+ All Categories
Home > Documents > Gypsies and Travellers - Citizens Advice resources... · with gypsy and travellers, but will...

Gypsies and Travellers - Citizens Advice resources... · with gypsy and travellers, but will...

Date post: 17-Apr-2018
Category:
Upload: vantu
View: 215 times
Download: 1 times
Share this document with a friend
22
Gypsies and Travellers Financial Capability Best Practice Guide
Transcript

Gypsies and Travellers Financial Capability Best Practice Guide

2 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

This workbook has been produced as part of Citizens Advice Financial Skills for Life.

Although care has been taken to ensure the accuracy, completeness and reliability of the information provided, Citizens Advice assumes no responsibility. The user of the information agrees that the information is subject to change without notice. To the extent permitted by law, Citizens Advice excludes all liability for any claim, loss, demands or damages of any kind whatsoever (whether such claims, loss, demands or damages were foreseeable, known or otherwise) arising out of or in connection with the drafting, accuracy and/or its interpretation, including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage and whether arising in tort (including negligence), contract or otherwise. Copyright © 2015 Citizens Advice All rights reserved. Any reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited except with the express written permission of Citizens Advice. Citizens Advice is an operating name of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, Charity registration number 279057, VAT number 726020276, Company Limited by Guarantee, Registered number 1436945 England. Registered office: Citizens Advice, 3rd Floor North, 200 Aldersgate Street, London, EC1A 4HD

3 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

Introduction

The target area of ‘challenging discrimination through advice’ in The Citizens Advice Stand Up for Equality Strategy focuses on improving access to advice for Gypsies and Travellers: they are one of the most marginalised communities in the UK and continue to experience extreme levels of prejudice and discrimination.

Financial capability has a key role to play in this strategy in terms of both reaching into these communities and links with advice provision. The aim of this best practice guide is to help local offices consider the issues attached to this, and how these might be addressed through financial capability work to achieve the desired outcomes of the Stand Up for Equality Strategy.

This guide sets out some of the basic steps that a financial capability trainer needs to consider before developing their work in this area. We will be adding to this guide as our experience develops and your thoughts and feedback would be appreciated – email [email protected]

We do not wish to imply that we are experts in this particular area: this guide was written by a financial capability specialist with some experience of working with gypsy and travellers, but will include advice of use to generalist advisers and volunteers at Citizens Advice as well.

4 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

Contents

Background 5

The facts and figures 6

Understanding UK Gypsy and Traveller communities 8

Gypsy and Traveller groups as a BAME group 9

Practical steps 11

Step 1 – Existing knowledge and skills 12

Step 2 – Review and improve your existing service 13

Step 3 – Provide a specific service for your clients

Step 4 – Develop a dedicated outreach and support service

15

16

Preparing resources and delivering sessions 18

Further information and useful resources

19

5 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

Background

Gypsy and traveller can encompass many quite different groups, from Romani gypsies to Irish travellers. These groups are actually quite different, and have well-established cultures and communities that can be hard to penetrate.

Most training and information provided on gypsies and travellers tends to focus on the historical narrative of their origin: for example, the word ‘gypsy’ itself is a derivation of the word Egyptian, as the early ‘gypsies’ were mistaken for being Egyptian due to their dark skin (they were actually from the Indian subcontinent).

However, this best practise guide is not a historical text and will not contain that degree of background information: advisers and volunteers are welcome to search for historical information themselves online, but should be wary of a common trap in this area. To be specific, it is easy for practitioners to spend more time discussing the relatively ‘safe’ area of historical context than the more ‘taboo’ area of active, practical engagement.

6 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

The facts and figures

The government estimates that there are 300,000 Gypsies and Travellers in the UK (about 0.5 percent of the UK population) including those who are travelling or live on sites, and those who are settled. Geographical dispersal is however very varied, with one report estimating the population in Doncaster, for example, having a population of 2 per cent of the total.

