ESAS prides itself in being a members orientated society. It is a society run by its members for its members and all of our members are welcome to assist in helping our Society in achieving its aims and objectives. There are many tasks, large and small, where you can help ESAS and the amount of time you give is entirely at your discretion.
Outreach and STEM Ambassadors
Our Society has an enviable reputation for providing outreach to schools, clubs, festivals, etc., and amateur astronomers to commercial events such as the Telescope Clinics at the Observatory Science Centre for which we receive a donation to the Society. This money is ploughed back into the society to improve events, e.g. to pay for our meeting’s speakers, better equipment (telescopes/sound/projectors) for use at events, as well as Dark Site maintenance, BBQs, etc.
DRB screening/STEM Ambassador status is required for volunteers at events where children or vulnerable adults are present. We hope that members with telescope/observing experience will consider undertaking the simple STEM application process and then volunteering to help at our outreach events. If you need guidance with the STEM process, please ask – we can help. For info, see www.stem.org.uk/stem-ambassadors
As every one of us that currently volunteers for these events can confirm, outreach events are a two-way process; the visitors learn something from us and we invariably learn something too – whether it’s from our visitors or from each other. And outreach is very enjoyable – hearing a visitor exclaim “Wow!” when they see Saturn through a telescope for the first time is such a great feeling!
To continue meeting our obligations at all these events our Outreach Co-ordinator needs to know about every event in which you are asked to participate so that we can avoid sending too many volunteers or, worst of all, double-booking or failing to provide the expected number of people.
Members are often the first point of contact for people organising events, so when you are approached about outreach or are asked to volunteer for an event please can you let us know about it as soon as you can? Speak to a Committee member at an ESAS monthly meeting, contact one of our Committee members, or email our Chair at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
ESAS Committee
For those members who have a little more time you might consider joining one of the ESAS committees and take the opportunity to help shape the future of our Society. Our Executive Committee is elected each year by our members at our AGM. There is also scope to become a co-opted member of the Executive Committee.
If you are interested in becoming a member of the Executive Committee you will need to (i) be 18 years of age or over at the time of the election (ii) be a member of ESAS at the time of the election and for the previous twelve months (iii) be not barred from acting as a Director of a company and (iv) download and complete our Nomination Form and return it to the our Secretary, at least four weeks before the next AGM. The Society's governing documents are our constitution and the Charity Commissioners Trustee guidance documents listed below. Lastest versions of the Trustee documents can be found on the Charity Commissioners website. The versions below are current at Spring 2018.
(ii) The essential trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do (CC3)
(iii) It is also advisable to read Charity finances: trustee essentials (CC25)
If you have any questions about helpng our Society please speak with the Society Secretary, Treasurer or Chair who can provide you with more information. Their details can be found here.
