The reaction to the protest was mixed
16:59, 21 Jul 2025Updated 18:27, 21 Jul 2025
A mass protest action by community union Acorn on Saturday (July 19) at Bristol science attraction We The Curious has sparked controversy, after around 80 activists took over the foyer of the venue and announced that entry was free. Many parents said they welcomed the free entry, but others described the Acorn protest as ‘an invasion’ which left groups of children and especially those with special educational needs scared and upset.
Acorn were protesting about the venue’s nine-year-old links to military company Leonardo, which funded an exhibition at We The Curious back in 2016. Leonardo, which is owned by the Italian state and has a large helicopter factory in Somerset, is on a boycott list among supporters of Palestinian people for its links to the Israeli military and the ongoing conflict in Gaza, and hosting another local firm, AXA, that invests in arms firms.
On Saturday, around 80 members of the community union Acorn arrived at We The Curious around lunchtime, occupied the foyer area and told the venue’s management that they were taking over and would admit everyone to the science museum for free for the rest of the day.
They put up big ‘free entry signs’ and mingled with visitors to explain the reason for the protest.
While that went down well with many who were waiting to pay – and among families in the area for the Bristol Harbour Festival at the time who took the opportunity of the free entry – other families and groups with children said they were not impressed.
What was the reaction?
With Acorn taking over access to the venue, it appeared customers who’d paid for advance tickets and entry slots were told to queue with everyone else to get in for free, and claim a refund from We The Curious later. So many people wanted to access the science attraction that Acorn and We The Curious agreed to instigate a ‘one-in-one-out’ system, and by 3.30pm a decision was taken to close the venue.
The reaction was mixed. Many people visiting or passing by said they supported Acorn’s protest, and welcomed the opportunity to visit for free. But others were less impressed.
One dad, Stuart Meale, said he arrived to enter We The Curious at 2.30pm. He said his son has ADHD and they have membership to We The Curious and because of his special needs do not have to queue.
“It was all a bit confusing,” he said. “We walked up and I saw the massive queue. I started speaking to this lady that works at We The Curious, and all of a sudden I was accosted by this woman in a red t-shirt saying ‘the queueing system’s gone today, you can get a full refund, queue up over there, you may or may not get in, it’s up to us, it’s our discretion’.
“I didn’t know the situation at the time so I said ‘what the hell are you talking about?’ The lady from We The Curious said ‘we’ve been invaded by these people, they’ve taken over We The Curious, it’s about some funding we had ten years ago.’ I tried to be nice and said ‘we’ve got a time slot, my son is neuro-divergent, we need to get in’.”
He claimed that the woman from Acorn responded with: ‘I’ll decide who’s coming in, I don’t care about anyone’s needs today’.
Around 80 protesters from Acorn Bristol took over the foyer of We The Curious on Saturday, July 19, in a protest about the science museum’s links to defence companies. They declared the venue was free for the rest of the afternoon(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
Mr Meale added: “The police were there and they did nothing, they just stood there. My son started panicking. The woman was so rude and hostile. Regardless of the message they are trying to convey to everyone, when they behave like that it completely loses the point.
“It was a really, really odd situation. I agree with and completely understand their point, but my issue is the way she spoke to my kids and really upset my son,” he added. “The vast majority of them were OK but that one woman was absolutely vile.”
Acorn organiser Sam Kidel apologised to parents of youngsters with special needs. In a statement, he told Bristol Live: “Many of our members are parents of kids with autism so we really do understand the challenges.
“I apologise to this dad and his kid for disrupting their plans on Saturday,” he said. “We did everything we could to minimise disruption to the public while keeping up pressure on the museum directors – hundreds of people were able to visit the museum for free.
“We managed a one-in-one out system with front of house staff when the centre reached its maximum fire capacity, and worked hard to welcome people in and keep everyone safe.
Around 80 protesters from Acorn Bristol took over the foyer of We The Curious on Saturday, July 19, in a protest about the science museum’s links to defence companies. They declared the venue was free for the rest of the afternoon(Image: Bristol Post)
“None of this would have been necessary if museum directors had been quicker to commit to ending their support for the arms industry. We The Curious bosses: do the right thing,” he added.
Other parents were also not happy. One father criticised Acorn on social media after he said his daughter’s Brownie pack visit to We The Curious was cut short and claimed those taking part had ‘scared’ the children.
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“My daughter and her Brownies were visiting today,” said Barry Coombs in a thread on X, addressing the Acorn protesters. “They left in a panic because of your actions. They were all scared. They cut their visit short because of your actions. My daughter has nothing to do with genocide but you are responsible for scaring children.”
But some parents said they supported the protest. One mum said she didn’t realise the ‘Free Entry’ was a protest stunt.
