Over the past 13 years, we’ve welcomed more than 30,000 students, with around a third from secondary schools. Our cross-curricular learning programme has made a significant impact, linking personal experiences of migration to the broader landscape of migration in the UK.
Recently, however, demand from geography teachers has grown for workshops that focus specifically on migration from a geographical perspective.
While our award-winning learning team already has a proven track record of engaging students across different themes and subjects through our cross-curricular approach, this new demand presents an exciting opportunity. That’s why we’re expanding our geography offer — developing tailored workshops and resources that bring the human side of migration to the forefront of geography learning.
“What is often missing in schools from the way geography is taught is the human side of migration. This is where the Migration Museum’s approach of personal stories can really add to the statistics and facts that geography leads with in schools. We humanise, bring empathy and contextualise migration, in a way that is often difficult to do in the classroom.” — Tia Shah, Learning Manager at Migration Museum
Tia Shah, Learning Manager, and Liberty Melly, Head of Learning, speaking at the Geographical Association Conference 2025, Photo: Migration Museum
To meet this demand, we’ve been actively building partnerships, creating gallery resources, and developing new workshops. Some of the steps we’ve taken so far include:
Developed a new workshop menu tailored to specific subjects — starting with a KS3 geography workshop and a KS4 interactive talk
Included more geography specific resources on our resource bank. (Just type “geography” in the search bar to find them.)
Spoke at the Geographical Association Conference, delivering both primary and secondary sessions
Delivered a CPD session as part of GeogLive! Watch the recording here
Developed more specific CPD and ITT for geography teachers
These initiatives are just the start. As we continue to develop our learning programme, we aim to provide teachers with a growing menu of engaging, discursive workshops across subjects, supporting teachers and learners by bringing migration to every classroom — all as we work towards the opening of our permanent museum in 2028.
Central to all of these workshops is our approach to teaching migration: humanising the topic and leading with personal stories and connections to migration. By bringing our unique learning pedagogy and tried-and-tested tools to different subjects like geography, we ensure that migration is taught in a sensitive, empathetic, and personal way, supporting students to explore migration as a source of connection rather than division.
“The case studies…It really brought the examples to life hearing from, not about, the migrants.” — Harris Federation teacher
“It will give me more confidence to try and draw connections more frequently in our learning, and also to aim to humanise stories where possible.” — Queen Elizabeth’s School teacher
We’re excited to continue developing workshops that bring the human stories of migration into geography classrooms, helping students engage with the topic in meaningful, empathetic ways.
Interested? Book a workshop or talk with Tia, our Learning Manager, by emailing tia@migrationmuseum.org
Top Image: Student engaging with migration story discs at the Migration Museum, Photo: Migration Museum
The Migration Museum is seeking an experienced designer or design team to help us bring to life the Migration Museum in a Box – a fully portable, self-contained museum output that combines storytelling, storage, and display in a single, transportable unit.
Housed within a bespoke suitcase/trunk, this moveable display will serve as both a functional display tool for outreach, education and engagement sessions with a wide range of different audiences, as well as acting as a symbol of migration itself.
We are looking for a designer or design team to develop and oversee fabrication of the Museum in a Box. This will involve two core components:
A suitcase-based interactive display that can be carried and set up by one person
A miniature architectural model representing the future Migration Museum, to sit on top of the suitcase in a separate box/bag
This project is perfect for a designer or design team who love/s storytelling through objects, and wants to help shape how thousands of people will encounter and share migration stories.
We need a designer to…
Design the aesthetic, layout, and user experience of both the suitcase and the miniature model (A 2D model of the permanent home will be provided as reference)
Ensure both elements can be adapted as and when needed to reflect the Migration Museum’s new branding (our draft brand guidelines are still being finalised and will be shared with shortlisted designers)
Create interactive components that can withstand regular use by a wide range of audiences
Produce technical drawings and files required for fabrication, as well as a 3D render of the permanent home for digital use
Liaise with selected fabricators to deliver the final product within budget
Please send us a proposal of no more than 3 pages, including text and visuals, outlining:
Your idea for the Museum in a Box
How it meets the brief and design objectives
Why you’re a good fit for this project
You may also include examples of relevant work or a portfolio.
Please email submissions to Mona Jamil (Head of Civic Engagement) at mona@migrationmuseum.org. The deadline for applications is Tuesday 21 October, 23:59.
Please also complete our Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form. These monitoring forms will be stored and assessed separately and will not be linked to your application.
If you have any questions or would like to arrange a 15-minute project briefing, please also email Mona directly.
Our front of house team’s warmth, care and curiosity made the Migration Museum in Lewisham a place where people came back to again and again — sometimes just for a chat or a quiet moment on the community sofas, at other times to spend an hour or more exploring our exhibitions.
Whether supporting emotional conversations, offering sensory tools for neurodivergent visitors, or simply greeting everyone who walks through our doors with a smile, our team makes the Migration Museum a space where everyone can feel they belong.
Family pictured at the Migration Museum in 2024 (Photo: Elzbieta Piekacz)
This national award celebrates the very best in visitor experience, and we are honoured to be recognised for creating one of the most welcoming, inclusive, and engaging museum environments in the UK.
