Help Us Keep the Chemistry Going: Catalyst Looks Ahead to 2027
We need our community with us on the journey
There’s a lot happening behind the scenes at Catalyst.
While our new gallery is taking shape ahead of its planned opening in early 2027, we’re also facing a challenging period as we work to keep Catalyst open, welcoming and accessible to our community.
And this is where we need your help.
Building something new, while keeping Catalyst going
Catalyst welcomes around 30,000 visitors every year, from local families and school groups to science enthusiasts, researchers and visitors discovering Widnes’ industrial heritage for the first time. Like many visitor attractions and heritage organisations, we’re facing increasing costs across energy, staffing and suppliers, alongside pressures on visitor numbers and household spending.
We’re working hard to navigate this period while continuing to deliver the experiences, learning, archive access and community activities people know and love.
“Catalyst is far more than a building. It is a place that generations of local families have grown up with, where children discover science for the first time and where an extraordinary part of this area’s industrial and social history is protected and shared.
“That is why we have worked so hard to remain open during this period. We wanted children to continue experimenting and discovering, schools to continue learning here, families to still be able to visit and researchers and local people to continue using our archive and collections.
“Catalyst also illustrates a much wider challenge facing science and discovery centres across the UK. We are both a heritage museum and a hands-on science centre under one roof, yet the funding routes available to those different parts of what we do are not the same.
“And fundamentally, the reason Catalyst exists is to make science, chemistry and our incredible industrial heritage accessible to everyone.”
Catalyst CEO Nikki Burton
Why Catalyst matters
Catalyst is much more than a building. It’s where children discover science, families experiment together, schools learn outside the classroom and local people explore stories connected to their own families and communities. It also protects an extraordinary part of Halton’s history – from the scientists and innovators who changed the chemical industry to the thousands of people whose working lives were shaped by it.
How can you help?
There are lots of ways to support Catalyst, and you don’t have to make a huge contribution to make a difference.
Come and visit
If you’ve been meaning to visit, now is the time. Bring your children or grandchildren, meet a friend, come to an event, try an experiment or discover something new about the place you call home.
Spread the word
Tell someone about Catalyst who hasn’t visited before. Share our story, bring someone along and follow us online.
Support Catalyst as a business
We’re also asking businesses across the North West to get involved.
There are many ways to support Catalyst, from corporate membership and sponsorship to partnerships, donations and in-kind support.
We’re looking to raise £100,000 or more to help restore our reserves and strengthen Catalyst’s resilience through this important period and beyond.
For businesses, getting involved is an opportunity to support science, education, young people, community impact and the industrial heritage of our region, while building a visible association with Catalyst and engaging employees and visitors.
