The bosses of the Funderworld amusement park have said everyone is welcome at their attraction and added they were ‘appalled’ to read about the case of Marlon Thomas.
Michelle and Darren Matthews, who took over Funderworld just two years ago, have brought the funfair to Durdham Down for their third season.
Mrs Matthews said she wanted to condemn and distance Funderworld from past events, and said it was ‘unimaginable’ what the Thomas family had gone through.
This week, Marlon Thomas: Family of Bristol's 'Stephen Lawrence' speak out 25 years on from racist attack by Marlon Thomas’ family for justice and support, 25 years after the sickening events which left him unable to move or speak to this day.
Marlon Thomas: Family of Bristol's 'Stephen Lawrence' speak out 25 years on from racist attack
Marlon was one of several young black men who were brutally beaten by a gang of racist fairground workers at the Downs in 1994.
The 18-year-old suffered catastrophic head and chest injuries and had to be resuscitated.
A minority of the gang ended up convicted of ABH with intent to endanger life, and were jailed.
But there was outrage at the leniency of the sentences, and an appeal court agreed with the family and the police, and added a couple of years to several of the sentences.
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At the time, the fair on the Downs was Bob Wilson’s Funfair, a family-run, Birmingham-based enterprise.
Mr Wilson’s own son William, 19, was one of the group jailed for the attacks.
Wilson’s Funfair was banned from coming back to the Downs permanently following a 10,000-signature petition, with Funderworld taking over the slot in the 2000s.
In 2007, another attack on young black people took place - Isaac Thompson and David Regan, then aged 17 and 16, were chased from the entrance to Funderworld by a gang and beaten.
This was ten years before Mr and Mrs Matthews and their team took over Funderworld, and she said reading about the past history has left her appalled.
Funderworld fair at The Downs: Prices, times and everything else you need to know
She said the company is now very different - and is actively encouraging diversity and a welcome for all.
“As a family business with youngsters of a similar age, we find it unimaginable to contemplate how we would feel,” she said, when speaking of the suffering Marlon and his family have been through.
“As the current joint owner of Funderworld since 2017, and as a mother, I wish to condemn and distance ourselves from such disgusting acts and attitudes,” she added.
The Funderworld fair at The Downs: Prices, times and everything else you need to know operates out of Stoke-on-Trent, and Mrs Matthews said it was a strong supporter of a charity there called ASHA North Staffordshire, which supports asylum seekers to live in safety and with dignity.
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“We are a company who operate an equal opportunity approach to our employment. In our home city, we support a number of organisations that encourage community harmony, one of which is ASHA North Staffs, which supports families from war-torn areas,” she said.
“The children from ASHA that were invited to open our Winter Wonderland with the Lord Mayor of Stoke, as we wished to demonstrate all were welcome, which is the same policy we have here in Bristol,” she added.
