The Smallpeice what?

We’re The Smallpeice Trust - an independent charity providing exciting programmes to promote engineering careers to young people.

We run two types of activities: science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) sessions and residential engineering courses.

STEM sessions for Years 6-11 take place in-school and provide a short introduction into creative thinking and problem-solving. Students work together in small teams on ‘design and make’ projects.

4-day residential courses at universities take students interest in engineering a step further by exploring specific areas such as Biomedical Engineering or Supercomputing in Engineering, placing them alongside real engineers, professionals and technical specialists. All courses are accredited by the Royal Academy of Engineering Best Programme.

And once we have inspired their interest in engineering, they get involved in projects to develop team working, problem-solving and creative thinking skills. There’s also a fully supervised social scene in the evenings, from sports to bowling and movies.

This site will tell you more about the Trust and the work we do. You can even apply for a course while you’re here.

You came from where?

Dr Cosby D P Smallpeice - a brilliant, self-taught engineer who invented the Smallpeice Lathe and founded Martonair Ltd. to specialise in pneumatic equipment for the machine tool industry - founded the Trust.

After the flotation of Martonair, Dr Smallpeice put his energy and £1.6m of his personal fortune to set up The Smallpeice Trust to promote his winning philosophy:

"Simplicity in design; economy in production."

Today, non-executive trustees and members from engineering, industry, education and other professions govern The Smallpeice Trust as we promote engineering as a career choice for young people through in-school STEM sessions and residential courses.

The Arkwright Scholarships Trust

The Arkwright Scholarships Trust is administered by The Smallpeice Trust. It is a separate registered charity, but has the benefit of Smallpeice’s facilities and expertise.

The Arkwright Scholarships Trust promotes the rewards of an engineering or technology career to young people through sponsored scholarships; providing direct contact with the industry seeking to recruit them in the future.

Awards are made annually to high calibre students who are studying the relevant ‘A’ level/higher subjects, which lead to engineering or technology degree courses at university. The Scholarship consists of an award of £1000 in total. This is shared between the scholar receiving £600 over two years and £400 over two years to the Design and Technology Department of the school.

For further details visit www.arkwright.org.uk