Department of Education
The Worshipful Company of Salters and the Salters Institute
The Salters' Company is a City of London Livery Company founded at least as far back as the fourteenth century. Members of the Company dealt in salt, flax, hemp, logwood, cochineal, potashes and chemical preparations and had authority over their selling within the City and nearby suburbs. Today its interest in chemistry is maintained and the Salters' Institute of Industrial Chemistry that the Company founded in 1918 forms the flagship of its charitable activities. Its aims are to support chemistry teaching, to encourage young people to pursue careers in the UK chemical industries, and to encourage scientific literacy among young people.
Within the City itself the Company provides support for the homeless and for other activities which contribute to the quality of life of young people seeking work, training and housing opportunities
In 1918 the Salters' Company founded the Salters' Institute of Industrial Chemistry, initially to assist young chemistry students returning from the war to complete their studies. Nowdays the Salters’ Institute sponsors a portfolio of science education projects.
The Salters Institute has been a major sponsor of SHAP since the initial dvelopment work began in the mid 1990s. The Institute has co-funded the course development and revision, and continues to make a substantial contribution to the ongoing support of SHAP teachers, students and technicians through the work of the Project Office in York and through the award of SHAP prizes.
The Salters Institute also sponsors the following science curriculum projects through the University of York Science Education Group:
Salters Advanced Chemistry
Salters-Nuffield Advanced Biology
Twenty First Century Science
To promote the teaching of science, the Institute was instrumental in establishing the Salters National Awards for Science Technicians. The Institute has also set up a network of Salters' Chemistry Clubs and Festivals of Chemistry for children aged 11 to 14, and awards prizes for academic and industrial work in chemistry and chemical engineering.