Annual reviews and reports

Use the buttons below to download our recent annual reviews and reports. See highlights from the year, updates on our projects and highlights from our customer feedback.

 

Social and Environmental Assessment

Our mission is to create opportunities for people of all backgrounds and abilities to experience moments of inspiration, revelation, wonder and hope through observing the cosmos. Our mission depends on the preservation of our dark skies heritage. To do this effectively, we believe we should operate in a way that is socially and environmentally responsible. In our 2022-2025 strategy we committed to evaluating our performance. This document outlines our assessment, according to the B Lab Impact Assessment.

Inclusivity report

Looking up at a dark sky glittering with stars is fundamental to the human experience, and has inspired scientists, engineers and artists. However, most of the world's population now lives under skyglow with increasing light pollution. It is places like Kielder Observatory and other protected dark sky parks where we can all reconnect with the cosmos. However, we know that this opportunity is not available to everyone - there are financial and cultural barriers to participation.

We are committed to becoming a more inclusive organisation in our new strategy. This document outlines where we are and our next steps.

2022 annual review

It was another exciting year, re-opening fully after the pandemic, taking the time to formualte and launch our new strategy, supporting young artists, visiting hundreds of schools, acquiring some amazing new kit, and even working with Father Christmas! We are proud of what we have achieved to date but it feels as though we are just getting started. We will continue to develop new activities, projects and programmes that convey that very special "Kielder moment" to as many people as possible.

Kielder Observatory Annual Review 2021

While 2021 has been another rollercoaster year, we are delighted to have survived and thrived in the ever-changing circumstances. Not only is our team still intact, we have new astronomers at the Observatory, more volunteers than ever before, and new trustees to help drive the strategy for the next few years. We’ve been able to deliver that inspirational moment on site, have supported astronomy study in schools, and launched new arts programmes. Our new radio telescope is installed and community groups helped to create learning resources for it.

Kielder Observatory Annual Review 2020

2020 was unprecedented: a rollercoaster ride for small charities such as KOAS. The national lockdowns for COVID-19 forced us to close the observatory doors from mid March to 1st August, and again towards the end of the year. We’re optimistic and looking forward to being able to continue helping people to experience that very special "Kielder moment" in pioneering new ways. Most importantly, we're immensely grateful to everyone who managed to visit the observatory during the year, and to those who lit up our website with bookings as soon as we were allowed to reopen our doors.

Kielder Observatory Annual Review 2018-19

The opening of the Gillian Dickinson Astroimaging Academy in 2018 enabled us to offer a wider range of events and to welcome and inspire many more visitors on site. We've also increased capacity across the team, and we are very pleased to welcome our new CEO, Catherine Johns, whose name will already be familiar to many in the space industry. And we were delighted to be awarded a contract by the North of Tyne Combined Authority, through which we will visit schools through the region over the next three years.


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