On Wednesday 10th June, Her Majesty Queen Camilla visited one of St Mungo’s accommodation services in South London to meet the people involved in a vital new project, which explores how reading can support the wellbeing and recovery of people experiencing homelessness.
The event, also attended by author Elif Shafak, allowed Her Majesty to meet some of the brilliant minds behind the project, including St Mungo’s colleagues who have been running new reading programmes in their services, as well as a number of people supported by St Mungo’s who have been taking part in the programme.
Over the past eighteen months, The Queen’s Reading Room has been proud to partner with St Mungo’s to pilot the ‘Make Room For Reading’ toolkit and support reading activity across a number of St Mungo’s services.
With the support of Pan Macmillan Publishing, it has also donated hundreds of books to fill each of ‘The Queen’s Reading Room Shelves’ in nine London-based St Mungo’s accommodation services, with bespoke bookshelves designed by Royal Warrant Holder Woodpecker Joinery helping to create spaces where people can read independently or together.
The donated books were selected by frontline colleagues and people supported by St Mungo’s, using a bespoke ‘Book Menu’ to give people a voice in the donation process.
Milena has been supported by St Mungo’s since 2019 and has benefited from the partnership with The Queen’s Reading Room: “When the first books from The Queen’s Reading Room arrived at my St Mungo’s accommodation, I was really thrilled. Reading has always been a passion of mine since I was a child. I can spend hours reading history books in particular as they help me relate to people and understand my place in the world more.”
Speaking at the event, St Mungo’s CEO Emma Haddad, said: “We are honoured to have welcomed Her Majesty The Queen to St Mungo’s today, and privileged to have been able to introduce her to people whose recovery from homelessness has been positively impacted by books and reading. Her Majesty’s longstanding commitment to championing the transformative power of reading is hugely inspiring and aligns with St Mungo’s work to support people to end their homelessness for good.”
Highlights of the event and more information on the partnership will be shared across St Mungo’s socials throughout the coming days.