Around 80 protesters from Acorn Bristol took over the foyer of We The Curious on Saturday, July 19, in a protest about the science museum’s links to defence companies. They declared the venue was free for the rest of the afternoon(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
“I felt it was a clever, funny and properly disruptive political stunt – the fact that my child-amusement plans were scuppered didn’t diminish this feeling at all. I hadn’t been aware of We The Curious’ links to the arms trade, so as well as requesting my refund, my email to them will also contain a request that they explain these links,” she added.
Since the action on Saturday afternoon, Acorn Bristol have come in for criticism on social media for the ‘stunt’. The organisation has since claimed We The Curious bosses have ‘started a smear campaign’ against ACORN, and chief executive Donna Speed accused them in an email of ‘being intimidating and treating visitors with aggression’ .
Content cannot be displayed without consentWhat is the protest about?
Back in 2016, when the attraction was still called the At-Bristol science centre, an exhibition called Tinkering Space was created, with the help of funding from Italian company Leonardo.
The science centre changed its name to We The Curious in September 2017, and the Tinkering Space exhibition area is among the most popular inside the Millennium Square venue.
A plaque on the wall of the venue did reference Leonardo as one of the funders, but that plaque was removed earlier this year when campaigners began to question the link between the museum and the company.
Leonardo’s latest-generation AW149 helicopter is showcased at an event celebrating Yeovil’s official status as “the Home of British Helicopters”(Image: © Leonardo S.p.A. and subsidiaries.)
Leonardo are one of the world’s biggest aerospace, defence and security firms, have a large helicopter manufacturing presence in Yeovil, and also supply and have close ties with the Israeli military.
In 2019, three years after accepting Leonardo’s funding, We The Curious instigated a ‘gift acceptance and ethics policy’ which is understood could mean it wouldn’t accept any future funding from Leonardo or similar companies.
What does We The Curious say?
A spokesperson for the centre said this is currently under review, amid calls for We The Curious to return the money. She said chief executive Donna Speed spoke with Acorn’s representative on Saturday and would be meeting them again to ‘work through the conversation together’.
“This policy has been in place since 2019 and is already currently under review with our staff and board, to make sure it’s up to date and takes into account the economic and geopolitical environment.
“Any future funding offers will be assessed with the current geopolitical landscape in mind, working alongside the ongoing review,” she added.
We The Curious Chief Executive, Donna Speed(Image: Ailsa Fineron)
“Any return of funding would need to be considered by our Board, in line with Charity Commission guidelines (especially as it was in 2016, so funds already spent in furthering our mission) – so this would also form part of the wider gift acceptance policy review.
“Following our August board meeting, we’ll publish our gift acceptance policy. We’ll publish more updates on this as we have them,” she added.
A member of staff at We The Curious, who declined to be named, said staff have long put forward their concerns, but felt the management have not been taking them seriously. “
READ MORE: Bristol museums join anti-racist programmeREAD MORE: First look inside We The Curious as it reopens after two-year closure due to fire
“I work at We The Curious and in internal messages regarding ethical policies, we’ve been told that, because of charity commission rules, they are limited in their ability to boycott funders for political reasons,” they said.
“However, it has also been implied that if there is a significant risk of a loss of public trust in the organisation, there could be grounds for them to take more action. We The Curious is a great place to work, it does a lot of good work, and I am proud that it’s strong on many ethical values.
“I think this is a chance for the people of Bristol, especially charity sector workers, to put pressure on our organisations and trustees. We must make it clear that the reputational risk of not making a stand against the Israeli genocide in Gaza is too high,” they added.
What does Acorn say?
“We held a peaceful action on We The Curious to highlight its financial links to the arms industry,” said Acorn’s Bristol branch secretary Wesley Bear. “The museum has accepted funding from Leonardo UK, a company that manufactures fighter jet components used in Israel’s assault on Gaza. It has also recently hosted an event by AXA, an insurance giant that invests in multiple arms companies supplying the Israeli military, including Rolls-Royce, Lockheed Martin, and L3Harris.
“We believe a children’s science museum should not be promoting or partnering with companies profiting from war and occupation. Hundreds of local residents joined us on the day, many of them families, taking up free entry provided by ACORN and learning more about the museum’s unethical funding choices,” he added.
Around 80 protesters from Acorn Bristol took over the foyer of We The Curious on Saturday, July 19, in a protest about the science museum’s links to defence companies. They declared the venue was free for the rest of the afternoon(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
“This action was about protecting the integrity of public institutions and standing in solidarity with people facing unimaginable violence. Museums should inspire hope, not be funded by those who fuel destruction,” he added.
Acorn gave We The Curious a letter listing four demands, which included cutting ‘all ties with arms companies’, donating the same amount of money they originally received from Leonardo in 2016 to a charity supporting Palestinian civilians, making a public commitment not to accept ‘arms industry funding’ in the future, and to join the ‘Bristol Apartheid Free Zone’.