Students get sneak peak of new Eureka museum in Wirral they helped design and shape

Video report by Granada Reports Merseyside Correspondent Andy Bonner

School pupils have road tested a new £11 million science and discovery centre on the Wirral they helped design.

The Eureka Science and Discovery Museum in Seacombe has been years in the making and aims to bring science, maths and engineering to life.

Young people first started sharing their ideas about what they wanted to see inside the museum four years ago.

Shane Symington is one of the students who has helped shape the museum and its contents.

He said "It was a bit surreal to walk in and think, this is what I've been a part of and this is what's come of it.

"I've worked on this since I was in Year 7, so that's about three or four years now, and it's been a really good project because it's allowed me to have my imprint on the Eureka Museum."

Stephen O'Brien also enjoyed looking around the museum that includes some of his ideas.

"I walked in and it was just amazing because you could see stuff that we'd said we would like to see and it was, just, wow, it's actually here," he said.

"And it's a weird feeling because I've never really said something and then it happened.

"But walking in, it was really just, wow, I've helped this. I've helped this beautiful thing blossom."

The centre has been helped by a number of groups of children and teenagers, who have all had their say about the experience.

Groups took part in workshops on Merseyside beaches that explored wind power and a gallery at the museum is based on their work.

Mike Lamb is the STEM Co-ordinator at Mosslands School, which advised the museum.

"We can't believe how lucky we are to get this opportunity," he says. "I don't think our students fully appreciate the legacy they're going to leave behind.

"They've learned a lot and I'm really proud of them. How they've developed as people and their commitment to the project."

With one eye on climate change, the hope is that young visitors will be inspired into making decisions about their own futures too.

Michelle Emerson from Eureka says it was important to engage with local children.

She said: "It means they have more sight of possibilities, especially here on the Wirral, where there is an awful lot of industry based locally that is looking for young people to end up working in those industries.

"This is an area where there is entrenched unemployment and lots of disadvantage in this area, and we want to bring opportunities to those children and those families."

The centre has been created next to Seacombe's Mersey Ferry terminal, which has reopened after a huge refurbishment.

Bosses hope the transport links will encourage young people to visit from across the region.

The new attraction will open in November.

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