Rough Sleeping Roma in the City of Westminster
Rough sleeping Roma in the City of Westminster June, 2016 Authors: Dragica Felja & Laura Greason, Roma Support Group Project management: Sylvia Ingmire, Roma Support Group Roma Support Group (RSG) The Roma Support Group is the largest Roma-led charity organisation (Charity No: 1103782) and a Company Limited by Guarantee (Company Registration Number 4645981) in the UK. Since its founding in 1998, the organisation has assisted thousands of Roma families in accessing welfare, housing, education, health and employment, as well as empowering Roma communities through a wide range of advocacy and cultural programmes. During the last 18 years we have built a wealth of expertise on Roma issues and have become the leading experts in this field. We have developed models of good practice regarding integration and empowerment of Roma communities which has led us to become advisers to governments, statutory and non-statutory agencies nationally and internationally. For more details about RSG expertise, please see appendix 7.5. Please see our website for information about our services: www.romasupportgroup.org.uk Acknowledgements The Roma Support Group would like to thank St Mungo’s for commissioning this report, their staff members Petra Salva, Luton Sinfield, Karen Savant, Svetlana Lopotenco, Sergiu Sidei, Ariel Tone, Beatrice Orchard and Dan Dumoulin for giving us their time and sharing their experience and knowledge. We would also like to thank other homelessness services in the City of Westminster, including the charity sector and faith organisations; Mircea Rostas , Prof. Thomas Acton (OBE), Prof. Margaret Greenfields and Arthur Ivatts (OBE) for their editorial support, guidance and encouragement. We are grateful to all Roma community members: Przemek Kierpacz, Bobi Rostas, Maria Rostas and Mura Hamza who participated in this research and offered us guidance and support and above all - to homeless Roma for sharing their life stories with us.
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