Gypsies and Travellers are ethnic groups who face some of the most complex and chronic disadvantage. They receive ‘manifestly less favourable’ treatment from public authorities and service providers. The level of discrimination and disadvantage experienced by Gypsies and Travellers is very high. Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) evidence (2009) indicates that the Gypsy and Traveller community experiences chronic, complex disadvantage, resulting in a 10 year lower life expectancy than average and child mortality 20 times higher than average. This is the worst life expectancy of any ethnic group in the UK.

In 2012/13, 3663 clients were recorded as Gypsy or Traveller on the ethnicity monitoring by local offices. This is approximately 0.2 per cent of our total Citizens Advice clients.

Financial Exclusion

Studies have reported that some Gypsies and Travellers face difficulties accessing financial products and services; for example, difficulties providing suitable ID (identification documents) and difficulties providing evidence of a stable address which can be a barrier to opening a bank account. Gypsies and Travellers have also reported concerns that financial services would be hostile towards them. In addition there are low levels of adult literacy and numeracy in the community which can create an additional barrier to accessing services.

The Department for Education reported that in 2011 just 12% of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils achieved five or more good GCSEs, including English and mathematics, compared with 58.2% of all pupils

Gypsies and Travellers is an umbrella term for very diverse groups of people who either have a nomadic or semi nomadic heritage, or a nomadic or semi nomadic lifestyle.

7 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

One of the commitments of the ministerial working group on tackling inequalities experienced by Gypsies and Travellers in their report in April 2012 was to improve knowledge of how Gypsies and Travellers engage with services that provide a gateway to work opportunities and working with the financial services industry to improve access to financial products and services.

8 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

Understanding UK Gypsy and Traveller communities

The most important and fundamental thing to understand when engaging the UK Gypsy and traveller community is this: Gypsies and Travellers are technically a BAME community, and are protected as such under UK law.

There is a separate Best Practise Guide available on BAME communities, and much of this information can be found there as well.

What is a BAME community?

BAME stands for Black and Asian Minority Ethnic, and so BAME communities in the UK are those who have cultural and racial roots that are different from the UK majority.

Why do Gypsy and Traveller groups fall under this?

When discussing Gypsy and Traveller communities, many of the issues we face when trying to engage with them are also found – to greater or lesser degrees - in other BAME communities within the UK.

9 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

Gypsy and Traveller groups as a BAME group

What follows is a non-exhaustive list of traits common to BME communities in the UK, and how they relate to Gypsy and Traveller groups.

o An intrinsically cash-centric culture.

BME communities in the UK are known to distrust an electronic-cash economy. This can extend to using banks, and digital services like Paypal, and is concentrated in older members of the community who may have been raised in countries where cash-based economies were the norm. As such, members of these communities often have substantial amounts (tens of thousands of pounds) of cash in the home. Similarly, they may have significant amounts of gold jewellery in the home as well.

o A society that revolves around religious belief.

BAME communities often exist around a core of religious belief and practise. For many, this is a religion such as Islam or Hinduism: for Gypsy and Traveller groups, it is often Christianity. Either way, religion and religious observance forms a core part of the daily routine for these groups.

o A distrust of British authorities.

There are several reasons for this: o A perception of institutional racism or bias (and possible experience of this) o Experience of corrupt institutions in the clients home country o A fear of the bureaucracy of many processes, and their requirement for

language fluency and literacy.

o Evidence of gender bias and discrimination.

A controversial and sensitive topic, but one with some evidence in both directions. Whilst some BAME cultures can exist as strict patriarchies, and offer the women in the community little freedom, other communities can similarly limit the rights of the men. For example, in some cultures women are forbidden from handling money: in others, women exclusively handle the family finances.

10 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

o Isolated communities.

BAME communities are often isolated, both physically and socially. They are often sited in locations where nowhere else wants to live, or in areas of low-cost and low quality housing. As a result, because the communities are isolated they remain very close-knit: few people from other communities live near or amongst them.

o Low levels of literacy.

