Nostalgia and discovery: Techniquest to host first fashion show after 40 years

Daniel Bevan - Editor

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If you are someone who grew up in or around Cardiff, stepping into Techniquest today brings an ironic sense of nostalgia.

For a building shrouded in science and the future, there is almost as much history within the walls of its Cardiff Bay base as there is technological wonder.

The charity is marking its 40th anniversary this year and is doing so having reached more than seven million visitors.

Founded in 1986 as the UK’s first purpose-built hands-on science centre, Techniquest was established by Professor John Beetlestone and colleagues from Cardiff University.

From modest beginnings in a former British Gas showroom in Cardiff, it relocated to Cardiff Bay in 1988 before moving into its permanent waterfront building in 1995.

Its mission was to make science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) accessible through interactive learning, particularly for young people.

All these years on, Sue Wardle, CEO of Techniquest, told Businessin Wales that this ethos remains.

She said: “We were founded by a gentleman called John Beetlestone who was a Cardiff University academic. His strong belief was that science needs to be seen as something that is fun – because it is!

“It’s behind everything that we use on a day-to-day basis but understanding it and learning about it can be fun.

“We never intend to be like a school, we’re not a textbook. We never tell children not to touch things because it’s really important that they discover things for themselves.”

Over four decades, it has grown into a nationally recognised education charity with international reach, designing exhibits for science centres worldwide and delivering global outreach projects.

In the past three years alone, Techniquest has worked with nearly 50,000 people in the community and hosted more than 71,000 children on school visits, with funding secured to subsidise over 22,500 of those trips.

However, one thing that has never taken place within the confines of Techniquest is a fashion show. Until now, that is.

‘Walk the Earth’ has been organised by Suremark, an environmental compliance and facilities management business based in South Wales but operating across the UK. The event brings together a number of local partners.

Primary school children will be given the opportunity to undertake ‘sustainability missions’ via the Romodels platform in their schools, which will end with them being able to design their own logos.

The 10 winning designs will be showcased at an event in Techniquest on June 3rd, with the logos printed on t-shirts provided by Cardiff-based Overseas Apparel.

Each finalist will see their logo printed sustainably on ethically sourced fabric, with the opportunity to showcase that design via a catwalk and to keep their one-off product.

The final winning design gets their school a free full class day out at Techniquest, along with a unique piece of furniture donated by Orangebox to create an area for children to keep the discussions going around sustainability and the environment.

The University of South Wales will support the event with students to capture the day via photography and videography, and all the designs will be put proudly on display in Techniquest after the event.

Lee Ramsay, Director of Development at Suremark, said: “[Techniquest is a] significant place that a lot of us have been involved with over the years, from little children to parents.”

He said: “We just want to try and support it as best we can. So the idea came about really amongst a group of us to try and do something slightly different.

“We wanted to create something that gave children something to enjoy, something that created as much noise for Techniquest as we could possibly create.”

For Lee, the nostalgia factor was a big draw too.

He continued: “Techniquest is an iconic building in Cardiff. For me personally, I came here when I was 13 years old. At that point in time, I didn’t live in Wales. I was a guest.

“But since then, I’ve been drawn back here, whether I’m returning as a father, returning with my mum and dad, with their grandchildren, and on the occasions I’ve been here for work as well.

“It’s a truly wonderful place, the nostalgia is there.”

Lee also admits his surprise at learning Techniquest is a charity, something that Sue describes as “probably the best kept secret in Wales”.

She said: “Whilst we’ve had government funding in the past, we don’t anymore. We are reliant on people buying tickets, coming to the events and on project funding to help us to deliver all the educational work that we’re here to do.

“Our mission is about trying to make sure that young people have access to science, technology, engineering and maths and we throw arts in there as well and make it STEAM.

“We believe that you can’t have innovation and invention without creativity. We want to make sure that all young people have a chance to explore that, without science or maths feeling like a scary subject and ultimately, hopefully, it will take them on into a STEM career in the future.”

As Techniquest enters its 40th year, it’s hoped that, by pulling on those memories, the twenty- and thirty-somethings of today will bring their children and help inspire the STEM leaders of tomorrow.