Impact Report 2014
Chairman’s Letter
SATRO celebrated its 30th Anniversary in 2014 by holding a fantastic fundraising concert,
and launching a brand new ‘look’ which we hope will take us forward into the next 30
years! Surrey SATRO was started in 1980 by a forward-looking Professor David James
who came up with the idea of recruiting volunteer scientists and engineers to inspire
young people into Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) because not
enough young people were choosing STEM careers. Pretty soon his idea was rolled out
nationally, and the Government funded a ‘SATRO’ in every county. SATRO became a
limited company on 10 August 1994, and has since expanded its work to inspire young
people about all manner of career opportunities. Demand for SATRO’s programmes and
activities is higher than ever – this year we have worked with close to 15,000 young people – and there is still a
huge issue with insufficient young people choosing to study the subjects that UK businesses need. Sadly, we no
longer receive support from the Government, but we are working with more companies, and more individual
volunteers, than we ever have in our history. Our staff and our hundreds of volunteers show such Enthusiasm,
Passion, Integrity and Commitment to inspire youngsters.
This year, we have achieved more than ever, despite enormous financial hurdles that we need to address on a
month by month basis. Being based on the Surrey Research Park has placed us at the very heart of science and
innovation, the core of our principal activity, and we are delighted that many of our neighbours in the Surrey
Technology Centre are now involved in our activities and programmes.
At this time of National austerity we thank most warmly all of our donors who give so generously of their time
and their money to help us to achieve our vision to inspire young people to unlock their potential and to pursue
careers in the STEM areas.
James Dubois
CEO’s Message
Do you like our new branding – colours and logo? We love it and we have had such
positive feedback from everyone about our new look. We were approached at the start
of 2014 by Andrew Patterson, the Creative Director of Embrace (www.thisisembrace.com)
whose wife is one of our regular volunteers. The team at Embrace felt that SATRO needed
a new look – and were prepared to give their time, energy and creative genius, on a pro
bono basis, to help us design something that would capture the energy and excitement of
all those involved in our programmes, from the kids to the volunteers, creating a spark
and starting a chain reaction.
The design is based on a Rube Goldberg machine - in which a small action can spark off a series of chain reactions.
We felt that this superbly captures our purpose. SATRO’s events and programmes for young people often result in
them successfully achieving goals they never anticipated, or spark interests they never imagined. We light the
‘blue touch paper’ of aspiration to spark off chain reactions in young people which result in successful and
rewarding careers for them. The whole Embrace team have been a delight to work with and really understood our
ethos from the start – thanks to their generosity in gifting their time to us, a small charity with no funding to spare
has ended up with an outstandingly professional new brand.
Times have been very demanding indeed for SATRO in the last 6 years, and we know that financially at least they
are likely to remain extremely tough for the foreseeable future – but with such wonderful help and support from
our increasingly broad and diverse volunteer group, we are confident that we can carry on the good work to
inspire the next generation. Thank you for everything you do for us.
Beccy Bowden
1
What do we do?
SATRO is an educational charity and social enterprise which has been
working with young people in Surrey and the South East since 1984. SATRO
provides real-life experience of all aspects of the working world, particularly
in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) through a diverse
and challenging range of programmes. We work closely with schools,
businesses and volunteers to inspire young people, fuelling their passion
and enthusiasm for their future careers.
Our Values
Inspirational - Committed to young people - Passion - Integrity
Our Vision
To inspire and enthuse young people about their future careers by giving them as many possible
glimpses into the working world throughout their journey through education.
How do we
achieve this?
Practical hands-on
programmes that
engage young
people of all
abilities
With the support of
volunteers, employers
and institutions from
our surrounding
community
Bringing together
schools, colleges
and the business
community
A young student concentrates on her
Mega Structure Challenge: an event
where teams work together to design and
build a large scale model
In 2014 SATRO
programmes
reached 14,782
young people aged
between 5 and 19
2
Why do we do what we do?
Here at SATRO, our passion is providing opportunities to young
people to give them a glimpse into the working world at every
stage in their education. Our programmes reach young people
from their early school years to their final years in education. We
deliver exciting science workshops and festivals, practical lessons
in building and construction, company challenges, business
games, mentoring, and much more. We do this to enable young
people to raise their aspirations, identify their skills and passions
and reach their potential.
