Outreach in Sussex
We have a dedicated and brilliant team of outreach staff in Brighton and Sussex, providing a range of support and guidance to Gypsies and Travellers in the area. Our experienced team provide advocacy and advice with a range of issues relating to health, homelessness, education, discrimination and more.
In addition to supporting people gain access to vital services, we also do what we can to support Gypsies and Travellers to access activities to improve wellbeing and skills through creative workshops, yoga sessions and training opportunities.
I work with young people and on health projects as part of our Sussex Outreach, with the aim of bettering the life chances of Gypsy and Traveller people in the long term. Seeing the people that I work with develop into successful young adults is the best reward.
I work with community members throughout Sussex on projects that support all aspects of their health and wellbeing. Through positive engagement with activities and services, we ensure each person has the same opportunity to feel included and connected.
As an Outreach and Youth Project Worker, I work directly with communities to provide support. I love our work with young people: running youth clubs, hosting days out, and even teach a Level 2 RSPH Healthy Living course. I find it so rewarding to see confidence grow each week in the young people that we work with.
I am often the first point of contact that a member of the public has when seeking assistance, and I enjoy getting to meet and learn from so many new people each day. My cases are often to do with mental health, which allows me to put both my qualifications and passion to good use.
I support people to engage in healthy activities, equip people with information they need to make healthy choices and work with people to overcome issues affecting their health and wellbeing. My role varies, one day you can be supporting a client to access healthcare and the next you are in a community Zumba group!
My work covers a wide range, including benefits, grants, and housing. I enjoy the opportunity to help support people in resolving whatever issues face them in life. Outreach work is an amazing opportunity for both sides of the process to build bonds of trust and friendship, which is so important when working with the public.
Empowering young people
At Friends, Families and Travellers, we have been supporting young people access education, training and opportunities to connect with other Gypsies and Travellers for over 20 years.
We are only able to facilitate this work with support from our funders and public donations.
Advice, advocacy and casework
The stark inequalities that Gypsy and Traveller people experience can often result in specific support needs, such as applying for a pitch on a local authority site or accessing education.
Through our National Helpline and Advocacy work, we provide support to people from Gypsy, Roma or Traveller communities on issues that matter most to them. We offer advice on health and wellbeing, employment, and rights, and provide ongoing support, such as form filling. We also act as a 'Care of' address and reading service for around 300 homeless families, to help gain and retain access to health, education and accommodation services.
Our Outreach Team also represent the interests of community members to statutory agencies and liaise with service providers, to ensure mainstream services are, and remain, accessible.
For more information on the advice we provide, visit our Get Advice page.
Community development
We work with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities to secure a more fair and just future, and so we use an asset-based community development approach to enhance the rich knowledge, skills and connections of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people, to help improve life chances.
Our Outreach Team brings communities together and delivers programmes and workshops on healthcare, employment, digital inclusion and issues impacting young people. The models we develop are often rolled out across other areas and organisations, helping improve the quality of life for Gypsy and Traveller communities across the UK.
Supporting health and wellbeing
Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people experience significant inequalities across multiple areas of life or social indicators. Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people experience some of the most severe health inequalities, even compared with other socio-economic groups and people from other minority ethnic communities. In Brighton and Sussex, we work with a range of agencies to support Gypsy and Traveller people to access the support they need in a coordinated and responsive way.
Our Outreach Team work with Gypsy and Traveller people in Brighton and Sussex to arrange activities and events which improve self-esteem, develop skills and knowledge and provide opportunities for Gypsy and Traveller people to connect with others.
Social prescribing is a way for local agencies to refer people to a link worker – someone who can give time to a person and to develop a holistic approach to health and wellbeing.
Link workers connect people to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support. At FFT, our link worker can support Gypsy and Traveller people to better manage their own lives – this can be done working one-to-one helping an individual to identify what they want and need for a more fulfilling life and supporting them to cope better.
The link worker can refer to other appropriate services, supporting with skills such as form-filling, accessing benefit and housing advice and support, health and wellbeing groups or other activities.
In Brighton, we support families and individuals to access health and wellbeing groups, activities, information and support.
We run a programme of activities to improve people’s knowledge, skills and wellbeing including a weekly drop in yoga group which is open to Gypsies and Travellers of all ages. Using the ‘five ways to wellbeing ethos’ people at the group share stories, tips and ideas to support their own and each other’s wellbeing.
We work with other partners, including charities, health and local authority networks, to support referrals, collaboration and participation – ensuring Gypsy and Traveller people have better access to health and wellbeing services.
Our outreach team coordinate a traditional skill-sharing project throughout West Sussex, funded by the National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund.
The project is intergenerational and community led, supporting Gypsy and Traveller people to learn skills including blacksmithing, needlework, scroll painting, poetry and storytelling.
The project takes an asset based approach to support people develop knowledge and experience, celebrate and affirm Gypsy and Traveller culture and to learn and engage with others.
Through increasing confidence and self-esteem, the project workers are also able to support with access to employment, literacy, record keeping, navigating online media and marketing.Â
