DUDGEON

Food Scientists to the Rescue!
Image courtesy of Norwich Science Festival and Luke Witcomb

Through the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm Community Fund, operated by energy company Equinor, grant support has been provided to the 2025 Norwich Science Festival to enable it to develop and perform a play - Food Scientists to the Rescue!

This audience-engaging play has been on a highly successful tour of 35 primary schools across Norfolk before coming to the Norwich Science Festival (Food Scientists to the Rescue! | Norwich Science Festival) for an 8-day run. At the end of the Science Festival, it will play to 5 schools for children with special educational needs and disabilities and a selection of community groups, by which time it is anticipated that it will have been seen by over 6,500 people.

Food Scientists to the Rescue! provides learning about healthy eating and why bees are so important to food production, and in a feedback survey teachers at schools where the play has been performed have said:

“After the play the oldest children were playing at being food scientists in the playground! We work hard on developing science capital in our school and this was an excellent way to help us do that.”

“‘I think this gives the pupils a wider understanding of food science and how this works in the real world. I hope it will encourage them to eat more healthily and realise the opportunities that could be available through science for them as they get older. ”

Food Scientists to the Rescue! has been developed by Hilary Thompson at The Ministry of Imagination, alongside Jenni Rant from the SAW Trust. The project is being managed by Norwich Science Festival. Rosie Walker is the actor who is bringing the play to life in schools running up to the Science Festival. It is a one woman show with the help of some very engaging puppets.

Typically, the whole primary school sees the play and afterwards a class from Key Stage 2 attends a workshop to dive deeper into the content of the play. The Dudgeon Community Fund grant has also supported the development of a teacher’s pack which has a selection of different activities for teachers to use before and after the play.

Chris Hosea, the Plant Manager of the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm, believes this is a far-reaching initiative, saying:

“I think it is fantastic that this play is delivering learning about food and food science to a huge number of young people in such an engaging way.

“Agriculture, food and food sciences are major sectors of the Norfolk economy, and it is likely they will continue to offer career and employment opportunities to today’s young people in the years ahead, so it is great they are learning about these topics in their formative years. ”

The Dudgeon Community Fund, which receives a donation of around £125,000 each year from the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm, supports STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education projects in Norfolk, designed to inspire the next generation of scientists, innovators and inventors.

It is administered by the Norfolk Community Foundation (www.norfolkfoundation.com). Grant applications from schools and colleges in the Great Yarmouth, North Norfolk and Breckland regions of Norfolk can be submitted at any time, with funding awards being made up to three times a year.