Low levels of literacy and often numeracy are common problems across all BAME groups, including Gypsy and Traveller ones.

o Intradependence: very close-knit, extended families.

Many BAME communities have extended family structures, with several generations living under the same roof. As such, this promotes further social isolation and makes it harder for advice intervention to reach clients.

o Early marriage and large families.

A common feature in all BAME communities, Gypsy and Traveller groups are equally likely to marry young and within their own close-knit community.

o A cultural focus on honour and shame.

This is often confused as having a religious aspect: this is not the case, and can vary hugely from culture to culture. Even between Gypsy and Traveller groups, this can vary. Nonetheless, practitioners need to be aware that tis culture of shame and honour exists, and that much of it can revolve around money and the appearance of having or earning money. This adds an extra layer of sensitivity when discussing financial matters with a member of a BAME group.

11 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

Practical steps

The following steps are broad practical steps for working with Gypsy and Traveller communities.

As with all resources falling under the remit of the financial capability team, this best practise guide is considered to be a live document and will be periodically updated and refreshed. We encourage any local Citizens Advice to contact us with comments, ideas and case-studies that we can incorporate into future versions, in order that we can continue to share good practise across the local Citizens Advice network.

To contact the Citizens Advice Financial Skills for Life team, email us at [email protected]

12 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

Step One: Existing knowledge and skills

Before setting off, take a moment to consider what you already have available in your local office, from physical resources to staff and experience.

• Do you already have experience of working with Gypsies & Travellers? Check with your advisers and volunteers, and the support staff too. Pool their experience and share it.

• Have you had experience of delivering basic skills training to people who are unable to read and write English? Advisers and volunteers that work with ESOL groups (those who speak English as a Second Language) will be really helpful here, as will anyone that has relatives that need help reading and writing English.

• Have you talked with an experienced trainer about their work with this community? We would recommend shadowing a colleague wherever possible to see the issues and challenges that can arise.

• Do some research about your local area:

o Do you know where Gypsies and Travellers live in your area?

o Is there existing research, evidence or data in your local community? The local authority is a good place to start, and then spiral out to the community centres and local groups.

See also the reports on other projects run by the network on the Citizens Advice website.

13 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

Step Two – Review and improve your existing service

This is the first active step, but is a relatively easy one that focusses on making it easier for clients from this demographic contact you directly in your existing locations and existing services.

• Carry out a review. This isn’t the same as Step One above: here you need to consider how to evaluate your current service. That means establishing how many members of the Gypsy and Traveller community you currently contact, and when (or where, or what about). Use this review to identify potential barriers stopping this group from contacting you: this could be location, or awareness.

• Identify partners and trusted intermediaries There will be organisations currently working with the Gypsy and Traveller community in your area. This could be as simple as the local authority’s education team, or a specialist charity.

• Your local authority Your local authority will have some contact with the local community, but this can vary across departments. Try to find as many points as possible where the local council interacts with that community, and see what opportunities for partnership there are.

• Health professionals (specialist health visitors) There will be health specialists who do site visits, or – often due to proximity – cater to a high proportion to members of the community. Identify them, and work with them.

• Provide specific support for clients with low levels of literacy This is the first thing for local offices to provide. These will probably need to be by appointment or referral, but the crucial thing is to make them confidential: low literacy is often a source of shame and needs to be addressed carefully.

14 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

• Provide flexibility and assistance with appointments A simple example when working with BAME communities is to adjust drop-in times for Muslim BAME members during the month of Ramadan. This simple concession to their faith can do a great deal to build community bridges, and is often simple to do. Similarly, different groups such as the Gypsy and Traveller community will have unique features that are often simple to accommodate for.

• Prepare and display targeted publicity materials This can often mean having materials in a specific foreign language, but can extend to choosing the right type of language when using English. Language should be simple and uncomplicated, free of clutter and jargon, and with a welcoming tone addressed to a community’s concerns and needs.