From teens dropping in after school, to community elders, long-time supporters, parents with toddlers, first-time museum-goers, and even those who may be unsure about their links to migration, we aim to make everyone who visits the Migration Museum feel welcome. That belief is at the heart of everything we do — and it’s wonderful to have it acknowledged on this scale.
A Front of House Welcome at the Migration Museum (Photo: Elzbieta Piekacz)
We were shortlisted in a prestigious field alongside Derby Museums Trust Visitor Experience Team | Museum of Making, Nothe Fort operated by Weymouth Civic Society Wanting to make a difference: Visitor Experience at Nothe Fort, Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust The Historic Dockyard Chatham and Young V&A Young V&A Front of House Team. Congratulations to all of our colleagues who were shortlisted in this category.
The award, decided by a panel of independent judges with extensive experience across the museums and heritage sector, was announced at a glittering ceremony at the Hilton Park Lane, London, known as the ‘Oscars of the Museum World’, on Thursday 15 May.
Frances Ewings and Amanda Swift receiving the Visitor Welcome Award at the Museums + Heritage Awards 2025 (Photo: Hayley Bray)
Frances Ewings, Front of House Gallery Supervisor, said: “Thank you to the judges and a huge thank you to our Migration Museum visitors that support us, whether you’ve visited us once or are our regular faces. We’re thrilled to have our front of house work recognised through this award”
“At the Migration Museum, we pride ourselves on being welcoming to everyone – and as we have until recently been located in a shopping centre in Lewisham, south-east London, this really does mean everyone! From curious shoppers to those who have travelled across the country to see our exhibitions, we strive to ensure our work is accessible to all.”
“As we look ahead to our move to a permanent home in the City of London, opening in 2028, we plan to take what we’ve built in Lewisham with us and show that welcoming and supporting visitors is a crucial part of their experience and what people take away from the museum.”
“We hope to be an example of how the Front of House work is as vital as exhibitions, learning and programming in order for visitors to truly experience a museum’s values.”
To all of you who have visited, shared your story, brought friends or family, left kind comments in our welcome book, or recommended us to a friend — thank you. This award is for you, too.
Volunteer Amanda Swift leading a Stories in Focus mini-tour (Photo: Elzbieta Piekacz)
The Migration Museum is delighted to announce that the Portal Trust has become an inaugural donor of its new permanent home in the City of London.
The Portal Trust will provide £500,000 in funding over the next three years to help the Migration Museum establish Britain’s first permanent museum dedicated to exploring how migration has shaped who we are – as individuals, communities and nations.
The funding will support the salaries, capital and project costs of delivering the Migration Museum’s award-winning learning programme in its new permanent home from a dedicated learning suite to be used for educational activities including interactive workshops, creative activities, and meaningful discussions. The Migration Museum will name one of the the classrooms within the learning suite ‘The Portal Trust Education Room’ for a period of 20 years.
This funding will be instrumental in ensuring that more schools and families can visit the museum and benefit from our immersive, hands-on, story-led learning experiences.
The Portal Trust is an educational grant-making charity that enables young people in London, particularly those from disadvantaged or low-income backgrounds, to access educational opportunities. It has been supporting school groups to visit the Migration Museum since 2023 through funding for its Transforming Migration Education Programme, which works with teachers and students at Key Stage 3 and GCSE level.
The Portal Trust is based across the road from the site of the Migration Museum’s new permanent home, at the intersection of the City and the East End, areas with rich, multi-layered migration histories stretching back many centuries, and just minutes away from well-known landmarks including the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and the Bank of England.
When it reopens at its permanent home in 2028, the Migration Museum will be the UK’s first permanent museum dedicated to migration, welcoming 140,000 visitors a year to its exhibitions, events, learning and community programmes, including 20,000 learners.
Announcing the agreement, Richard Foley, Chief Executive of the Portal Trust, said:
“We’re excited to be on this journey with the Migration Museum until its opening in 2028 and beyond. Our support for the Migration Museum will place the study of migration where it belongs – at the heart of Britain’s history. It will also improve accessibility, ensuring more schools and families can visit the museum and benefit from the immersive, hands-on learning experiences that make visiting a museum so special.
“We’re especially excited to support the Portal Trust Education Room within the museum. By engaging with real-life migration stories, students will deepen their understanding of the world around them. The Education Room will be a powerful tool for educators, and a resource that brings these important conversations to life.
In today’s world, where discussions about migration can be divisive, the museum offers a much-needed space for reflection and understanding. It’s a place where young people can engage with complex issues in a safe and supportive environment, equipping them with the tools to become more inclusive and thoughtful citizens. The museum is not just about learning the past, it’s about shaping the future.”
Sophie Henderson, CEO of the Migration Museum, said:
“We are delighted to welcome the Portal Trust as an inaugural donor of our permanent home. Their support will be instrumental in growing our award-winning learning programme, which equips learners with the skills and confidence to better understand and contextualise who they are and how they fit into and are a part of Britain’s long history of migration.
The Portal Trust’s generous support will enable us to engage tens of thousands of young people a year on migration and intersecting themes from our dedicated education suite at our new permanent home in the City of London.
Now more than ever, we need an inspiring space for learners from across London, Britain and beyond to come together to explore, discuss and reflect on key questions around migration, identity and belonging – and the Portal Trust’s support will enable us to deliver this.”
This short video brings to life the Migration Museum’s award-winning learning programme and its impact on learners and teachers.
