Support for GRT young people

Later this month (November), a major conference is taking place for education and youth work practitioners to discuss how to improve support for Gypsy, Romany, Roma and Traveller (GRT) young people in the UK.

The Connecting Communities event in Salford, organised by charity The Traveller Movement in partnership with Salford City Council, aims to be the catalyst for the creation of networks of influence that can begin to implement recommendations in a report on the issue.

Everyday racism

The Roads to Success report, co-produced by GRT young people and published in 2021, identified 11 troubling findings on how everyday racism is impacting the lives of many young people in this community.

One of these was that the barriers and discrimination that GRT young people experience in education has significant negative impact on their mental health, self-esteem, and self-worth. This discrimination often goes unrecognised, ignored and even perpetuated by practitioners working with children, the very people who should be safeguarding and protecting them from harm.

The health inequalities, as an outcome of the historical, and intergenerational complex trauma, that GRT young people and their families face results in disproportionate numbers of them not continuing in education, being excluded from schools, entering the criminal justice system, being diagnosed with special education needs, or long-term limiting illness. The lens on understanding racism needs to be broadened to ensure that Anti-Gypsyism and Romaphobia are understood and addressed. This is what The Traveller Movement is asking youth workers, teachers and other children’s workforce practitioners to do.

Recognising, reporting, and acting to address anti-Gypsyism and Romaphobia is fundamentally important. By not shying away from this, the intersectional discrimination and disadvantage that GRT young people face can be better addressed and GRT young people better supported to succeed.

There are 13 recommendations in the Roads to Successreport that aim to change attitudes on how GRT young people are dealt with and supported by children’s practitioners. One of the recommendations asks that the “Department for Education drive behavioural change in schools, beginning with the implementation of a mandatory and uniform requirement for schools to monitor, record, and report instances of race/ethnicity-based bullying and discrimination.

Further resources

In addition to the Salford conference, other organisations are developing resources and workforce developments to better support GRT young people.

The National Youth Agency (NYA) in a collaboration with Open Doors Education & Training, and The Traveller Movement has developed a two-part course funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to help youth workers improve how they support the community (see below).

Meanwhile, members of the Gypsies, Traveller, Roma, Showmen and Boaters into Higher Education group have created the Improving Access & Participation in Higher Education for Gypsies, Travellers, Roma, Showmen & Boaters Pledge which is free and easy to use, and the community group Gate Herts has produced the Our Voice toolkit for working with GRT young people.

This is important work if we are to address all forms of racism and intersectional disadvantage and as one young GRT peer researcher who participated in the Roads to Success said: “I hope that our research will start the process so that GRT youth can feel confident, represented and that they have a place in this society. This can only come from collaboration between all sectors and communities.”

NYA produces training course for youth workers

The free course consists of two modules: the first, on communities, myths and stereotypes and rights-based practice, is available via the NYA Academy. The second, on effective approaches to engagement and working with GRT young people, will be available in November.

The training is aimed at supporting youth workers, and those studying youth work at university, to improve knowledge and understanding about the delivery of effective youth work with GRT communities.

It will highlight that young people from such communities are recognised as ethnic minorities in the UK and are protected under Britain’s Race Relations Act, as well as identifying the key barriers to the participation of GRT in youth services, and what good practice looks like.

Karen Self, learning and development manager at NYA, says: “Youth work is universal and transformational, providing safe spaces for all young people. “Our new training module, created in partnership with ODET and The Traveller Movement, is a fantastic resource for youth workers and those working with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller young people.

“Those working with young people must continue to develop their skills and knowledge to challenge myths, stereotypes and deliver anti-discriminatory practice.”

• NYA modules from www.nya.org.uk/academy-cpd/