Soak a Scientist 2016

It is August 2016, and the researchers in SITraN and members of the South Yorkshire branch of the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) managed to organise the Soak a Scientist event for yet another year! Running under the hashtag #EveryAugustUntilACure, the event attracted plenty of people who didn’t hesitate to donate to support MND research… And to drench some of our finest scientists!

Monika and I before getting drenched

The seat of destiny, ready for the soaking of scientists.

 shouting and ringing the bell of destiny to attract some audience and donors

The core of the event, like last year, consisted of scientists getting soaked by members of the public for £1 in Endcliffe Park (but only after the scientist rang the bell of destiny, which I had in my custody). Below are some pictures showing how drenched we got that day, and how much my throat got sore after shouting “soak a scientist for a pound!” all day.

There was also a bake sale which became very popular very fast! All our cakes had been baked by SITraN staff, and ranged from yummy chocolate cookies, to delicious Ferrero Rocher-stuffed cake.

Selection of scientists getting soaked, this includes a child how actually paid to get soaked!!

This year, the event also included a tombola and a treasure hunt for children for the first time. A few children got lots of candy after bringing all the very well hidden answers to questions about SITraN, MND and neuroscience, and adults got lots of nice prizes after getting some tickets for the tombola. We were lucky that a lot of businesses around the park donated plenty of prizes which have now found a new home. We also had two visits from journalists who wanted to document the event! One of them published in The Star, and we were interviewed by Sheffield Live!

Jodie and I, explaining some facts about MND and the event.

We raised a fantastic total of £650. This money will be used to buy new equipment for the lab and material for outreach activities. A great outcome after a day packed with water splashes, cake and a lot of really generous people who wanted to help find a cure for MND.

Alejandro Lorente Pons