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February 19, 2023

The Spectris Foundation Partners with STEM Learning

The Spectris Foundation have awarded a grant to ENTHUSE Charitable Trust!

A £100,000 has been awarded to ENTHUSE Charitable Trust to deliver five new Stem Learning partnerships across the UK. Over the next two years we aim to support 200 teachers and 22,500 students, making a positive and long-term impact to STEM education where it is most needed.

ENTHUSE Partnerships, run by STEM Learning through Project ENTHUSE, brings schools and colleges together to work collaboratively, to develop an intensive two-year programme to raise aspiration and achievement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Each partnership works with a group of six-to-ten schools and colleges, providing access to continuing professional development, free resources, immersion in industry or university through teacher placements, STEM Ambassadors and enrichment activities.

The five new partnerships will be based in Malvern, Dundee, Crowborough, Chapel-en-le-Frith and Royston, will reach up to 50 schools. Our foundation will fund £20,000 for each partnership to support teacher professional development and raise engagement and achievement in STEM subjects, especially those from disadvantaged groups. This tailor-made project aims to inspire excellence in schools, and raise aspirations of the students and teachers.

Children in a classroom

In supporting an ENTHUSE Partnership, the Spectris Foundation joins organisations from across the charitable and business world, including such diverse names as ASDA, GSK, Goldman Sachs, Jacobs and the Vertex Foundation.

Anna Gawthorp, Strategic Partnership Lead at the National STEM Learning Centre, said:

“I am delighted to welcome the Spectris Foundation to join our ENTHUSE Partnership supporters. The Partnership will help STEM Learning’s mission to change the lives of thousands of young people, nurturing future talent for crucial STEM skills.”

This two year project will enable more young people, from all backgrounds, to progress in their STEM education, with more students entering high-value STEM-related careers as a result. By doing so, STEM Learning improves social mobility and the life chances of some of the UK’s most vulnerable young people.

The Spectris Foundation have awarded a grant to ENTHUSE Charitable Trust!Read more

June 27, 2023

The Spectris Foundation and Spectris volunteer at the Climate Change Summit hosted at The University of Hertfordshire

On Tuesday 13th June The Spectris Foundation supported their project partner ENTHUSE, by attending the Sustainability Summit at The University of Hertfordshire. This event was designed to raise aspiration of our future leaders in climate change, and to focus on possible solutions future technologies can have in having a positive impact in sustainability. 120 students, 14 teachers from 12 local schools attended the day, where the foundation and Spectris exhibited alongside Leaf, ENTHUSE and the Environment Agency to build resilience and inspire students! It was an incredible day full of enthusiasm, one student explained how his life mission is to stop climate change, and he had already changed school policy by stopping all meat consumption!

Damien Phillips, Group General Counsel, joined Rebecca Levy, Foundation Director, in the exhibition area and was surprised at the level of interest and knowledge in the field of sustainability! He explains, “It was very cool to spend a day doing something different – I got quite impassioned about patented hexapod technology in our VI grade simulators…!”

Helena Nathan-King, Group Head of Sustainability, and Ariel Brunner, Sustainability Analyst, designed and held workshops for the students. These interactive workshops explored options of investing in a sustainable future.

“We were impressed by the level of engagement and knowledge from the students about climate change. We heard stories of students teaching their parents how to recycle and convincing them to install solar energy, as well as attending climate marches and growing their own food. Our future needs them!” – Helena Nathan-King.

Thank you to everyone who made this event possible, it was a great opportunity to connect with schools, universities, charities and businesses which are all contributing to a more sustainable world.

The Spectris Foundation aims to provide quality STEM education globally. For more information on our grant programme please go to “apply for funding”

The Spectris Foundation were asked to speak at the Lightyear Foundation’s Special Educations Needs (SEN) in STEM Network; a central forum of 220 members who are influential in breaking down barriers to STEM. Read more

June 23, 2023

The Spectris Foundation collaborate with TechGirlz, Spectris Plc and Young Professionals to host an online collaborative event to inspire young women in Tech and to celebrate International Women in Engineering Day!

We champion women in Tech and aim to help bridge the gender gap in STEM education.