15 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

Step Three – Provide a specific service for your clients

In this step, we are now considering active things that your local office can do to build bridges to the Gypsy and Traveller community, and how to expand provision to outreach locations for use by the general community as well.

• Make direct links

This can sound like a rather glib and vague proposal, so it is best consider a real example. Members of BAME communities, no matter how isolated, will use services that exist within the wider community. These services can be difficult to identify at times: in Cardiff – which has a large gypsy and traveller site near the city – members of the community train at local boxing gyms in the area. Practitioners wishing to establish links can target – for example – these gyms to offer their services.

• Community development and engagement work This hinges on the preceding step, and specifically upon identifying trusted partners and intermediaries. Once these partners are identified, advisers can use their guidance to inform the engagement work that they do.

• Celebrate Gypsy and Traveller History Month Contact the Equality Team at Citizens advice for further information on this.

• Advice surgeries (alone or in partnership) These should be advertised as specifically for the gypsy and traveller community. Even if many of the advice areas are the same as those for other clients, it is important to make the members of this community feel that their particular needs are being addressed.

• Building trust through campaigning and joint action

16 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

Step Four – Develop a dedicated outreach and support service

As with most existing financial capability training, which is mainly delivered out in the community (schools, community and children’s centres, adult education colleges, etc) sessions for Gypsies and Travellers work best in places where they are in familiar surroundings.

Remember - Levels of prejudice and racism against Gypsies and Travellers are high in all areas of our society and it make take several years to establish trust and partnerships.

Talk to agencies or organisations in your local area who are already working with the Gypsy & Traveller community. There are some useful websites and contacts listed at the end of this guide. You may want to base yourself initially at their office or centre or use their links to spread information about the service you are offering.

Contact your local authority as they may have Gypsy & Traveller liaison officers or Traveller Education Support workers. Your local health board may have a Traveller outreach programme

Offer frontline worker training to staff and volunteers from these agencies and the local authority so that they are aware of the services available.

Be prepared to make contact and build up direct links with the community. Although working with an intermediary agency has many advantages, all agencies have specific remits and even trusted intermediaries may only work with some members of a particular community. Some agencies with links with the Gypsy and Traveller community may still be regarded with suspicion.

It is not recommended that you take a direct approach of knocking on doors of houses or caravans, approaching sites without an invitation, and being unclear about your “offer”. This could all cause offence and be very time consuming and difficult for all parties.

Remember that it may take several months - if not years - to establish trust and partnerships. Don’t give up! One financial capability worker reported that, having established links and agreeing to attend a site to offer individual ‘money’

17 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

sessions there were several weeks when nobody came. However eventually a community member called in. Word then spread and attendance increased.

The goal of this outreach and engagement work should be to establish – where possible – two things:

• Advice Hub/Network Expert This is a case of developing the expertise of working with gypsies and travellers, and having this expertise within the local office. This can be contained within a single adviser, or a team of advisers. Either way, these experts can then offer advice surgeries, or work in Advice hubs that are more accessible for their clients.

• Outreach advice service A service like this will involve expert advisers and volunteers actually visiting clients on an outreach basis, often at a traveller site. Like all outreach work, all appropriate safety measures should be taken.

18 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

Preparing resources and delivering sessions

Be aware that many Gypsies & Travellers may have limited English literacy and numeracy skills– ensure all resources are written in plain English and where possible use diagrams / illustrations.

It will be best to use as many visual resources as much as possible and use symbols that are easily recognisable.

Consider the advice or areas of particular concern to Gypsies and Travellers and link your financial capability sessions to these topics e.g. changes to income and expenditure, difficulties in form filling or understanding contracts, or issues relating to energy charges.

You could also link your financial capability sessions to topics which relate to financial exclusion and access to financial services e.g. identity requirements for bank accounts, internet access.