In 2014 we also coordinated and administered the distribution of
grants under the Surrey County Scholars Awards scheme, work
placements within Surrey for our Extended Work Placement
scheme and the Surrey Apprenticeship Awards scheme.
This valuable work benefits business in terms of engaging with the
local community, raising the profile of a company and providing
development opportunities for their staff. For schools, these
relationships enable them to enhance delivery of the curriculum
by accessing skills and materials not normally available to them.
For individual students it can be life changing.
“Schools should ensure that, as early as possible, pupils
understand that a wide range of career choices require good
knowledge of maths and the sciences… Schools should be
aware of the need to do this for girls in particular, who are
statistically much more likely than boys to risk limiting their
careers by dropping STEM subjects at an early age.”
- OFSTED, Statutory Guidance: April 2014
Andrew Russell, Guildford County School
receiving his Extended Work Placement
certificate from SATRO Patron, Jon Tickle.
Andrew was placed at Royal Holloway
University of London with Professor Alan
Gange. His project was on Effects of plant
growth promoting rhizobacteria on
calabrese and foliar feeding insects.
Andrew told SATRO
he had “The best
summer ever”
during his extended
work placement!
Students taking part in SATRO’s Summer Science Festival
3
Volunteers
“The South East is one of the hot spots for technology businesses
outside London and it is wonderful to think that we may be
helping to launch tech entrepreneurs of the future.”
Chris Cairns, Partner, Alliotts Accountants in Guildford sponsor of
TeenTech event.
In 2014 SATRO
received support
from over 320
employers and
institutions
In 2014, 663 volunteers from a wide variety of industries, backgrounds and sectors
participated in delivering SATRO programmes.
SATRO is thrilled to have the ongoing support from companies like Willmott Dixon,
Wates, Allianz, Legal and General, Just Retirement and Pfizer. We also receive
support from many, many small and medium sized enterprises in Surrey. These
companies actively promote their Corporate Social Responsibility policies by working
with SATRO to develop strong and long-lasting relationships with particular schools
and students. All of our volunteers share their enthusiasm for subjects by being reallife examples and acting as role models.
“Fantastic volunteers—
really patient with the
children and
technology!” - Teacher
at Lego WeDo event
The value of volunteers facilitating business
games, maths and science challenges, Peter Stables helping young
students at a Fun Maths
problem-solving, TeenTech and teamWorkshop
building exercises is huge. Individuals offer
young people exciting access to the world of work in a wide variety of
different situations.
SATRO provides the training, support and development of volunteers to
ensure the highest standards,
including safeguarding and
child protection.
“I loved having the
opportunity to help out
at a local school. A tiring
but rewarding
experience.” Fun Maths
volunteer
SATRO volunteers at the Festival of Science
4
Primary Programmes
SATRO delivers a range of bespoke events for primary schools that bring science,
engineering, technology, maths and computing to life in a classroom setting.
100% of children taking part
Typically, programmes occupy the whole school day with different activities
in these events during the
tailored for each year group, supported by enthusiastic volunteer
year said that they had
professionals and coordinated by a SATRO Associate.
These events include:
LEGO WeDo - Designing and programming robots using LEGO
Jaguar Maths - applying mathematical knowledge to calibrate a virtual
racing car, ending in a Grand Prix style race
improved their knowledge
and understanding of
science, technology,
engineering and maths as a
result.
Discovery Science workshops - bringing science topics to life through a range
of practical activities which link with the current National Curriculum
Fun Maths - challenging pupils to test their skills on logical thinking,
sequencing, pattern recognition and mental arithmetic
Mega-Structures - an engineering challenge to develop skills in design,
planning and construction
“It made me feel very
strong when it comes to
learning maths, all
thanks to SATRO! Thank
you, I hope we meet
again.” Pupil at a Fun
Maths workshop
In 2013-14 SATRO
ran 57 primary
events reaching in
excess of 6,652
young people
Your support matters
The Discovery Science programme benefits from
partial funding support from The CP Charitable
Trust and individual Surrey County Councillors’
Members Allocations.
