Welcome to the December edition of

Spotlight: Partnerships and Development Bulletin

Welcome to our December Spotlight! Read on to find out about our work over the last month and remember to follow us on social media for regular updates. X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok

In the Spotlight

Welcome from the CEO

As we come to the close of another year, I want to take a moment to reflect on what has been a period of hard work, creativity, and collective effort at The Traveller Movement.

Over the past year, and particularly over the summer months you will have seen the depth and range of our work, from advancing Access to Justice through our forthcoming Know Your Rights Information Guides, to community-led creative and skills-based projects, various reports adding insights and evidence , delivering our annual conference last month and ending the year with the production of our powerful new film addressing environmental racism. This work is rooted in community leadership and lived experience, and it is made possible by the people who choose to share their time, skills, and stories with us.

I want to thank our hardworking staff team for their continued commitment, professionalism, and care. As we wrap up the year, I am deeply grateful for the dedication they bring to the organisation and the communities we serve. My thanks also go to our wonderful Trustees and Advisory Group members for their guidance and oversight, and to our funders, whose support enables this work to happen.

I would also like to extend heartfelt thanks to our service users and lived experience panels, who generously share their experiences and trust us with their stories. Your voices are central to everything we do, and it is through your insight and leadership that we are able to turn lived experience into policy reports, films, campaigns, and practical change.

We are grateful to the many partners, collaborators, and organisations who have worked alongside us this year, and we are keen to continue building and strengthening these relationships. Collaboration remains at the heart of our approach, and we look forward to doing more of this work together in the year ahead.

As part of this year’s changes, I would like to thank Grace Preston for her contribution to The Traveller Movement, particularly her work within criminal justice. Grace is moving into law, and we know she will make a superb solicitor. I am pleased to share that this work will now be taken forward by Shaun Mongan, ensuring continuity in this important area.

As the festive season approaches, I want to thank everyone who has contributed to, collaborated with, and supported our work throughout the year. Together, we continue to build an organisation that is values-driven and committed to justice.

Wishing you all a restful and hopeful festive season, and my very best wishes for the year ahead.

Yvonne MacNamara

CEO

December Updates

Equalities & Social Justice Unit (ESJU) – Service Update and Strategic Focus

As we reach the end of some funding cycle, The Traveller Movement is prioritising urgent casework support only, to ensure that those facing immediate risk or harm can continue to access help. This service remains a vital lifeline for Romani (Gypsy), Roma and Irish Traveller individuals, addressing critical issues including housing insecurity, discrimination, and access to justice.

We are now actively seeking new investment and funding partnerships to sustain and strengthen this work for the long term. With the right support, we can move beyond crisis response and rebuild a stable, preventative casework service that reduces harm, informs policy change, and delivers lasting impact for communities across the UK.

Our casework currently focuses on:

Discrimination in both public and private settings

Racist bullying and harassment in schools

School Attendance Orders

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) matters

We are deeply grateful to all our supporters and partners who have stood with us to challenge injustice and discrimination.

If you or your organisation are interested in supporting or investing in this essential work, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further.

Please contact our Head of Partnerships, Olivia, at

business@travellermovement.org.uk

Together, we can help secure fair access to justice and equality for Romani (Gypsy), Roma and Irish Traveller communities nationwide.

Coming Soon: Turning Rights into Reality: New Know Your Rights Information Guides

We are excited to announce that The Traveller Movement will soon be launching our updated and new Know Your Rights Information Guides for Romani (Gypsy) and Irish Traveller communities. After working intensively on these resources over the summer, we are pleased to confirm that the guides will be live from January. This work forms a key part of our long-term Access to Justice commitment, addressing the persistent legal inequalities faced by our communities across housing, health care, planning, policing, education, discrimination, and welfare.

Too often, Romani (Gypsies) and Irish Travellers experience legal problems without clear, culturally appropriate information about their rights or how to enforce them. This lack of access to justice leads to preventable evictions, unlawful discrimination, unmet legal needs, and deep mistrust of statutory systems. Our Know Your Rights programme exists to challenge this reality supporting individuals and families to better understand their rights, make informed decisions, and seek legal help at the right time.

