CARE

During the COVID crisis, The MERL’s focus naturally shifted towards ways of caring for the wellbeing of our staff, volunteers, visitors and communities in our local area and beyond. Our CARE theme in 2021 introduced new events and courses to help those in need of support, and went beyond that to exploring ways of looking after our environment, countryside and of course, our collections.

Through funding for projects such as Thriving Communities and the programmes developed through Museums Partnership Reading, our Arts Council funded partnership with Reading Museum, we have developed strong relationships with many local communities. As a lasting legacy of the CARE programme, many of the activities developed in response to recent challenges have become embedded in our programming.

Explore the links below, to find out how getting involved with events and activities at The MERL could help improve your wellbeing…