Catalyst Science Discovery Centre

Listen to @bbcmerseyside radio breakfast show from 07:50 to learn about the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Apollo 11 moon landing with Jade, our Community Engagement Coordinator. She'll tell you how you can book free tickets to our event supported by #InspiringScienceFund

Tickets for our Free family event are now live! Book your tickets for our One Small Step, One Giant Celebration event on 20th July to mark the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing! http://www.catalyst.org.uk/…/one-small- step-one-giant-cele…/

Lovely to welcome Member of Parliament for Halton @DerekTwiggMP to Catalyst today to meet with Dr Diana Leitch MBE, Chair of Trustees and Chris Lewis (left) Chair of the Friends of Catalyst.

Did you know that Catalyst has a programme for adult groups? When Heswall U3A Local History and Architecture Group visited Catalyst, they took part in our bridge building workshop, toured the galleries and had a talk about the Manchester Ship Canal. See website for more details.

Did you visit Catalyst and take part in the Bee Discovery workshops? Were you inspired to find out more about bees? If you are aged between 15 and 24 you might be interested in this course.

On 20th July we are celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with a free event. As part of this, we are developing a community-led exhibition aiming to showcase local people's memories and experiences. Do you have a story to tell? Have you got a scrapbook, old toys, family photos, newspapers or unforgettable memories you can share? Contact Jade on 0151 420 1121 or email jade@catalyst.org.uk

The #InspiringScienceFund project is progressing well and this week the education studios are getting a make-over, with a new partition wall, new cupboards and new paint colours too!

Lucinda (Education) and Jade (Community) had a great afternoon at Bridgewater Park Primary exploring gases with year 3. They made rainbow straws & experimented with air pressure & marshmallows! #InspiringScienceFund @BPPSRuncorn

So this week we've had automatic doors installed at our front entrance, thanks to Halton Borough Council. They now look great and have greatly improved access!

St Georges CE Primary School visited Catalyst today, thanks to sponsorship from Hawks Chemical Co Ltd The pupils took part in our Making a Medicine workshop in the lab before exploring the galleries and finding out about infrared in our Explore Your Universe Science Show.

So we just won the "Charity of the Year" at the Chemicals North West Awards!!!!!! How fantastic is that to be recognised for all the work that we do?!!

Catalyst Education Manager Lucinda & Community Engagement Coordinator @jadefrench had a great time at @GorsewoodPrimar today delivering an outreach workshop 'Bee Discovery'. They explored different bees, tessellation & used chemistry skills to investigate how PH differs in bee stings & how alkali can help us treat them #InspiringScienceFund

We’re excited to have been chosen for the ‘Science Capital in Practice’ programme with @sciencecentres, @sim_manchester and @BP_UK. Find out more about our plans to encourage more diversity in STEM. http://www.catalyst.org.uk/catalyst-annou nced-as-partners-…/

Today is #WorldDownSyndromeDay. To celebrate we've collaborated with @LeahKathrynMary to display '21 Stories, 21 Chromosomes' that platforms 21 incredible life stories of local people with Down Syndrome. #WDSD19 #LeaveNoOneBehind #LotsOfSocks #InspiringScienceFund

For World Down Syndrome Awareness Week 2019, Catalyst has collaborated with 'Positive You' to create a pop-up display telling the success stories of 21 local people with Down Syndrome. The display, in the Observatory Gallery at Catalyst, has been curated by Leah Jones from Positive You.

Come and visit us @BigBangFair at the NEC today and tomorrow. Get to try on our Earth costume, investigate the microscopes and spot bugs on our biodiversity mat! #STEM

Year 2 from @St Mary of Angels Primary School having fun in the Light Show and the Materials Show during their visit to Catalyst sponsored by CF Fertilisers

Today we celebrate the contribution of the many women working in the chemical industry as well as internationally famous female scientists. Our own Catalyst Women, like Rose the welder at Widnes Foundry and Winifred Burgess who manufactured polythene for ICI Winnington feature in this new exhibition opening today! You can visit until May 12th and add your own or your family memories on our memory wall and in our memory books. #internationalwomensday

For #internationalwomensday tomorrow, we have a miniature chemist, palaeontologist and astronomer on display, from the Lego Research Institute. Our latest exhibition, Catalyst Women, tells stories of women in science, and aims to inspire a new generation to get involved.