5
“I learnt something I
had never seen
before, I think it’s
AWESOME” - Student
at Lego WeDo
workshop
The SATRO Festival of Science and
Engineering
19th June 2014 saw the Surrey Sports Park, Guildford,
buzzing with 800 students from schools and colleges in
Surrey and the South East as they took part in the 17th
annual SATRO Summer Science Festival.
SATRO’s Patron Jon Tickle (previously of Sky TVs
‘Brainiac’) was a judge at the Festival and other guests
included the Lord Lieutenant, Dame Sarah Goad, the
High Sheriff of Surrey, Mr Peter Lee, and the Chairman
of Surrey County Council, Mr David Munro. Many
representatives from education, industry, commerce
and professional bodies also attended.
The Festival has become a much-anticipated event for
young people in the region, many of whom exhibit
their own science and technology projects at the
event.
In the GenZ Science Area this year 13 schools and
colleges exhibited over 24 projects, displaying
innovative science, technology and engineering ideas.
All the students had the opportunity to get their hands
on some exciting science and technology in the
CBSbutler Future Working World Area where over 30
companies and universities demonstrated a range of
activities from liquid nitrogen to satellites to a huge
blow-up planetarium! Students also had plenty of
opportunity to talk to scientists and engineers and get
first-hand knowledge of careers and the world of
work.
89% of students said that by coming to the Festival they are more likely to continue studying
science and/or maths subjects.
A phenomenal 96% of students said that by coming to the Festival they’ve learnt more about
how science, technology, engineering and maths is used at work.
“[By attending it was]
more informative than
looking on the internet, I
did not know much before
coming here, now I know
much more.”
A student visiting the
event
“It was interesting to
see all the companies
and how STEM can
get us a job.”
Student participating
in the SATRO Festival
“We learnt more
about applications of
science and an
alternative to
university.”
A student exhibitor
6
Secondary Schools
Challenge Programmes
Demand to develop team-building, time management,
problem solving and business skills in young people is
as high as it has ever been, and here at SATRO we work
hard to organise a wide variety of hands-on challenges
for schools across Surrey each year.
In academic year 2014 we ran 2 challenges specifically
focused on some aspect of the sponsoring company’s
business and in total 25 school teams with over 150
students took part:
Cisco Red Button Challenge – designing and
The annual Company Challenges Programme consists
developing an interactive TV or Smart Phone
of a number of exciting events, each devised with and
application.
supported by Surrey-based businesses. Teams compete
Siemens – Next Big Thing Challenge – designing the
to devise a new product or service in these ‘Apprentice
next big product for Siemens – in Healthcare,
-style’ challenges.
Sustainable Energy, Transport or Smart Buildings.
“A marvellous event
which encouraged
both ingenuity and
team spirit.” Teacher at Gifted
Year 8 Event
In addition we ran a range of other problem-solving and teamwork challenges with
support from a variety of sponsoring bodies:
Problem Solving
Mathematics
Marketing
Gifted Year 8
Teams of students face an
engineering challenge where they
practice their problem-solving skills
‘A’ level students tackle a
range of mathematical
problems
Students undertake research
into a topic and develop a
marketing campaign which
they pitch to a panel of judges
Schools’ teams take part in a
construction challenge over the
course of a day
1,100 students
180 students
56 students
144 students
80 schools and 23 volunteer
engineers & scientists
36 schools
7 sixth forms
18 schools
95% showed increased aspirations
to progress in STEM as a result of
participation
78% showed an increased
awareness of an ability in
team-work and problemsolving
100% said they had improved
their presentation, teamworking, problem-solving,
communication and research
skills
99% taking part showed
improved skills in teamwork
and problem-solving
73% showed an increased
understanding of practical skills in
team-work and problem-solving
79% indicated a greater
awareness of mathematical
application in careers
Over 85% said it helped them
think about their future
100% showed an increased
knowledge and understanding
of practical engineering and
construction
7
Secondary Schools
Games and Workshops
“I learnt that you have to stay calm and
focused otherwise nothing gets done. I liked
this and it has helped me a lot.”- A comment
from a student at Thamesmead School
Business Game
All of our one-day events involve engagement with
business volunteers, skills development and real-life
experiences. Volunteers provide a dynamic link
between the working world and young people in lively
and stimulating contexts.
