“Catching the Light with the Rainbow Nation” is intended to increase the popularity and understanding of chemistry in Mafikeng and Durban. The event will broadly be centred on a series of 25 schools workshops exploring chemistry, light and colour with the rainbow as a central theme.

The workshops will be held in the University of KwaZulu-Natal for schools in the surrounding area of Durban and in Mafikeng High School and will take place from the 31^st August to the 19^th September aimed at children of all ages (from 3 up to 18).

It is expected that over 1000 children will be involved in the workshops.In the Mafikeng townships the workshops will involve around 250 children between 3 and 6 years old. Accompanying the workshops will be evening demonstration lectures for the general community (children, families, and teachers).

The project leader of the event is Dr Matthew Lloyd Davies, a SPECIFIC Technology Transfer Fellow; he will be accompanied by a team of 15 scientists from Wales and South Africa in presenting and running the workshops. The event is funded by SPECIFIC which is an academic and industrial consortium led by Swansea University, with Tata Steel as the main industrial partner, funded by EPSRC, Technology Strategy Board and the Welsh Government. The event is also supported by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

The team are working with the charity SOS Africa to deliver the workshops. SOS Africa funds the education and care of the poorest children from the townships of Mafikeng, South Africa. The ethos of the charity is “empowerment through education”.

For more information about the event please contact Dr Matthew Davies (m.davies@bangor.ac.uk)