Stars of Stage, Screen, Sport and Science Celebrate 25 Years of Eureka!

By: | Date: 11/07/2017

We're celebrating our 25th anniversary and have brought together 25 well-known ambassadors with personal connections or endorsements for the museum as part of our celebrations. The Ambassadors, called the #Eureka25, include Hollywood actors, gold medal-winning athletes, noted scientists and personalities and more...

The #Eureka25 includes people from a range of disciplines, backgrounds and experiences, all with a Eureka! story to tell. The ambassadors have given their time free of charge to talk about their connection to the UK’s first children’s museum and celebrate how Eureka! has changed the landscape for museums and children in the UK since it was officially opened by HRH The Prince of Wales on 9 July 1992.

From the world of culture & entertainment:

Hollywood actors Matthew Lewis and Sophie McShera, Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet David Bintley CBE, BBC News reporter (and ex Eureka! Enabler) Spencer Stokes, Kaiser Chiefs’ drummer Vijay Mistry, Emmerdale actor Matthew Wolfenden, BAFTA winning writer and director Sally Wainwright, poet Matt Abbott, design-legend Nick Bax, and founder of the Lumen Prize, Carla Rapoport.

Sport:

Olympic gold medal-winning triathlete Alistair Brownlee MBE and his Olympic silver medal winning-triathlete brother Jonathan Brownlee, Liverpool and ex-England footballer James Milner, multi-gold medal winning Paralympic athlete Hannah Cockroft MBE, and Olympic bronze medal winning GB track cyclist Katy Marchant.

Science:

Theoretical physicist, author and broadcaster Professor Jim Al-Khalili OBE, TV presenter and YouTuber Maddie Moate, TV presenter Johnny Ball, and co-founder of Stemettes Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE.

Education & Advocacy:

Campaigner, scientist and #Techmums founder Dr Sue Black OBE, MP for Halifax and Eureka! advocate Holly Lynch MP, author, podcaster and inclusion campaigner Martyn Sibley, educator and author Dr Debra Kidd, early years campaigner Purnima Tanuku OBE, and the inspirational Tash, Grace & Nadz from the Self Esteem Team.

The #Eureka25’s stories and endorsements will all be published on a new website, launched this week, and we’re inviting Eureka! visitors past and present to submit your own stories and memories to sit alongside the ambassador profiles.

Have you got a Eureka! story to share?

Head to www.eurekastories.org.uk to find out more and contribute your story!

The #Eureka25 in full are:

Alistair Brownlee MBE
2012 and 2016 Olympic gold medallist in the triathlon, and the only athlete to win two Olympic titles in the event. He is also a two-time Triathlon World Champion (2009 and 2011), a two-time World Team Champion (2011, 2014), a three-time European Champion, and 2014 Commonwealth champion. Runner up as BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2016.
Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE
British computing, mathematics and language child prodigy. Imafidon founded and became CEO of Stemettes in 2013, a social enterprise promoting women in STEM careers, and was honoured with an MBE in 2016.
Carla Rapoport
Founder and Director of the Lumen Prize, an international award and tour for digital art.
David Bintley CBE
Originally from Huddersfield, David is a former ballet dancer and choreographer of the Royal Ballet Covent Garden, current Artistic Director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet and co-artistic director of the New National Theatre Tokyo ballet company.
Dr Debra Kidd
Educator, author and Teacher Trainer. She has organised the teaching conference, Northern Rocks since 2014.

Hannah Cockroft MBE
British wheelchair racer, current holder of the Paralympic and world records for the 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres in her classification. Winner of two gold medals at the 2012 Paralympics and three gold medals in 2016.
Holly Lynch MP
Labour politician, elected as MP for Halifax in 2015 and again in 2017. Member of the Shadow Cabinet.
James Milner
English professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Liverpool and ex-England footballer.
Professor Jim Al-Khalili OBE
Theoretical Physicist, author and broadcaster, Professor of Theoretical Physics and Chair in the Public Engagement in Science at the University of Surrey. Frequently on television and radio.
Johnny Ball
TV presenter, author and educator – a regular fixture on children’s television in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, presenting several series of popular maths, science and technology programmes intended for children.

Jonathan Brownlee
Professional duathlete and triathlete. He was the 2012 Triathlon World Champion, Commonwealth Games silver medallist in 2014 and Olympic silver medallist in 2016.
Katy Marchant
GB track cyclist specialising in the sprint disciplines. Bronze medal winner for individual sprint at the 2016 Olympics.
Maddie Moate
TV Presenter and “EduTuber”, best known for CBeebies Do You Know? and BBC Digital Earth Unplugged.
Martyn Sibley
Author, podcaster and disability campaigner. Martyn runs Disability Horizons and is the author of Everything is Possible.
Matt Abbott
Prominent poet, spoken word artist & creative practitioner, who received recent heightened attention thanks to his appearance on the Nationwide TV adverts.

Matthew Lewis
Film, television and stage actor, best known for playing Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter films.
Matthew Wolfenden
Actor best known for his role as David Metcalfe in the soap opera Emmerdale.
Nick Bax
Design legend and founder of Human Studio, whose practice has spanned the fields of graphics, creative direction and art. Former member of The Designers Republic (TDR), best known for his work for the music industry including record covers for Pop Will Eat Itself, The Orb, Supergrass and Pulp – including their iconic logo.
Purnima Tanuku OBE
Early Years campaigner and Chief Exec of NDNA (National Day Nurseries Association), a national charity representing children’s nurseries across the UK.
Sally Wainwright
BAFTA-winning writer, producer and director. She won the Royal Television Society’s Writer of the Year Award for the 2009 mini-series Unforgiven. Best known for her creation of the BBC drama series’ Last Tango in Halifax and Happy Valley, both winners of the BAFTA award for Best Drama Series.

Sophie McShera
Actor, best known for playing Ros McCain in the BBC drama Waterloo Road and Daisy Robinson in Golden Globe winning period drama Downton Abbey.
Spencer Stokes
BBC Look North Journalist and Reporter (and ex Eureka! Enabler).
The Self Esteem Team
Nadia Mendoza, Natasha Devon MBE, and Grace Barrett (Nadz, Tash and Grace) aka. The Self-Esteem Team, who campaign and deliver workshops in schools and colleges on mental health, body image and exam stress.
Dr Sue Black OBE
British computer scientist, academic and social entrepreneur. Founder of #TechMums and the Saving Bletchley Park campaign. She was awarded an OBE for “services to technology” in the 2016 Queen’s New Year’s Honours list.
Vijay Mistry
Kaiser Chiefs’ drummer since 2012.