Active work on the Roma SOURCE project ended at the end of March 2013, when the 2 year funding period finished.

We hope the influence of Roma SOURCE will continue:

• Thanks to the Roma SOURCE project, Roma inclusion is occupying an ever higher position on the agendas of the countries and regions where the project took place.
• The Roma SOURCE website is staying live till 2016, so that our resources and research results and can be seen by as many people as possible.
• The new Roma MATRIX project follows on from the success of Roma SOURCE

The EU has approved co-funding for a new project called Roma MATRIX, which aims to combat racism, intolerance and xenophobia towards Roma and increase integration though a programme of action across Europe.

Roma MATRIX follows on from the success of Roma SOURCE and is 3 times as large, with 19 partners in 10 countries. www.twitter.com/romamatrix

Roma MATRIX will be coordinated by Migration Yorkshire and includes five other Roma SOURCE partners.

Roma MATRIX will run from April 2013 till March 2015.

The University of Salford, as part of the Roma SOURCE project, carried out research to consider the extent to which Roma and majority communities in six European Union Member States (Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) lead integrated lives, by conducting empirical research with Roma and non Roma populations.

The Final Report is based on analysis of qualitative data generated in 24 focus groups with members of Roma and non Roma communities. The focus groups were convened in 2012. A total of 180 respondents (92 men, 88 women), took part in the focus groups, with representatives from 14 nationalities.

Key findings are in the areas of:

• unemployment
• paid work
• community relations
• social welfare
• social exclusion

Recommendations are targeted at the macro level of policy making and the micro level of community based settings.

You can download the full report, and an executive summary, at:  www.romasource.eu/resources/research/

For further information about this study contact the research team at the University of Salford:

Dr Phillip Brown: p.brown@salford.ac.uk 
Professor Peter Dwyer: p.j.dwyer@salford.ac.uk
Dr Lisa Scullion: l.scullion@salford.ac.uk

Supporting the inclusion of Roma people and communities is a fundamental element of the Roma SOURCE project.

In Yorkshire, UK, we have particularly focused on health and engagement. To do this, we have provided funding for 6 projects, 3 focusing on health and 3 on citizenship, which have used community mediators or 'champions'. These champions are Roma people who receive training to work informally within their own communities to create lasting change in these areas.

The health champion projects have been based in Bradford, Rotherham and Sheffield. You can see case studies and presentations sharing learning from the projects on this page: www.romasource.eu/resources/health

The community and citizenship champion projects have been based in Halifax, Old Bank Primary School in Mirfield and in Leeds. You can see some case studies on this page: www.romasource.eu/resources/citizenship   

Thanks to the Roma SOURCE project, Roma inclusion is occupying an ever higher position on the agendas of the countries and regions where the project is taking place.

Issue 3 (November 2012) of our newsletter brings you up to date with all that's happening on the project. Read it to find out about:

• Putting Roma on the agenda throughout Europe
• Promoting citizenship
• From worklessness to employment
• Healthy outcomes
• Roma children - raising aspirations and improving lives
• Roma SOURCE research
• The EU Framework for Roma inclusion
• Roma MATRIX project given EU go-ahead

Download the newsletter from our resources section at:
www.romasource.eu/resources/about-roma-source#newsletters

We hope our short guide to good practice will provide inspiration and guidance for people and projects working to improve the health of Roma communities in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe. It also celebrates some good initiatives which seem to be effective in improving the health of Roma people.

How to get your copy

You can download the guide from our resources section at: www.romasource.eu/resources/health

More information

Migration Yorkshire produced the guide. 

We have just released two new short films about the lives of Roma children in Leeds, United Kingdom.

The film 'Our lives' uses still photographs taken by Roma children at a primary school in Leeds, together with audio interviews with 2 of the children - Sebastian and Marketa, who talk about their lives in Leeds since leaving the Czech Republic, their memories of the country they and their families left behind, and their hopes for the future.

The film 'Our community' follows the children and teachers around their neighbourhood, to give an idiosyncratic tour of their new home.

'These are smashing little films, and are a splendid example of the energy and creativity of the young people who provided the photographs and interviews' said John Donegan, from Migration Yorkshire.

'We think the films will be of particular interest in schools that want interesting audiovisual resources for awareness raising, to give a real sense of Roma children's lives in the UK.'

The films were produced following arts workshops with the children conducted by Manchester-based freelance journalist Ciara Leeming, who has reached a national audience for her work with young and marginalised people, and Gemma Thorpe, a Sheffield-based photographer and educator.