We took our two grandchildren yesterday (aged 6 1/2 and 4). They loved it! The museum was great and the hands on exhibits were very enjoyable aswell as educational. They loved the Egyptian Workshop with Hannah where they made amulets, wrote their names in hieroglyphics and made a mummy! The cafe was also very good with friendly and helpful staff. We will spend longer next time but had to go and meet their parents. Thank you to all of the lovely staff!

We took our 5 year old grandson today 16/2/15. He loved it and wants to go back. The staff are lovely and very helpful. The cafe prices are very reasonable and the food is delicious. We especially liked the interactivity in the workshops. Will definitely go back. Thank you for a great day out.

We took 16 guides for a sleepover here and it was fantastic. The staff Chris and Lynn who helped us throughout the sleepover were so welcoming and helpful with everything I really couldn't fault anything. Sam who run our workshops was so enthusiastic that even our girls that "hated science" couldn't help themselves in getting excited about the things he was showing them. We will be planning on taking the girls again next year as everything was so easy and the girls loved it.

We had an excellent day here yesterday with our two children aged 6 and 3 and our friends with their 4 year old and 1 year old. There was plenty to keep all of the children happy and interested all day. Lots of great hands on activities and a lovely toddler area to chill out in while the children were all playing. There is also a great play area outside with a wide range of equipment and great views of boats and swans. We had intended to walk along the river but the rain stopped us unfortunately, so we just went back and had more fun in the museum!

We had a wonderful time the grandkids loved the hands on activities being able to sort the puzzles out. All the work shop activities.learning all about what science is all about. The cafe was lovely cheap and clean & the staff were very friendly. There was a room upstairs were yoi could eat your own food but it's only when school holidays but there's a lovely park area outside were the kid's can play on zipslideds, swinging, climbing ropes, also a little area for smaller children. You could even have a picnic on the grass. Go to see some swans and ducks in the canal with some boats sailing along all so tranquil. We Will definitely be going back there. �

Our 3 kids voted 10 out of 10, 10 out of 10 and off the scale so 3 happy kids here. Good mix of exhibits and interactive displays and workshops and they loved the shop. Very pocket money friendly and all the staff were very friendly, welcoming and engaged. A good day out. Thank you :-)

Nice air conditioning!

My Daughter is just shy of 3yrs old, and we initially thought she may not enjoy it here.



She loved it!

The puzzles, the views, the lift and her dinner at the cafe were all fun!



Recommended for inquisitive toddlers

My two children and I had an amazing fun filled day here yesterday. Lovely picnic by the canal and two fab workshops. All staff were happy and engaging with the children. Special thanks to Laura who made the children’s time with earthy fun and exciting.

Had a wonderful day with my three kids. The shows/workshops we did were simply brilliant! Staff are very nice and helpful. First time I've been but the second time for the kids and they want to go again! Thank you for a great day!

Had a brilliant few hours here today, staff are great. Even i braved the lift and loved the view from the top. You make a couple of adults feel like children again. And I completed the cube and the jigsaw as well!

Great place to entertain the kids for a day. Hands on science exploration for kids (and adults too) We did the soap making on one vist, our kids loved it. The guy that ran the workshop was brilliant and pitched it well to both kids and adults alike.

Brilliant afternoon at the catalyst... Lynn's workshops we're great... Lots of fun for us all. Staff are friendly and helpful. We will be planning another visit soon.

Being a Nan I was on child care duty for summer holidays. Struggled with places to go having exhausted the tried and tested familiar ones. Also getting 3 kids to agree on where to go and what to do is more difficult than Brexit negotiations.

Trick was not to tell them and made it a mystery tour. Following many questions about are we nearly there etc and an initial reluctance to get out the car I managed to get them inside. Well their faces lit up seeing the science toys in the souvenir shop, but when we went through to the exhibition area they were thrilled with the hands on displays and the molecule trail added to the adventure as they like to Play hide and seek. It is well worth the trip, very reasonable and educational without being "boring".

