Right you are

Save the Children, the international children's charity, has launched an information booklet  to help young Gypsies and Travellers across Wales understand their rights.

Research carried out by the Wales programme of Save the Children revealed that there is little or no information available to Gypsy and Traveller children so that they can learn about their human rights and how the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) applies to them. To address this gap the charity worked together with young Gypsies and travellers to design an information booklet.

The booklet is aimed at 11 to 18 year olds and presents Gypsy and Travellers young people with information such as the rights they have in education and the help available if they are bullied at school; their rights on how their homes, family life and culture should be respected by others and their rights regarding the police and health care. The booklet also includes contact details for the Children’s Commissioner for Wales Office and Childline who can offer further advice and support on issues of rights and also contact details for The Traveller Advice Team which provides legal advice to Gypsies and Travellers.

Bringing racists to book: Young Gypsies and Travellers Jim, Sam, Courtney, Lara, Lulu who worked with Save the Children to design the 'Travelling Ahead' Rights booklet.

The pocket-size, colourful and eye-catching booklet was recently launched at an event at the Pierhead building in Cardiff Bay attended by some of the young Gypsies and Travellers who helped design it.

Sam, 13 from Torfaen said:  "Most Gypsies don't know their rights and this booklet can tell us what we can do and what we can have. It's important to show that we're not different to everyone else and that we have the same rights. We learnt a lot and had fun designing it and helped chose the colours for the banner on the cover.”

Mark Chapple, Programme Manager for Save the Children in Wales said: “Gypsies and Travellers are one of the most marginalised and disadvantaged groups within Wales. Young people are particularly affected and have to contend with discrimination on a daily basis. They are often excluded from the key services that the settled population take for granted, such as health and education.

“This booklet is an important toolkit in explaining to them in simple and practical terms what their rights are and where they can go for further help and advice. It is the first of its kind to be published in Wales and we aim to roll it across the country through travellers’ education services.”

Keith Towler, Children’s Commissioner for Wales, who attended the launch event, added: “Discrimination is a very serious problem for Gypsy and Traveller children and there is much evidence that they fare worst of any ethnic group in terms of health and education. Much of this has stemmed from their lack of awareness about their rights.

“I very much welcome this guide as it is packed full of practical information covering topics including how they can go to school when they’re on the road, how they have a right to health care and how their families and culture should be respected. I hope this will be widely distributed so that Gypsy and Traveller children and young people across Wales have access to information that is relevant to their daily lives.” 

The booklet is part of Save the Children in Wales’ ‘Travelling Ahead’ project funded by BBC Children in Need and the Wales Assembly Government  aimed to give young Gypsies and Travellers a voice. A ‘Travelling Ahead’ DVD raising awareness of the issues faced by these young people has already been published and the aim is to set up youth forums within each local authority in Wales for young Gypsies and Travellers.

The new Travelling Ahead website – www.travellingahead.org.uk – will also be launched in September with the aim of giving young Gypsies and Travellers space to discuss key issues and showcase the forums work and also provide a toolkit and resources for professionals.  A group of young Gypsies and Travellers from Cardiff, supported by Save the Children in Wales, presented a report on the Consultation of the Wales Assembly Governments plan for Gypsy Travellers to the Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, Carl Sargeant on 13 July.