Numeracy Day Events are an
exciting ‘Day at The Races’
based practical for Year 8 or
9 students to develop their
Mathematical skills. In 2014
SATRO held 8 of these events
involving 18 schools and 336
students!
In 2014 we ran a range of Games and Workshop events:
Business Game
Global Trading
Mega-Structures
Careers Speed
Dating
Students develop
entrepreneurial skills and
business understanding in a
competitive team setting
Hands-on activity to illustrate
how global trading systems
operate
Students work together
focusing on structure, design
and engineering to build a
large scale model stadium
Students interact with
Volunteers to guess a wide
variety of professional careers
based on Q&A
23 Senior and 12 Junior events
4 events
13 events
6 events
3,393 students
171 students
1,160 students
690 students
82% of participating students
show an increased awareness
and understanding of careerrelated skills as a result
100% of participating
students improved their
understanding of how
countries trade
78% of participating students
showed an increased
awareness and understanding
of career-related skills
95% of participants show
increased awareness of and
ability in team-working and
problem-solving skills
95% of participants showed
an increased awareness of,
and ability in, team-working
and problem-solving
94% of participants showed
an increased awareness of,
and ability in, team-working
97% of participants developed
their employability skills
97% of participants had been
inspired to think about their
future working life
93% of participants gained
awareness of different career
choices
100% of participants benefited
from involvement with business
volunteers
8
TeenTech Surrey
In November 2013 TeenTech Surrey took place for the second
year, in conjunction with TeenTech CIC and compered by
Maggie Philbin of BBC TV fame. This innovative hands-on
science, engineering and technology event is open to all Year 8
students in the region and is designed to spark their interest in
science and technology in the year before they choose their
options for further study. 300 students from 30 schools
attended. 30 different science, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) companies provided hands-on exhibits or
short challenges – from building a glider to running a production
line making body lotion!
300 students
30 schools
30 companies
90 volunteers
MORNING
37% of students
were interested in
STEM careers
9
“TeenTech was not only a fantastic
experience for the students, it was also
an encouraging and eye-opening
experience for the ambassadors,
teachers and employers who attended
who were unanimously impressed by
the organisation of the day and the
enthusiasm the students displayed." Harriet Seymour, CapGemini
AFTERNOON
70% of those
same students
were interested in
STEM careers
Secondary Schools Mentoring
SATRO’s Mentoring programmes focus on supporting
those students who are not reaching their full
potential at school and who may benefit from regular
contact with an adult mentor to help them focus on
their next steps after school. This is an excellent way
for companies to encourage their staff to develop their
coaching skills and their contacts with their local
schools and has proved most valuable for the students
themselves.
We have been focussing on growing the number of
programmes we provide. We have doubled the
number of fully-managed programmes we run and
started two new fully-managed programmes in 2014 in
conjunction with Partnership and Allianz. In addition,
we have continued the ‘light touch’ model for two
Guildford Schools funded by the Guildford Schools 1419 Network. Programmes continued to run with the
short-stay unit.
Mentors from Lilly and students from Tomlinscote school
“The scheme helped me gain more
confidence in myself and helped me
understand more about what skills
and grades I would need to apply for
college/work. My mentor helped me
by always being supportive and
motivated me to revise and try to
achieve my target grades.”
A pupil from the Beacon School
Mentoring Programme
In addition to growing and developing our ‘standard’
Year 10/11 mentoring programme by finding new
corporate sponsors, this year we have run a pilot
scheme at St Johns Primary School in Dorking, in
conjunction with charity Learning Space, mentoring
Year 6 students who are worried about the transition
to secondary school. Also, we have run a pilot STEMmentoring scheme for 6th Form science students at
Tomlinscote School in conjunction with Lilly.
