Friends, Families and Travellers

Friends, Families and Travellers is a registered charity in the United Kingdom. It campaigns against discrimination against Gypsies, Roma and Travellers in the UK.[1]

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The group has accused Channel 4's 2010–2015 series Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and its 2020 Dispatches programme "The Truth About Traveller Crime" as promoting discrimination against Gypsies and Travellers.[2][3]

In July 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, it conducted a survey which found that 74% of GP surgeries they visited in March and April broke NHS England guidance by refusing to register nomadic patients.[4] The charity has also noted that the pandemic brought awareness to, and exacerbated, existing inequalities relating to Gypsy and Traveller communities.[5]

In 2021, it campaigned against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, calling its tightened restrictions on unauthorised campsites as "draconian"[6][7][8] and an infringement on nomadic people's human rights.[9] Ivy Manning, the group's engagement officer, said: "people living roadside will soon be caught in a catch-22 of potentially facing prison or being forced to move into bricks and mortar"[10] and that "entire lives could be criminalised for exercising the right to roam and live nomadically".[11] Following these concerns, Cambridge City Council pledged to stand "in solidarity" with Gypsies and Travellers.[12] The group has also claimed that traditional events such as the Appleby Horse Fair will no longer be allowed to occur under the provisions of the bill.[13]

After it was revealed that Pontins had blacklisted people with Irish surnames from its holiday sites in order to prevent Irish Travellers using the sites, the group argued that such barring of Gypsies and Travellers from holiday camps, pubs and across the UK was commonplace.[14][15]

See also

References
  1. "Friends, Families and Travellers". Friends, Families and Travellers.
  2. "Ofcom accused of institutional racism over Dispatches Traveller episode". The Guardian. 1 September 2021.
  3. "Discrimination and Ethics: Gypsies and Travellers Should Be Able to Expect Fair Play from the Media". Byline Times. 2 September 2021.
  4. "UK GPs 'refused registration to Gypsy, Roma and Traveller patients' during Covid-19 pandemic". The Independent. 8 July 2021.
  5. "Covid 'shines light' on Gloucestershire traveller inequalities". BBC News. 11 June 2021.
  6. "Travellers charity decries 'draconian' police Bill as caravan stats revealed". News and Star.
  7. "Dozens of traveller caravans in Bracknell pitched on unauthorised sites, figures show". Bracknell News.
  8. "Gypsies and travellers facing camp crackdown". Oxford Mail.
  9. "Gypsy and traveller communities campaign against new law to fine up to £2500 for roadside camp". Yorkshire.
  10. "Hundreds of traveller caravans pitched in Basildon this summer". Echo.
  11. "Gypsy, Roma and Traveller groups fear new government measures could harm their nomadic way of life". Politics Home. 14 May 2021.
  12. "Cambridge City Council to 'stand in solidarity' with travellers over policing Bill - but stops short of identifying new transit sites". Cambridge Independent. 23 July 2021.
  13. "Our traditions, way of life and culture are under threat, Gypsy leader warns Patel". The Guardian. 4 July 2021.
  14. "Systematic discrimination barring Gypsies and Travellers from holiday sites 'common practice', community advocates say". Sky News.
  15. "Irish Travellers say UK blacklist a 'campaign of discrimination'". The Guardian. 17 March 2021.

Further reading
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