The Information Guides have been co-produced with specialist law firms and are grounded directly in lived experience. They draw on legal expertise alongside learning from our frontline casework, community engagement, and the real experiences of service users navigating hostile and complex systems. This ensures the guidance is practical, relevant, and rooted in the realities faced by Romani Gypsy and Irish Traveller communities.

The content is based on our Know Your Rights webinar series delivered in partnership with law firms including Bindmans LLP, Hodge Jones & Allen, Howe & Co and Simpson Millar, alongside other expert legal practitioners. The guides translate complex legal advice into accessible, plain-English information that can be used on sites, in community settings, and by frontline organisations supporting Romani (Gypsy), Roma and Irish, Scottish and Welsh Traveller people.

This work reflects our ongoing commitment to building sustainable access to justice, not one off interventions. Alongside these guides, we continue to strengthen legal referral pathways, professional partnerships, and community-facing legal education that supports long-term change.

Get involved:

If you are a law firm interested in collaborating with us, sharing expertise, or joining our pro bono legal panel, we would love to hear from you.

If you are a funder or supporter interested in helping us sustain and expand this vital Access to Justice work, please get in touch.

To get involved, please contact Olivia Hammond at esju@travellermovement.org.uk

Please keep an eye on our channels for further updates and the January launch.

Women's Projects – Service Update and Strategic Focus

In early December, our women’s workers delivered our Christmas wreath-making workshop for our Women’s Empowerment Network members. The event was a great success, and it was lovely to be able to host an event in such a historic venue.

This Christmas, we were proud to host a truly special intergenerational wreath-making workshop that brought together elders, adults, and young people to share skills, stories, and time with one another. The workshop was led by Liv from our Partnerships and Advocacy team who shared her traditional art and skills with all participating. The event was a great success, and it was lovely to be able to host an event in such a historic venue at Hampton Court Palace.

What began as a creative activity quickly became something deeper, a space for learning, remembrance, and connection.

The workshop was designed by our Women’s Empowerment Network (WEN) not only to be festive and enjoyable, but to harness practical skills and explore pathways to self-employment. Participants learned hands-on techniques in crafting Christmas wreaths skills that can be built upon for seasonal trading, small business ideas, and creative self-employment opportunities. These kinds of informal, culturally rooted skills are often overlooked, yet they hold real potential for income generation and independence when properly supported.

Just as importantly, the workshop was about having fun and being together. Laughter, conversation, and shared creativity filled the space as people worked side by side, passing knowledge between generations. Elders shared traditional ways of working with natural materials, while younger participants brought fresh ideas and energy to each learning from the other.

Many of the wreaths created held deep personal meaning. Some were made for family and friends, while others were crafted in memory of loved ones who have passed. This act of remembrance was woven gently into the day, offering a moment of reflection and care, and reminding us how creativity can support wellbeing, grief, and healing especially during the festive season.

This intergenerational workshop captured what community-led work does best, building skills, creating joy, honouring those who came before us, and opening doors to future opportunities. It was a powerful reminder that economic empowerment, cultural knowledge, and community wellbeing are deeply connected.

If you are interested in supporting future intergenerational workshops, collaborating on skills and self-employment programmes, or helping us expand creative opportunities within our communities, we would love to hear from you. Whether you are a funder, partner, or community member, your support helps us continue creating spaces where learning, culture, and opportunity can thrive. You can contact Lourdes O’Brien at WEN@travellermovement.org.uk

Building Sector Support-Never Going to Beat You

We have been delivering this highly successful training for a number of years, and it continues to be in strong demand. The training is delivered by lived experience trainers, bringing authenticity, insight, and real-world understanding that consistently resonates with participants.

We were pleased to have the opportunity to screen our highly acclaimed film, Never Going to Beat You, at the Reel Cinema in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire recently. Seeing the film on the big screen was a powerful experience, and the screening was followed by a presentation and an engaging Q&A session, allowing space for reflection and discussion.

Our January training date is now fully booked, reflecting the continued demand for this programme. There is still limited availability for our February online session on Friday 27 February 2026, and places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

If you are interested in booking a film screening alongside an in-person training session or would like to join one of our online NGTBY training sessions, please get in touch with our Head of Partnerships, Olivia,

at business@travellermovement.org.uk or visit our training page

Health and Wellbeing

With support from City Bridge Trust, The Traveller Movement is delivering an important new project focused on improving referral pathways into talking therapy services for Romani (Gypsy) and Irish Traveller communities.

