The Chair of the Luton Roma Trust, Rt Revd Richard Atkinson, is delighted to announce our new Trustee Steve Dolby, a Lay Reader at St. Thomas Church in Stopsley. Steve brings in extensive management and fundraising experience and we are excited to have his expertise guiding our work. Learn more about Steve’s background at: https://www.stopsley.net/whos-who
“I’ve always believed that every person deserves to be seen, heard, and empowered—especially those who’ve been pushed to the margins. I’m proud to join Luton Roma Trust in breaking down barriers and building a more inclusive future.” Steve
As a passionate advocate for equity and inclusion, Steve will be a powerful voice as we continue to support and uplift the Roma community in Luton.
Yesterday, marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Thousands of Roma, Jews, homosexuals, and disabled people were killed just because of who they were. We must never forget these atrocities and never allow such an event to take place again.
To commemorate this day, the Luton Roma team attended the Service of Commemoration at St Mary’s Church in Saffron Walden. Over 200 individuals attended the event, including the Mayor and Councillor Deryk Eke. We shared our firm commitment to working with everyone around us to never allow this to happen again. It was an emotional service, and we would like to thank Rufus and his team for such a warm welcome and introduction.
We are thrilled to announce that Luton Roma Trust has been joined by Mrs. Esther Stubbs as a Charity Operations Manager. Esther brings in a wealth of experience on GRT issues and is passionate to work towards achieving social justice for the Roma community in Luton. At LRT, Esther will oversee the implementation of the operational strategy of the charity and co-contribute to its strategic vision.
Esther’s background is in Traveller Education and social care. Her MA in social work examined the growing concerns of GRT children engaged with children’s social care in the UK. Esther describes herself as a proud Romany Gypsy, born into a large Romany family, living, and travelling around East Anglia.
Esther is a registered social worker, and this year BASW’s Professional Social Work magazine published her article titled, ‘We need to consider racism beyond colour’ in addition she contributed to a handbook aimed at professional best practice when working with GTRSB students in Higher Education, published by the University of Greenwich.
As well as Operations Manager for Luton Roma Trust, Esther works for Buckinghamshire New University leading on the GTRSB into Higher Education Pledge. She is also an acting trustee for Friends, Families and Travellers, and is a member of the Advisory Council for the Education of Romany and other Travellers (ACERT), the Gypsy Lore Society, and BASW’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory discussions.
Esther describes her greatest achievement as her 5 children, who motivate her to advocate for equality of opportunity for everyone, regardless of their heritage and identity.
We are excited to announce that we have started working with Heriot-Watt University on a project relating to Roma people’s ageing. The project’s objective is to understand the experiences of the Roma in the process of getting older with the scope of identifying effective ways of supporting them throughout this process.
Below is a video on the project description and co-researcher recruitment:
We look forward to working with Heriot-Watt University and our partners to bridge the gap in this area and identify viable solutions for the Roma community in Luton.
Yesterday, we were honoured to have a visit from HM Lord-Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, Susan Lousada. We all admired her passion for our cause and we are grateful for the support she has shown to tackle some of the challenges that the Roma face in Luton.
We were thrilled to be part of the parade in this year’s Luton Carnival yesterday. It gave us an opportunity to showcase our culture as well as be part of the wider Luton community.
The report highlights the multiple barriers faced by the Roma community when accessing healthcare services and identifies a number of obstacles that the Roma face when trying to access healthcare which include language and communication barriers, knowledge of how the health system works, and limited digital literacy.
The research was carried out in partnership with the University of Bedfordshire and Luton Roma Trust. The report was commissioned by NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board as part of the Denny Review into health inequalities.
To download the executive summary and full report, please click the link below.
We were delighted to join the lived experience panel at the ‘Creating a Fairer BLMK’ event on Friday 17th May. Where we discussed the lived experiences that the Roma community in Luton experiences when accessing healthcare. We emphasised that the language barrier is the main obstacle that the Roma faces when trying to access basic healthcare and we also explained the impact this has on the community and the need for immediate action to make healthcare accessible for everyone.
The event was organised by Bedfordshire, Luton, and Milton Keynes in collaboration with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement to discuss and follow up on the recommendations highlighted in the Denny Review on health inequalities released in September last year.
Luton Roma Trust is calling for the adoption of a local strategy and an action plan that supports the social integration of the Roma in Luton.
The event “Empowering the Roma in Luton” took place on Thursday 11th April at the University of Bedfordshire.
Luton Roma Trust organised a discussion with its partners to discuss the vulnerabilities faced by the Roma in the town and the need for a local strategy to support their social integration. The event was attended by Rachel Hopkins, MP who expressed her support for the Roma community and the need to work together for the betterment of everyone in the community.
The event has also marked the newly released report with research carried out jointly by the University of Bedfordshire and Luton Roma Trust with funding from the Integrated Care Board. The report highlighted that there are multiple barriers facing Roma people in accessing health and care services, including language and communication, knowledge of how the health system works and limited digital literacy. Felicity Cox, Chief Executive Officer Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board, present at the event, welcomed the report and expressed her full commitment towards implementing the recommendations in the report.
Crina Morteanu, the Charity Manager of Luton Roma Trust, referring to the event and report said:
“It is for the first time in Luton that we have so many representatives of the local authorities, including the Education team, the NHS and East of England Regional Government Association, Roma professionals and academics as well as other local charities who are fully committed to improve the situation of the Roma in the town. Today’s discussions have contributed to everyone’s understanding that to tackle the difficulties that the Roma face in their social integration journey, an action plan must be adopted using a targeted approach. We, at Luton Roma Trust, will coordinate this process and we remain ever grateful to all our partners for their commitment and motivation to support the social integration of the most disadvantaged ethnic minority group in Luton and in the UK”.
Today (2nd August) is Roma Genocide Remembrance Day. On the night of 2/3 August 1944, the ‘Gypsy Family Camp’ at Auschwitz-Birkenau was liquidated. Around three thousand men, women and children of Roma or Sinti origin were murdered in the gas chambers by Nazi officers. Their bodies were then burned in pits.
With an increased anti-Romani feeling all over Europe, it is now more important than ever that we remember the atrocities that Roma passed through throughout history and identify effective solutions so that everyone can live in harmony with others without the fear of being condemned for who they are. We need to make sure such situations will never happen again!
Luton Roma Trust 