In 2013-14 there were
over 175 student/
mentor pairs and
schemes operating in
15 schools
“At our final meeting I was a little
overwhelmed by my mentee’s
feedback for our work together as
he said that he didn’t know how he
would have got through the last
two years without the support I’d
offered indicating that the
experience had been so helpful to
his development towards his
future”. From a mentor at
Oakwood School
In 2014 SATRO were able to run mentoring
programmes thanks to sponsorship from
Councillor Tim Hall, Just Retirement, Legal &
General, Pfizer, Reigate & Banstead Borough
Council, Sutton & East Surrey Water and Wates.
10
Secondary Schools Mobile
Classrooms
A unique feature of our work in Surrey is our fleet of five mobile
classrooms that deliver training in Construction and Building
Services to young people. This provides training and support to
students and allows them to work towards a BTEC certification. The
on-site lessons are conducted by experienced SATRO staff members,
with schools and youth organisations typically contracting for a 3hour session once a week for the whole academic year.
The pass rate for the academic year of
2013-14 was 84.5%.
“The students even
volunteered to come into
the sessions when the
school was on an INSET
day!”
- Member of staff at
Therfield school
In 2013-14 over 320
young people from 30
schools and young
peoples’ organisations
benefited from the
programme
‘Taster’ sessions were also
delivered to separate groups of young people with special educational
needs (SEN) and those not in education, employment or training (NEET)
or at risk of being NEET. In partnership with Amber we delivered taster
sessions to 35 homeless young people who were highly disadvantaged
due to addiction issues or were ex-offenders.
Students in action - Examples of work undertaken by secondary
school students during their Mobile Classroom sessions
“This course has made me work harder and focus on
getting a good education to get into college.”
“If you try, you can succeed.”
“This course has helped me put my head down and
concentrate in classes like technology because I want to
get a good grade.”
“It has made me more excited about school.”
- Students from our various Mobile Classrooms
11
Secondary Schools Bursary and
Awards Schemes
SATRO Extended Work Placement Scheme
Students carry out an extended work placement
doing a 4-week research project in an area of
interest to them, in either a research establishment
or company. Projects inspire, encourage and
support students who are considering a career in
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
(STEM). In 2013/14 all students who took part
received Gold CREST Awards for reports of the
highest standard.
are part-way through their university career also
receiving sponsorship.
Surrey Apprenticeship Awards
Prizes are awarded to the top apprentices in
science, engineering and construction in Surrey. In
2013/14 there were 12 students nominated.
Christopher Bowman from Brooklands College was
awarded the John Coleman Trophy as the overall
winner.
Surrey Scholars Programme
This scheme provides bursary awards for talented
individuals studying engineering or science at
university. Each award is funded by a Surrey
business. In 2014, six companies provided new
bursaries to seven students with 38 students who
“If I had not taken a SATRO
placement, I would not have
found out that I enjoyed
computer science so much, and
would not have been
encouraged to apply for that
course at university.” An
Extended Work Placement
student.
2014 Apprentices and Scholars receiving
their awards from the High Sheriff, Mr
Peter Lee and the Mayor of Guildford,
Councillor David Elms
SATROClub - In order to address the gap between
employers and young people we have set up a free
service: young people aged 14 upwards can register with SATRO to receive information about STEM
employers in Surrey and surrounding areas, apprenticeship opportunities, internships, work experience
placements, bursaries or jobs. This service helps to bridge the gap between students and potential employers
and enable young people to be much more aware of all the opportunities on their doorstep – the scheme has
already resulted in local companies successfully filling their school-leaver positions. We’re particularly
grateful to BOC and Allianz for being the founder company members of SATROClub and helping us to develop
the programme. In late 2014 there were over 500 young people actively using SATROClub to gather
information about their future career choices.
12
Good Governance
Below is a summary of our financial information for the year to 31st March 2014. The total income for the
year was £673,047, 9% above the previous year. Resources expended were a total of £681,816 which is
similar to the prior year, with increased costs for supporting new events broadly offset by savings elsewhere,
including the effect of moving offices to lower cost premises. 92% of our expenditure was spent on Charitable
Activities.
Full financial information can be obtained from our Annual Report and Accounts which is available on the
Charity Commission website.