To see the films, go to: www.romasource.eu/resources/children#our-community

To see photos of the workshops, go to: www.flickr.com/photos/romasource

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A new pocket-sized guide to life in the UK aimed at Roma migrants and other similar groups has been produced by Migration Yorkshire as part of the Roma SOURCE project.

The 'Welcome to Yorkshire' guide provides brief advice on issues such as rights and democracy, driving, health, who to contact in an emergency and getting to know your local community.

John Donegan, Roma Development Officer for Migration Yorkshire said:

'This short, illustrated booklet contains some of the most important information Roma people newly arrived in the UK are likely to want, in an easily digestible format. The content and format are based on extensive consultation with people who work with Roma and with Roma themselves. We very much hope the new guide will play a part in helping Roma people settle smoothly into their new home communities in Yorkshire.'

How to get your copy

You can download the guide in English and Hungarian from our resources section at: www.romasource.eu/resources/citizenship 

To download copies in Czech, Polish and Slovak, go to the Migration Yorkshire website: www.migrationyorkshire.org.uk/?page=publications#welcomebooklet  

Roma SOURCE has launched its Ethnic Diversity Driver - a practical performance management tool that puts the spotlight on the issue of ethnic diversity in the workplace.

The tool will help you to conduct a self-assessment of what your organisation has achieved in respect of ethnic diversity, identify opportunities for further improvement, and prioritise actions that can make the greatest impact.

It covers 6 key areas:

• policy and strategy
• processes within the organisation
• people
• customers and clients
• partnerships and resources
• results

It is relevant to public, private and voluntary sector organisations. The assessment is based on the EFQM Excellence Model, which is widely used by major UK and European organisations as a means of reviewing performance against internationally recognised best practice.

Kostas Diamantis Balaskas, from the Greek organisation Action Synergy, which developed the driver on behalf of Roma SOURCE, said:

'The Ethnic Diversity Driver is an innovative tool that will help you to identify and fill the gaps in your diversity strategy. Use the tool and you will understand that diversity is not only a benefit for the community but will bring added value to your organisation too.'

You can download the driver at www.romasource.eu/resources/employment/ 

The Roma SOURCE Interim Research Report is now available to download, you can find it at www.romasource.eu/resources/research/  

The report, by the University of Salford, combines and draws on two elements:

Literature review (including recent academic works and EU / national level policy and research documents, reports from non-governmental organisations [NGOs] and grey literature) conducted by the University of Salford team.

Country reports written by the partners in the six Member States to consider issues such as:

• The wider EU policy context.
• The policy context towards Roma in each partner country (Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Spain and the UK)
• Issues around Roma children.
• The health of the Roma population.
• Work, unemployment and training of Roma.
• Relationships between majority populations and Roma.
• Issues related Roma housing, income and poverty.

The report reveals the key findings from our research so far:

• Poor accommodation standards and inequality in housing is a significant factor in the continued social exclusion of Roma.
• Roma generally have a poor relationship with non-Roma communities.
• There are continuing significant concerns about the education of children from Roma communities with respect to attainment, segregation and engagement with the education systems of various states.
• Roma appear to experience significant discrimination and disadvantage in the paid labour market of various states across the EU.

Background

The University of Salford has a research role within Roma SOURCE. This role has two main elements. First, to document the situation of Roma within the six partner countries. Second, to work with the partners to conduct exploratory empirical research with Roma and non-Roma people in the partner countries.

More information

If you have any questions or comments about the report, contact Philip Brown by email: p.brown@salford.ac.uk 

We've just released Issue 2 of our newsletter, to bring you up to date with all that's happening on the project. You can download it from our resources section at www.romasource.eu/resources/about-roma-source#newsletters

Themes in this April 2012 newsletter are:

• Roma citizenship
• Working to improve Roma employment
• Healthy outcomes
• Working for Roma children
• Research - understanding the issues
• Electronic and web resources

The new Roma SOURCE website launches today. The website will be a resource for everyone working to promote equal rights for Roma and to combat anti-Roma discrimination. The multilingual website is available in Bulgarian, Greek, English, Hungarian, Italian and Spanish.

The website includes a range of useful information for people working for Roma equality, including:

About Roma Who are Roma? Roma rights in Europe. The effects of anti-Roma discrimination, and what is being done at a policy level across Europe to address this discrimination. Extensive links section.

Resources Materials that you can use to promote equal rights for Roma. Over the next year, we will be producing research reports, audio visual materials, case studies and much more: visit us regularly to find out what's new.

Please circulate our web address www.romasource.eu You are welcome to link to us from your website.

We hope you find the website useful and informative. We welcome any feedback - please let us know what you think by emailing us at admin@migrationyorkshire.org.uk