Local offices have used both individual and group delivery models. Either or both can work, depending on the nature and the needs of the community.

The Citizens Advice financial capability resource library is available at www.citizensadvice.org.uk/financialcapabilityresources

Further guidance produced by the central Citizens Advice equality team can be found at www.citizensadvice.org.uk/cablink/equality/gypsies-and-travellers/

19 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

Further information and useful resources

The independent membership organisation Liberty contains a lot of useful information about civil rights and combatting discrimination that many groups face. They can be found here at www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/

Friends, Families and Travellers is a national charity Based in Brighton. They seek to end discrimination that Gypsy, Traveller and Roma people face. They can be found here at www.gypsy-traveller.org/

The Travellers Advice Team at Community Law Partnership is an independent team of solicitors that offer advice, assistance and representation to Gypsy and Traveller groups across England and Wales.

TAT's service includes a dedicated Gypsy and Traveller Helpline, which is available on 0121 685 8677 from 9-5 Monday to Friday. They also have an out-of-hours emergency number which is 07768 316755.

They can be found here at www.communitylawpartnership.co.uk/our-services/gypsies-and-travellers

Leeds Gypsy and Traveller Exchange (Leeds GATE) is a specialist charity that works to improve the quality of life for Gypsy and Traveller communities.

They produce a toolkit on engaging with Gypsies and Travellers for the cost of £10, and offer a range of resources and training as well.

They can be found here at http://leedsgate.co.uk/

20 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

The Traveller Movement is a charity providing information and services for Gypsies and Travellers with a specific emphasis on Irish Travellers.

They can be found here at http://travellermovement.org.uk/

The Travellers' Times website contains up-to-date news, pictures, films, features & information from and for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.

It can be found here at http://travellerstimes.org.uk/

The Travelling Ahead project has been hosted at Save the Children since 2010 – it was set up to support young Gypsies and Travellers to have a voice and make sure your rights get respected. It has a useful directory of services across Wales that have links with Gypsy & Travellers.

It can be found here at www.travellingahead.org.uk/

21 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

Social media contacts

Due to the isolated nature of the Gypsy and traveller community, it can at times be easier to engage with members using avenues such as social media. For info about using social media if you haven’t before, please read the guidance provided at www.cablink.org.uk/index/publicity/social_media_toolkit.htm

The Roma Virtual Network can be found at https://en-gb.facebook.com/roma.virtual.network and is a face book site with useful links and information.

@DamianLeBas Damian Le Bas, the current Travellers’ Times editor

@GypsyTravellers Friends, Families and Travellers

@LeedsGATE Leedsgate

@mwillers1 Marc Willers, Co-author of LAG Gypsy and Travellers Law, barrister at Garden Court Chambers

Facebook

Twitter Accounts

22 ©2015 Citizens Advice

Best Practice – Gypsy and Traveller/Dec16/v2

Who this pack is for Main user groups: Advisers and support workers working with members of the gypsy and traveller community across England and Wales Other user groups: anyone who has an interest in providing community learning

Acknowledgments Thanks to all who contributed. Their expertise and guidance was invaluable.

Updates Although every care has been taken to ensure that this pack is accurate at the time of delivery, many of the areas contained within will evolve and change over time. This means that there may be short periods where the information in this toolkit will require updating. All the Citizens Advice financial capability toolkits will be subject to regular reviews to ensure that these occasions are kept to a bare minimum.

Feedback We’d be happy to get your feedback on this toolkit, and in fact on any of the financial capability resources. You can email us at [email protected]

Copyright Copyright © 2016 Citizens Advice. All rights reserved. Any reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited except with the express written permission of Citizens Advice.

Company information Citizens Advice is an operating name of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, Charity registration number 279057, VAT number 726020276, Company Limited by Guarantee, Registered number 1436945 England. Registered office: Citizens Advice, 3rd Floor North, 200 Aldersgate Street, London, EC1A 4HD.


Recommended