Date: 15^th May 2024 2-4pm

The first meeting for the STEM working group took place on the 15^th May 2-4pm. The STEM working group has been set up to share practice and ideas about ways to improve outreach activity, support access, and effectively support success and progression in STEM. The first working group session started with a lightening talk from Becca Sweeney from Imperial College London about how their Dangoor Reach out Makerspace is supporting young people.

The Dangoor Reach out Makerspace is a dedicated workshop created for underserved young people in the West London community local to Imperial College London. Becca is the Programme Co-ordinator and from here Becca leads hands-on programmes promoting innovation, problem-solving, transferrable life skills, STEM subjects, higher education as well as vocational and technical career routes. The space houses a variety of tools such as 3D printers, scanners, laser cutters, woodworking equipment. 159 schools in London have engaged with these programmes; more than 2,300 young people have taken part in over 880 workshops at the Makerspace. In this talk Becca discussed the lessons learned and challenges faced in running a dynamic, cross-disciplinary learning environment.