Access to mental health support remains a significant challenge for our communities. Barriers such as discrimination, lack of cultural understanding, fear of services, and poor referral routes mean that many people are unable to access timely and appropriate support often until they reach crisis point. This project is about changing that, by ensuring that mental health services are

accessible, culturally informed, and rooted in trust.

We are working in partnership with Leeds GATE, Leicestershire GATE, The Maya Centre, Irish Immigrant and Counselling Psychotherapy (ICAP), Irish in Britain (IiB), Rethink Mental Illness, One Call Away, and Brent Centre for Young People to strengthen culturally informed approaches to mental health support and improve how services respond to Romani (Gypsy) and Irish Traveller people.

Alongside this, we have reached out to colleagues and organisations across the country who are either already doing this work or have expressed a strong interest in supporting it. This growing national collaboration is helping us widen the reach of the project, share learning, and ensure that emerging good practice can be embedded more broadly across the mental health sector.

Through community focus groups, steering group discussions, and close collaboration with our partners, we are gathering rich insight into how Romani (Gypsy) and Irish Traveller communities experience mental health services and where current systems fall short.

These conversations are directly shaping the development of our CPD-accredited training course, ensuring it is grounded in lived experience and responsive to the real barriers people face when seeking support. This work will continue into January, with further focus groups planned, including one on Stable Way, West London site and another in partnership with

Southwark Travellers Action Group (STAG).

For more information about this project, please visit our Health and Social Care page or contact our Women’s Worker, Annalise Corcoran, at

communitydevelopment@travellermovement.org.uk

Coping at Christmas

Life can be tough to cope with at any time of the year, but Christmas can be especially difficult. Know that help is out there 24/7/356 🙏

Even if this isn't applicable to us all, let's all promise to check in on our friends and family, reach out, be available, offer a safe space and be aware of common signs ❤️

PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide

Pan-London Partnerships

After a great deal of hard work over the summer, we are very proud to announce the launch of our new film, Where They Put Us: Traveller Sites and the Legacy of Environmental Racism. This is an entirely community-led film, shaped by the voices, experiences, and leadership of Traveller communities themselves, and it tackles the critical and often overlooked issue of environmental racism head-on.

The film explores how planning decisions and systemic discrimination have resulted in Traveller sites being disproportionately located in unsafe, unhealthy, and environmentally damaging areas and the long-term consequences this has for families, health, and wellbeing. By placing lived experience at the centre, the film challenges dominant narratives and ensures that those most affected are the ones telling the story.

We are deeply thankful to the families who opened their homes to us, welcomed us into their spaces, and trusted us with their stories. Their honesty, generosity, and courage are at the heart of this film. We are also grateful to everyone involved in bringing this project to life from community members and contributors, to the wider team who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure this film remained rooted in community ownership and integrity throughout.

The film will be officially launched on Monday 19th January at 6:30 PM at City Hall. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion, creating space for reflection and dialogue, before closing with networking and refreshments.

Register to attend:

To secure your place, please visit our Eventbrite page:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1976006356204?aff=oddtdtcreator

This launch is more than a screening it is a moment to listen, to bear witness, and to recommit challenging environmental racism and injustice faced by Traveller communities. We hope you will join us.

BLOG

Light and Life UK Christmas Shoebox Appeal 2025

As the festive season approaches, small acts of kindness can make a lasting difference. We caught up with Paul Grant, Trainee Minister at Light and Life Church, about their Christmas Shoebox Appeal a simple but powerful initiative that brings warmth, dignity, and joy to individuals and families who might otherwise go without during the holidays.

In this conversation, Paul reflects the heart behind the appeal, the community spirit that drives it, and the impact these shoeboxes have when they reach those most in need.

Read the full blog:

https://travellermovement.org.uk/news/light-and-life-uk-christmas-shoebox-appeal-2025

Opportunities to get involved in our work

Advisory board ongoing recruitment – find out more here.

TM are also recruiting for a new Intern for the Partnerships team. Find out more here. This is an ideal opportunity for anyone with an interest in film making, social media and/or digital design.