Visited during school Easter holidays with my almost 6 yrs old Sciences mad son. He enjoyed the ground floor interactive exhibits, the glass lift to the Observatory on the 4th floor, plus the 45 minute Rocket building workshop in the lab. Decent outdoor play area, the cafe was OK, sandwiches were fine. Not too busy. The only downside was the 2nd floor exhibition not aimed at 6 yr olds, so he ignored it! Cafe staff were a bit miserable. All in we spent £12 each on entry, workshop and food. Decent value. We stayed 3 hrs. Beware traffic in and around Widnes/ Runcorn. Due to extensive roadholding and the new bridge, traffic is chaotic and sat navs are useless!

I went with my son 7 and daughter 4 both really enjoyed the hands on activities on ground floor. Top floor was nice looking upon the Merseyside bridge. Kids loved the outdoor play area. Overall good day out staff nice an friendly x

Great place to spend a couple of hours! I could have spent longer there but my 9 year old couldn't stand still while I read the info boards on second floor (which I was very interested in).

Few things weren't working which was a shame but can't be helped, staff really helpful and friendly.

Mapping to accessible areas not clear. Different locations tell you different areas are accessible.

A few exhibits out of order or have unclear instructions on how to operate them.

One whole third floor now used for administration only and half of the second floor is off limits and is storage.

Ground staff helpful and apologetic.

Manager I came across on third floor a little rude in manner.



Cafe has reasonable prices.



Save your money. Travel a little further afield and go to Jodrell Bank.

Bit dissapointed , some if the hands on exhibits weren't working, what was there was hit and miss. Nothing in second a third floor. This should be told to visitors as entry fee is only for basically two floors. One floor (the 1st) is OK the other floor at the top has next to nothing in it. Whilst the reception staff were ok they seemed like they were the only staff.

£20 for broken or not working "experiments" if you can even label most of it that. Disappointed. Been to many different things over the years and this place isn't worth the money. Go science and industry museum in Manchester. It's free with loads more to do and better quality things!!

We took our two grandchildren yesterday (aged 6 1/2 and 4). They loved it! The museum was great and the hands on exhibits were very enjoyable aswell as educational. They loved the Egyptian Workshop with Hannah where they made amulets, wrote their names in hieroglyphics and made a mummy! The cafe was also very good with friendly and helpful staff. We will spend longer next time but had to go and meet their parents. Thank you to all of the lovely staff!

We took our 5 year old grandson today 16/2/15. He loved it and wants to go back. The staff are lovely and very helpful. The cafe prices are very reasonable and the food is delicious. We especially liked the interactivity in the workshops. Will definitely go back. Thank you for a great day out.

We took 16 guides for a sleepover here and it was fantastic. The staff Chris and Lynn who helped us throughout the sleepover were so welcoming and helpful with everything I really couldn't fault anything. Sam who run our workshops was so enthusiastic that even our girls that "hated science" couldn't help themselves in getting excited about the things he was showing them. We will be planning on taking the girls again next year as everything was so easy and the girls loved it.

We had an excellent day here yesterday with our two children aged 6 and 3 and our friends with their 4 year old and 1 year old. There was plenty to keep all of the children happy and interested all day. Lots of great hands on activities and a lovely toddler area to chill out in while the children were all playing. There is also a great play area outside with a wide range of equipment and great views of boats and swans. We had intended to walk along the river but the rain stopped us unfortunately, so we just went back and had more fun in the museum!

We had a wonderful time the grandkids loved the hands on activities being able to sort the puzzles out. All the work shop activities.learning all about what science is all about. The cafe was lovely cheap and clean & the staff were very friendly. There was a room upstairs were yoi could eat your own food but it's only when school holidays but there's a lovely park area outside were the kid's can play on zipslideds, swinging, climbing ropes, also a little area for smaller children. You could even have a picnic on the grass. Go to see some swans and ducks in the canal with some boats sailing along all so tranquil. We Will definitely be going back there. �

Our 3 kids voted 10 out of 10, 10 out of 10 and off the scale so 3 happy kids here. Good mix of exhibits and interactive displays and workshops and they loved the shop. Very pocket money friendly and all the staff were very friendly, welcoming and engaged. A good day out. Thank you :-)

Nice air conditioning!

