News / We The Curious

We The Curious staff to move back into fire-damaged building

By Martin Booth  Tuesday Sep 19, 2023

We The Curious staff are preparing to move back into their fire-damaged building after a busy summer of activities across Bristol.

The science and education charity held a record 43 events during its summer holiday programme in 19 different locations including children’s centres, libraries and festivals.

The schools’ activity programme has now restarted as staff get ready to return to the building in October, 18 months after the fire that broke out in solar panels on its roof.

Independent journalism
is needed now More than ever
Keep our city's journalism independent. Become a supporter member today.
Community member Find out more

We The Curious chief executive, Donna Speed, said: “We haven’t let the closure of our building hold us back from delivering our mission of helping as many people to get curious as we can.

“This summer, our Out & About programme has resulted in some brilliant Bristol creativity – in the last few weeks we’ve got curious with almost 6,000 people, made 560 aliens, 137 robots, 36 constellations and marvelled at a life-sized cardboard dragon.

“Unfortunately we still don’t have certainty on a date when we can reopen – we are desperate to let audiences know when our building will be reinstated and open again.

“This journey has been far more challenging than we ever imagined as the nature of the damage, particularly from the water, and the complexities of our building have created some unique issues.

“The team moving back to the building is an exciting milestone. We know from the amazing public support we’ve had throughout this period and the feedback from our Out & About programme how much people want to see our building reopen and we remain absolutely committed to getting the repair work complete as soon as possible.

“We can’t wait to be able to open our doors early in 2024.”

We The Curious staff swiftly evacuated guests from the building after the fire broke out on April 9 2022 – photo: Martin Booth

Main photo & video: Martin Booth

Read next:

Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast:

Tags:

Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
I want to receive (tick as many as you want):
I'm interested in (for future reference):
Marketing Permissions

Bristol24/7 will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch with you and to provide updates and marketing. Please let us know all the ways you would like to hear from us:

We will only use your information in accordance with our privacy policy, which can be viewed here - www.bristol247.com/privacy-policy/ - you can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by contacting us at [email protected]. We will treat your information with respect.


We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

Featured Perks

  • Sample Perk 1

    Sample Perk 1

    This is a sample perk description. Enjoy exclusive discounts and offers.

    Claim Perk
  • Sample Perk 2

    Sample Perk 2

    Another sample perk with great benefits for members.

    Claim Perk
  • Sample Perk 3

    Sample Perk 3

    A third sample perk with amazing offers for our members.

    Claim Perk

Most read

Related articles

You've read %d articles this month
Consider becoming a member today
Independent journalism
is needed now More than ever
You've read %d articles this month
Consider becoming a member today
Monthly £5/month Annually £45/year
You've read %d articles this month
Consider becoming a member today
Join the Better
Business initiative
You've read %d articles this month
Consider becoming a member today
Monthly £180/month* Annually £2000/year*
* prices do not include VAT
You've read %d articles this month
Consider becoming a member today
Enjoy delicious local
exclusive deals
You've read %d articles this month
Consider becoming a member today
Monthly £5/month Annually £45/year
Wake up to the latest
Get the breaking news, events and culture in your inbox every morning
Sign up
×

Select Your Membership

Are you sure you want to downgrade?

You will lose some benefits you currently enjoy.
Benefits you will lose: