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ReDiscover - the renewal fund for science centres and museums across the UK has awarded over £3.8 million to nine centres around the UK in the first of four funding rounds. The £33 million ReDiscover fund is a joint venture between the Millennium Commission, the Wellcome Trust and the Wolfson Foundation and represents the first major new partnership between the Lottery and large grant making charities.. It was set up to help science museums and science centres to renew, replace, refresh or redevelop high quality science, education and technology exhibitions to keep up with advances in science and technology and remain at the cutting edge. Tessa Jowell MP, Chair of the Millennium Commission and Secretary of State for Culture, said, "One of the United Kingdom's greatest achievements has been its success in science and technology. If that is true of the past it should also be our aspiration for the future. The UK's science centres and museums are important educational assets and these new grants from the Lottery and other sources will help them remain relevant and exciting in an ever changing world." ReDiscover embraces the full spectrum of science, engineering and technology, supporting a range of initiatives in science education and engagement with the public. There will be three further funding rounds over the next two years. The following grants have been awarded in this first funding round:- Techniquest, Cardiff, grant awarded £927,000
An exhibition with 35 new interactive exhibits designed to stimulate awareness of the link between science and music. Musiquest will also feature equipment to support educational programmes and a flexible performance area for musical activities, science demonstrations and concerts. At-Bristol, grant awarded £923,363
The redevelopment of the first floor of Explore At-Bristol including a new Live Science exhibition. Amongst other developments, The Curiosity Zone Gallery will be extended and grouped into the new themed areas of light, sound, electricity and magnetism, vortices and perception. Accessibility to the Imaginarium planetarium will also improved. Discovery Museum, Newcastle Upon Tyne, grant awarded £554,250
The creation of a four-part exhibiton, the centrepiece of which will be the first steam turbine-powered vessel, the Turbinia. Discovery Stations will feature games and experiments based on scientific principles, Top Tyneside Innovations will honour three key Tyneside inventors and new Education, Resource and Activity Modules will provide hands-on activities. Glasgow Science Centre, grant awarded £359,557
The upgrading of The Science Show Theatre and the creation of Enviroscan which will include an Auto Weather Station linked to schools and educational projects, a Climate Change Theatre and the Clyde Monitoring Exhibit which will collect and feed back data on the River Clyde. The Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester, grant awarded £250,000
Manchester Science will be a new exhibition celebrating the work of eminent Manchester scientists, Dalton, Rutherford, Joule and Lovell. Three key themed areas will cover Historical Manchester Science, Contemporary Manchester Science and What Do You Think? - an interactive area designed to encourage debate, questioning and feedback. Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Holywood, Northern Ireland, grant awarded £231,041
The redevelopment of the existing Flight Experience exhibition in line with the Centennial of Flight 2003. In addition, a new gallery space will include an air traffic control station, interactive aircraft parts and models and a flight simulator. The Look Out Discovery Centre, Bracknell, grant awarded £230,794
The enhancement of the educational provisions of the Centre through new and refurbished exhibits around the themes of water and woodland. These will include The Stream - a centrepiece exhibit of flowing water and movable obstacles and dams, and a 3m tall Vortex of water. Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow, grant awarded £225,000
The establishment of Re-Discover Kelvin, a range of new interactive exhibits to interpret and display Kelvin's collection of scientific instruments and principal works. The development will include new lecture demonstration apparatus, associated education programmes and easier access to the exhibit. Scottish Seabird Centre, North Berwick, grant awarded £119,963
The installation of a live satellite-linked camera from the Visitor Centre to the remote island archipelago of St Kilda. Visitors will be able to observe the island's large puffin population and marine visitors such as whales, dolphins and basking sharks. An additional camera will give visual access to the underwater antics of seabirds and seals. -ends- Notes to Editors 1. The Millennium Commission is one of the good causes which distributes funds from the National Lottery and has invested over £300 million, some 20% of its total budget, in a new generation of interactive science and discovery centres which are bringing science alive and making it fun and accessible. The Commission is investing a further £25 million of Lottery money in the ReDiscover renewal fund. Millennium Commission Communications Office tel: 020 7880 2007 www.millennium.gov.uk. 2. The Wellcome Trust is an independent research-charity whose mission is to foster and promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health. Allied to this is a commitment to engage the public with science through a diverse range of activities. www.wellcome.ac.uk
The Wellcome Trust Media Office tel: 020 7611 8866,email: media.office@wellcome.ac.uk 3. The Wolfson Foundation is a charitable foundation set up in 1955 whose aims are the advancement of science, health, education the arts and humanities. It has for a number of years supported the renovation of museums and galleries and the promotion of scientific research and education. The Wolfson Foundation, tel: 020 7323 5730 x 210 For further information please contact Nina Baxter on 020 7880 7362 or 07775 812 820 or visit www.wellcome.ac.uk/rediscover.
Millennium Commission 22nd-May-2003
Categories: News, News Archive
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