After a successful pilot year, the British Science Association (BSA) is pleased announce its second cohort of Community Leaders. 👏

The aim of the Community Leaders Programme is to harness the passion and ideas of individuals who work with under-served audiences and to enhance their skills to enable them to become leaders of science engagement in their communities.  

Each member of the new group is already doing fantastic work across the UK and has established relationships with their communities, which is why the BSA believes they are the ones best placed to deliver high-quality, impactful science engagement. 

Here are the 2019-20 Community Leaders: 

• Amar Azam, Unleashing Potential
• Jackie Barnes, It’s Your Life
• Nicola Brown, Doncaster Alcohol Services
• Natasha Gratton, Helping Angels Charitably Association
• Paul Hyde, Whippet Up
• Juliette Jackson, SeadreamEducation 
• ZafferKhan, One Voice Blackburn 
• Erika Lye, Mountain Movers
• Claudia McFarlane, African Caribbean Achievement Project
• Neil McLaughlin, Barnet Libraries
• Margaret Thomas, Sutton African and Caribbean Cultural Organisation
• Lindsay White, Rother Voluntary Action

These new Community Leaders will become ambassadors in their respective regions of the UK. The role will involve establishing long-term science engagement and supporting the BSA in driving collaboration between community groups and the science communication sector. 

To prepare the Leaders for the role, the BSA will deliver group training sessions in London, covering such topics as building confidence with science, event programming, and public relations and marketing. At the training sessions, Leaders will also share their experiences with one another and form their own support network. Once their training is complete, each Leader will be awarded £1,000 to develop projects for British Science Week  2020 and beyond.  

Below is some feedback from the 2018-2019 Leaders on the programme:

“Hearing what other people are doing really opened my eyes to new ideas and ways to work.”

“I’ve gained confidence in moving forward with ideas I had banked.”

“I’ve enjoyed meeting lots of interesting speakers and creative thinkers.”

Find out more about previous cohorts, and their projects, here. 

For more information about the work the BSA does to support and engage with community groups, please visit our Community Engagement page and follow BSA Communities on Twitter.