My Daughter is just shy of 3yrs old, and we initially thought she may not enjoy it here.



She loved it!

The puzzles, the views, the lift and her dinner at the cafe were all fun!



Recommended for inquisitive toddlers

My two children and I had an amazing fun filled day here yesterday. Lovely picnic by the canal and two fab workshops. All staff were happy and engaging with the children. Special thanks to Laura who made the children’s time with earthy fun and exciting.

Had a wonderful day with my three kids. The shows/workshops we did were simply brilliant! Staff are very nice and helpful. First time I've been but the second time for the kids and they want to go again! Thank you for a great day!

Had a brilliant few hours here today, staff are great. Even i braved the lift and loved the view from the top. You make a couple of adults feel like children again. And I completed the cube and the jigsaw as well!

Great place to entertain the kids for a day. Hands on science exploration for kids (and adults too) We did the soap making on one vist, our kids loved it. The guy that ran the workshop was brilliant and pitched it well to both kids and adults alike.

Brilliant afternoon at the catalyst... Lynn's workshops we're great... Lots of fun for us all. Staff are friendly and helpful. We will be planning another visit soon.

Being a Nan I was on child care duty for summer holidays. Struggled with places to go having exhausted the tried and tested familiar ones. Also getting 3 kids to agree on where to go and what to do is more difficult than Brexit negotiations.

Trick was not to tell them and made it a mystery tour. Following many questions about are we nearly there etc and an initial reluctance to get out the car I managed to get them inside. Well their faces lit up seeing the science toys in the souvenir shop, but when we went through to the exhibition area they were thrilled with the hands on displays and the molecule trail added to the adventure as they like to Play hide and seek. It is well worth the trip, very reasonable and educational without being "boring".

Visited during school Easter holidays with my almost 6 yrs old Sciences mad son. He enjoyed the ground floor interactive exhibits, the glass lift to the Observatory on the 4th floor, plus the 45 minute Rocket building workshop in the lab. Decent outdoor play area, the cafe was OK, sandwiches were fine. Not too busy. The only downside was the 2nd floor exhibition not aimed at 6 yr olds, so he ignored it! Cafe staff were a bit miserable. All in we spent £12 each on entry, workshop and food. Decent value. We stayed 3 hrs. Beware traffic in and around Widnes/ Runcorn. Due to extensive roadholding and the new bridge, traffic is chaotic and sat navs are useless!

I went with my son 7 and daughter 4 both really enjoyed the hands on activities on ground floor. Top floor was nice looking upon the Merseyside bridge. Kids loved the outdoor play area. Overall good day out staff nice an friendly x

Great place to spend a couple of hours! I could have spent longer there but my 9 year old couldn't stand still while I read the info boards on second floor (which I was very interested in).

Few things weren't working which was a shame but can't be helped, staff really helpful and friendly.

Mapping to accessible areas not clear. Different locations tell you different areas are accessible.

A few exhibits out of order or have unclear instructions on how to operate them.

One whole third floor now used for administration only and half of the second floor is off limits and is storage.

Ground staff helpful and apologetic.

Manager I came across on third floor a little rude in manner.



Cafe has reasonable prices.



Save your money. Travel a little further afield and go to Jodrell Bank.

Bit dissapointed , some if the hands on exhibits weren't working, what was there was hit and miss. Nothing in second a third floor. This should be told to visitors as entry fee is only for basically two floors. One floor (the 1st) is OK the other floor at the top has next to nothing in it. Whilst the reception staff were ok they seemed like they were the only staff.

£20 for broken or not working "experiments" if you can even label most of it that. Disappointed. Been to many different things over the years and this place isn't worth the money. Go science and industry museum in Manchester. It's free with loads more to do and better quality things!!