2013
Where our income
came from
How we spent it
13
2014
Your Support
We need your support:

To raise the profile of the work SATRO does and
continue to recruit more volunteers

To help us find funding to be able to inspire even
more young people to strive for success in their
future working life.
Jane de la Rosa,
Lisa Dimbylow and
Dani Longhurst
after completing
the 3 Peaks
Challenge for
SATRO
How you can help:
The Royal Harmonics performing at SATRO’s 30th
Birthday celebrations, raising over £2,000
£30

Make a one-off or regular donation to the
work of SATRO or donate via Pay Roll giving.

Organise a fund-raising event or challenge on
our behalf

Become a SATRO volunteer to share your reallife experiences with young people

Become a company sponsor for an event or
programme of activities, such as mentoring, or
one of our challenges.
Covers the cost of a new set of fins and a pump for our water
rockets workshop – used to help primary children understand
scientific principles of forces.
Donate online at
www.satro.org.uk
or text
SATR11
To
70070
£150
Buys a Lego WeDo set to introduce computer programming in
an innovative way to primary pupils.
£200
Will buy one data logger to replace old equipment for the
primary programme teaching children about information
gathering, graphs and measurement.
£400
Buys five gas torches, a sufficient quantity to teach a class of ten students in
one of our Mobile Construction Classrooms.
£500
Sponsors one heat of the Year 8 Gifted and Talented Challenge
£925
Covers the cost of a research work placement for a disadvantaged ‘A’ level student studying a STEM
subject.
£950
Pays for a full-day business game event for secondary school (150 students).
£2,000
Sponsors one heat of the Problem Solving Challenge with approximately 200 secondary students.
£3,500
Pays for costs of a mentoring programme during one academic year for 15 students who are failing to
reach their full potential at school for one academic year.
£12,500
Purchase of an additional second-hand van for the Mobile Classroom programme.
14
The Trustees of SATRO extend their grateful thanks to the generosity of our volunteers who give up their valuable time
and the Companies, Trusts and Individuals who contribute financially to support our programmes.
In 2013/14 the following organisations and individuals amongst others provided financial support:
Platinum
The John and Freda Coleman Charitable Trust
SCC Surrey Education Trust
SCC Councillors’ Individual Allocations
Garfield Weston Foundation
Gold
CBSbutler
The Manly Trust
The CP Charitable Trust
The Carl Burrows Trust
Allianz
The Wates Family Enterprise Trust
European Social Fund
Silver
Air Products
The Henry Smith Charity
Albert Hunt Trust
Institute of Engineering and Technology
Anton Jurgens Charitable Trust
Just Retirement
The Armourers & Brasiers’ Gauntlet Trust
KBR
Legal and General
Bachy Soletanche
Lilly
Baily Thomas
Prof Matt Perkins FREng
BOC
National Grid
Big Lottery
Pfizer
Business in the Community
Procter & Gamble
CISCO
Redhill Trust
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council
Jeremy Denholm
Royal Institution of Great Britain
James Dubois
Duplo
SATRO
Unit 23, Surrey Technology Centre
40 Occam Road, Surrey Research Park
Guildford GU2 7YG Tel: 01483 688070
E mail: contactus@satro.org.uk
Web: www.satro.org.uk
Follow us on Twitter @SurreySatro
Students at SATRO Summer Science Festival in 2014
Siemens
Enterprise M3
Sinclair Knight Merz
The Shanly Foundation
ExxonMobil
St James’s Place Foundation
Frazer-Nash Consultancy
Sutton & East Surrey Water
Colin Gorry Effects
Community Foundation of Surrey
Guildford Poyle Charities
Surrey Connects
Tony Gee & Partners
Unum
Bronze
Wey Estates
David Brown
Toyota (GB) Plc
Brambles Godalming
Sylvia Waddilove Foundation
Waitrose
Worshipful Company of Actuaries
London Mathematical Society
PGS Exploration
Godalming Rotary
Kingston Rotary
Surrey SATRO—A company limited by guarantee registered in
England and Wales under No. 2957349
Registered Charity Number 1040572