500 each to be involved in the upcoming Festival.
FOSAC takes place each February with a range of school-based activities and public events designed to promote curiosity and engagement with science, technology, engineering, maths and research across the county. The next festival will take place Monday 10 – Friday 21 February and will be the tenth iteration of the festival, and the second year the festival has included a community grant programme.
The community grant programme aims to engage audiences that have been identified as groups that are underrepresented in the festival’s audience: black children and families, disabled children and families, and children and families living in areas of high deprivation/rural isolation.
This year the three grantees are:
- Diversify Education and Communities CIC, a Nottingham-based organisation which focuses on celebrating culture, bringing communities together and making a positive impact regarding the disparities in education for Black African and Caribbean children and young people, particularly young black boys.
- Angolan Women Voices Association, a Nottingham-based organisation which aims to elevate, encourage and empower Angolan women and their families through advocacy and outreach activities.
- Spectrum WASP (We Are Special People), is a Children’s Charity that supports Local Children and Young People age 5-18yrs on the Autistic Spectrum with Disabilities, Special and Additional needs. They also support the Siblings and Families living within Rainworth, Blidworth, Mansfield and the surrounding areas of Nottinghamshire and beyond.
Professor Susan Anderson, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Festival, said: “We’re so pleased to have received applications from so many fantastic organisations working across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. Engaging underrepresented audiences with science and curiosity is the heart of what the festival seeks to do, and the Community Grants programme recognises that we can only do that by working closely with organisations that are working with these groups all year round.”
Each group will work closely with the festival team to develop activities as part of the next Festival. The full festival programme will be announced in January 2025.
