Summer Roadshow

The Roadshow not only gave me the opportunity to share fun facts about biology but also allowed me to practice explaining my research interests to the public. Serena, Volunteer
Fantastic - enthusiastic, welcoming, encouraging to all abilities. Year 8 Teacher, Cwmbran High School
OxHOS has many great and fun experiments to demonstrate! They provide step-by-step guides, so everyone can have a go, regardless of subject background. Susan, Volunteer

What is the Summer Roadshow?

The Roadshow is our main volunteering event of the year. We take our interactive experiments on the road to Oxfordshire and beyond. We have visited schools and community centres from Wales to the Isle of Wight, where our student volunteers delivered fun experiments and demonstrations to children and members of the public. If you are interested in volunteering for the 2020 Roadshow, please complete the form on our Get Involved page. If you have a venue that you would like us to visit, please get in touch.

How much does it cost?

The aim of OxHOS is to make our work accessible to everyone. As such, everything is free for both the schools we visit and for our volunteers! This includes all your food whilst you are on the Roadshow, as well as reasonable travel expenses. This is possible thanks to the support of our fantastic sponsors.

Is any experience necessary?

No previous experience is necessary, OxHOS has got you covered. For each experiment, volunteers are provided with the necessary scientific background and a step-by-step guide on how to demonstrate it, including example questions to ask to different age groups. This means the only requirement of volunteers is enthusiasm. Many of our current committee gained their first taste of outreach at roadshow-style events. Further training can be undertaken before the roadshow through the STEM ambassadors programme, which can be completed online in your own time. We will also organise an experiments day where volunteers can try out equipment before the roadshow.


Past Roadshows

  • Roadshow 2019

    The Summer 2019 Roadshow (24th June - 5th July) started with a week in Oxfordshire. After this, we got in the mini-bus and hit the road. We visited Essex and then spent a week in Manchester.


    2019 Roadshow Report

  • Roadshow 2018

    The Summer 2018 Roadshow lasted for three weeks between 16th June and 8th July, starting with schools in Oxfordshire. After this, we set off on the touring section of the Roadshow, spending a week in Chesterfield and a week in Nottingham. During this time we visited 15 schools and also held a public event at Chesterfield Market.


    2018 Roadshow Report

  • Roadshow 2017

    Our 2017 Roadshow lasted four weeks between 17th June and 24th July, during which we visited schools in Oxford, Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight and Southampton. On top of this we did several public events including the Oxford Science Festival, the Dinosaur Isle museum, the Isle of Wight Zoo, and Winchester Science Centre.


    2017 Roadshow Report

  • Roadshow 2016

    We started off the Roadshow with the Oxfordshire Science Festival on Sunday 26th June with Street Science on Cornmarket Street and Broad Street in Oxford, where members of the public could try out our exciting experiments. On Saturday 2nd July we were at Templars Square Shopping Centre in Cowley for the Oxfordshire Science Festival Health Day. Between Monday 27th June and Friday 1st July we visited four schools in Oxfordshire. From the 3rd to the 8th July we went on tour to South Wales, where we stayed in a lovely campsite and visited 5 schools during the week.


    2016 Roadshow Report

  • Roadshow 2015

    For our first Roadshow we spent one week visiting schools in Oxfordshire. We had a great time meeting students from:

    We also ran two public events at East Oxford Community Centre and Templars Square Shopping Centre.

    Feedback from the events was amazing with 100% of our visitors rating the event as either fantastic or enjoyable!


    2015 Roadshow Report