Discovery Day at Dr Jenner's House

Aim

Bringing contemporary science to one of the most significant sites in the history of medicine, with a science festival at Dr Jenner's House.

Discovery Day at Dr Jenner's House

Just over 200 years ago, Edward Jenner pioneered vaccination at his home in Berkeley, Gloucestershire. Within just a few years his discovery had travelled around the globe and by 1980 smallpox, one of the most feared diseases of its time, was eradicated with countless lives saved in the process. Vaccination still saves millions of lives every year.

Each generation produces its own remarkable scientists and we're really excited about what people growing up now might be able to achieve in the future. At Dr Jenner's House, Museum and Garden, we want Jenner's story to be an inspiration and on August Bank Holiday Monday we'll be holding our first ever Discovery Day aimed at young people and families.

We've invited some of the region's leading research scientists to come along with interactive activities, demonstrations and talks about some of the work Jenner might have been involved in were he alive today. Alongside vaccine development and virology, we'll be showcasing Jenner's wider interests in biology, zoology and climate science.

It's going to be a fantastic day, but to make it the best event it can be we're asking for your help.

Your help

Dr Jenner's House, Museum and Garden is owned and operated by The Jenner Trust, an independent registered charity (number 1158316). Our mission is to care for The Chantry, where Dr Edward Jenner practised as a country doctor, in order to celebrate his life, work and achievements as the father of vaccination and the science of immunology. Helping people to understand Jenner's legacy and using him as an inspiration to future developments in the fields of science and medicine is a crucial part of our work and this year we have launched a renewed emphasis on engaging with contemporary science in our interpretation and event planning. 

We receive no regular public funding and are utterly reliant on what we can raise through visitor income and on generous donations and grants. This year, and every year, we need to raise £20,000 to keep the museum open. Events such of this are outside of the scope of our limited operating budget, but the whole team are really passionate that this should be the flagship event in our 'year of science' so we hope that you will support us.

Our budget

We have budgeted £1,500 for the event, with roughly one third of this being spent in each of the following areas:

Wet-weather provision

It's always risky holding an event on August Bank Holiday Monday! So to keep our guests and scientists dry we want to hire a marquee to provide adequate shelter for our activities in the likely event of rain.

Publicity

The event will only be a success if we can reach aspiring scientists in Gloucestershire and the surrounding area and to do this we need professionally designed and printed promotional material distributed in key areas, along with digital and social media advertising.

Staffing and event costs

We want to ensure a safe and enjoyable event for everyone, so we need to have enough staff on the ground to make this happen.

We are also pursuing other avenues of funding and all funds raised will be spent on making the event the best it possibly can be. We have a few other ideas up our sleeve should we raise more than the £1,500 we've initially planned for.

Any questions?

We hope that we will already have answered any questions about what we're doing, why we're doing it and why we need your help, but if you'd like to speak to us further please email [email protected] or call 01453 810631.

Thank you, we hope to see you at Discovery Day on 27 August 2018!

This project successfully funded on 25th June 2018