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Join in and supercharge your outreach

By becoming an Outreach Partner, your outreach will have national reach and real impact, without committing significant resources or impacting your operations. Each Outreach Partner contributes just £8,000 + VAT per year, supporting a programme that reaches tens of thousands of people, in person each year across the UK and Republic of Ireland. Each partner benefits from an annual report, containing key statistics and impact case studies, helping you demonstrate the difference you make to the people that matter to you.

Want to find out more about the programme – keep reading.

Want to get in touch about joining us as an Outreach Partner – email our fundraising team below.

Rise to the challenge

Companies like you tells us that one of their biggest challenges is connecting with the future workforce. We know that more chemistry-using professionals are required to meet the needs of the UK economy, with growth in the chemical sciences labour market expected to outstrip the wider market by 30%.

Outreach is a powerful tool which can open up the chemical sciences to people and communities who don’t yet see their potential and opportunities in the sector. Doing even the most basic outreach activity can be expensive, time-consuming and labour intensive to organise and administer, limiting smaller companies’ reach, impact and ability to participate.

How can your organisation overcome the practical challenges of supporting outreach and deliver significant impact, whilst protecting staff time and hitting business objectives?

Working with experts

At the Royal Society of Chemistry we are already working with outreach experts to make a difference through our Outreach Fund, reaching tens of thousands of people from all backgrounds every year across the UK and Republic of Ireland. 

Through grants of up to £10,000 we invest in high-quality outreach projects that inspire young people, engage public audiences and work with underrepresented communities in the chemical sciences. 

Our recent independent review of the Outreach Fund’s impact demonstrates that the work the fund supports: 

• raises participant aspirations 
• supports the professional development of those delivering activity
• invests in good practice and influences delivery organisations’ strategies

Our grant holders tell us that the Outreach Fund’s credibility helps our projects build impactful partnerships and, in some cases, attract additional funding and resource. During the three-year review period, our grant holders successfully secured over £1.1 million in co-funding, and an estimated £729,000 in volunteer time and resources, scaling and deepening our impact.

The projects we support take place across the UK and Republic of Ireland and use a variety of different approaches to support engagement with the chemical sciences, from science festivals to summer schools, to working with young people in alternative educational settings. Here are two examples of the great work we have previously funded:

Cornwall: Future Green Jobs

Cornwall Education Business Partnership (CEBP) supports careers education in schools by linking with industry and education providers, with a focus on STEM. With a £10,000 ºÚÁÏÉçÇø Outreach Fund grant awarded in February 2022, CEBP worked with volunteer chemistry-using professionals from local organisations to deliver careers sessions at five secondary schools in deprived and/or rural areas, reaching a total of 1,053 young people in years 8 and 9, raising aspirations and increasing awareness of local chemistry-related careers.

Thanet: Discovery Planet

Discovery Planet is a community interest company providing interactive activities via pop-ups and partnerships. With a £9,550 ºÚÁÏÉçÇø Outreach Fund grant, they worked with local science-based organisations to provide free, engaging workshops to school groups and family audiences in Thanet—an area containing many multiple deprived neighbourhoods. The workshops showcased how chemistry can develop solutions to today’s issues of sustainability and health, while demonstrating a variety of employment opportunities.

Join in

Whether you have an existing outreach programme or not, becoming an Outreach Partner offers you the opportunity to:

• Have a greater impact - by supporting effective engagement and outreach projects across the UK and Republic of Ireland that connect the chemical sciences with the future workforce and local communities. 
• Reach more people - through a broader and more diverse range of fully planned and supported activities than you could support alone, developed and delivered by skilled organisations that connect with the widest possible audience.

To join in, each Outreach Partner contributes just £8,000 + VAT per year to support and fund a diverse range of outreach projects across the UK and Republic of Ireland, all specifically designed to inspire and engage people with the importance of the chemical sciences. With this small contribution you will support work that reaches tens of thousands of people in person each year.

Our partners are able to tell fantastic stories about the difference their support is making, which will be shared with you via the annual impact report every partner receives. This report allows you to talk about the people and places your support is reaching and the impact it is having through key statistics and impact case studies studies helping you demonstrate the difference you make to the people that matter to you.

Partner with us and help chemistry make a difference. Let’s work together to build a brighter future! 

If you want to join as an Outreach Partner

Email our fundraising team below to find out more about becoming an Outreach Partner. Thank you for considering this proposal.