On Tuesday 20th June to celebrate the International Women in Engineering Day we teamed up with grant recipient TechGirlz, our corporate donor Spectris and student network Young Professionals UK to host an online collaborative workshop, seminar and panel discussion – all about women in Tech!

The event kicked off with an introduction from Foundation Director, Rebecca Levy, followed by a warm welcome from Spectris’s CEO and Foundation Trustee, Andrew Heath. Andrew spoke to the importance of diversity within STEM education and introduced the schedule for the evening.

Danielle Garrett, TechGirlz Partner Success Specialist from TechGirlz facilitated an interactive a workshop named “think like a digital designer”. This stimulating session taught the importance of user experience and helped the participants learn to think about different consumer groups when designing and developing an app. During one activity Danielle asked the participants to write a letter to their favourite app and the students wrote their creative and insightful letters in the chat box. One participant wrote to Spotify;

“Dear Spotify, You’re my everyday because you’re always here for me, when I am down, when I am happy, when I want to relax, you are always there for me and I love you for that.”

After the workshop the students had the freedom to visit different breakout rooms where, The Spectris Foundation, Spectris Scientific, Spectris Dynamics, and Servomex and Red Lion held inspiring lightening talks and discussions on their business areas, and personal experiences working as women in tech. These impressive women gave practical advise and expertise in their fields. In The Spectris Foundation booth, Kate Kerr, foundation trustee,  talked about the importance pf phycology in STEM and how she progressed within the User Experience sector. She was joined by Karen Usher, founder of NMITE and foundation trustee, who gave practical and insightful advice to the students.

To close the event, Dan Miller from Young Professionals facilitated a panel discussion and Q&A with women leaders from Spectris Plc and The Spectris Foundation trustees. They spoke about perspectives on the future of engineering, emerging trends in technology, and the importance of diversity and inclusion in this ever-evolving field. It was a chance to share knowledge, stories, advice to help guide the participants on their own journeys.

Thank you to everyone who made this event possible – we reached an amazing 277 students from across the UK and the US.

Happy International Women in Engineering Day! The Spectris Foundation believes that every person has the right to quality STEM education, we aspire to engineer bright futures and we do this by providing grants internationally. Read more

May 30, 2023

The Spectris Foundation speaks at the Lightyear Foundation’s SEN in STEM Network’s Round Table

The network works to empower the SEN (Special Educational Needs) in STEM and aims to make STEM more accessible for people living with a disability. The event took place at The Royal Observatory in Greenwich.

Rebecca Levy, The Spectris Foundation’s Director, was joined by Dominique Sleet, from the Royal Academy of Engineering, Tom Mansell and Anna Hoddinott from the John Lyon’s Charity, and Christina Fuentes Tibbitt from the British Science Association to discuss accessible projects in STEM. The speakers shared their advice and experience on the grant-making application process and ongoing management of grants.

“It was such a brilliant experience to talk at the Royal Observatory and meet inspiring people who use science as a tool of learning and engagement for people with Special Educational Needs. The Spectris Foundation have project partners who are working to improve attainment in science for students with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND). We aim to develop progressive, skills-based, practical learning in STEM education – which is accessible for all. This event highlighted the importance of creative learning in the sciences, and I’m excited to see the outcome of these charities innovative projects!

I was asked to describe what accessibility, inclusivity and diversity mean to The Spectris Foundation. For us, it means togetherness, opportunities and skill. We are proud of be a funder of STEM education and even prouder to be providing grants which are making STEM inclusive and possible.” – Rebecca Levy, The Spectris Foundation Director.

Following the talks there was a range of questions from the attendees and fruitful discussions on the beneficiaries of SEN in STEM projects. David Jones from the Life Science Centre spoke to the importance of parents participation and inclusion in SEN projects. He explained how powerful it can be for parents to feel empowered in science and see the positive impact it is having on their child.

If you would like to find out more about The Spectris Foundation’s grants, please see our apply for funding page.

The Spectris Foundation were asked to speak at the Lightyear Foundation’s Special Educations Needs (SEN) in STEM Network; a central forum of 220 members who are influential in breaking down barriers to STEM. Read more

Our Impact Report

Read about our achievements in 2022 through our Impact Report.