The light express roadshow: a case study in a successful secondary school's photonics outreach activity

The schools outreach programme of the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southampton has reached over six thousand school children during the last five years. The outreach programme centres on a traveling 'Light Express Roadshow'; a laser light show and photonics lecture provided free to schools throughout the South East of England. This paper explores the technical, educational and funding issues associated with providing a successful outreach activity to inspire and encourage a new generation of physicists.