We welcome people seeking sanctuary
Asylum seekers and refugees are welcomed throughout our spaces, collections, and our community.
For our work with people seeking sanctuary, we were awarded Museum of Sanctuary status by City of Sanctuary in autumn 2024 (alongside Reading Museum).
We’re proud to endorse the City of Sanctuary charter, Reading City of Sanctuary, and the national organisational pledge to City of Sanctuary.
Past work
Since 2022, both The MERL and Reading Museum have worked in partnership with organisations throughout Reading who support sanctuary seekers. Throughout our collaboration, we’ve refined our offers and reflected on how we can be more welcoming and responsive.
- Partnership with Reading Community Learning Centre: We developed programmes to support English language development through engagement with museum objects, gardening and growing.
- Partnership with Care 4 Calais: We supported sanctuary seeker families with craft sessions, firstly in hotels, then in museum spaces.
- Partnership with Rank and File Theatre: Rank and File is a Reading-based Theatre of Sanctuary which uses performance to tell the untold stories of refugees, asylum seekers and survivors of domestic abuse. Rank and File Theatre worked with the museums to create Where Do We Go from Here?, a performance piece and audio trail that shares the stories of sanctuary seekers and their experiences.
In their own words
‘It was good to have a place to go, finding the museum. It made me happy, a place I felt good. I would go there on other days so I could get out of the hotel. I am so happy to share my sewing with people and to have an exhibition. I am very happy for it and proud.’
‘I simply cannot express how much it meant to me to be made to feel so welcome somewhere. The isolation and stigma attached to PTSD often feels harder than the attack that started it. I just wish more people were as lovely as you!’
Contact us
For more information about our work with people seeking sanctuary, please contact:
