Our Resources for the Roma Community page has sections on
  • Coronavirus
  • The UK National Census on 21st March 2021
  • Reporting hate crime
  • Brexit and the EU Settlement Scheme
  • Children and Parenting
Scroll down the page for further information on these topics,

Coronavirus Information

Roma Support Group public statement on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

The Roma Support Group has issued a public statement raising awareness of the impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Roma communities in the UK. This statement reflects the concerns of Roma communities in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Roma Support Group letter to local authorities

RSG has sent a letter to several local authorities in the UK, with significant Roma population, providing recommendations for supporting their Roma residents during Covid 19 pandemic. Read the text of the letter here.

This document - COVID-19 Support and Outreach for Roma Peoples: Best Practice - reflects the responses we received from local authorities.
Click on one of the headings below for more Coronavirus information:
General information
Messages from Roma community members
INFORMATION for the SLOVAKIAN community
INFORMATION IN ROMANES
INFORMATION for the ROMANIAN Community
REsources for home education
COVID-19 VAccine information

The UK National Census - 21st March 2021

  • Everyone in the UK must complete the census by law or you could be fined  up to £1,000
  • Some questions are labelled as voluntary. It is not an offence  if you do not answer these.
  • You will get a letter marked "Census 2021" with instructions for doing the census online: https://census.gov.uk. 
  • Please tick the box to say you are Roma. We want everyone to do this - better information about the Roma community helps us argue for better services for Roma.​​​
Video guides
There are also printed guides to help you:

Reporting Hate Crime

Since the Brexit vote incidents of hate crime are unfortunately on the increase. To report an incident, phone 101 or see the guidance on the Association of Chief Police Officers’ website.

Brexit and the EU Settlement Scheme

​The deadline for applications for EU Settlement Status is
30th June 2021

​If you are an EU national and do not have EU Settlement Status, you will not be able to legally stay in the UK.
  • You will not be able to work in the UK
  • You will not be entitled to benefits
  • You will not be entitled to housing
See our video about this
Click on one of the headings below for further information about the EU Settlement Scheme:
​Right to reside in the UK: EU Settlement Scheme
​Brexit means that every EU national living in the UK will have to apply to be able to stay here, with full rights of residence.  This is called the “EU Settlement Scheme”.  ​See our guide to the EU Settlement Scheme and how to make an application on our Roma and Brexit page. (Click on the first of the four headings on this page).
​
The Roma Support Group has set up a new European Union Settled Status advice and support service to help Roma people in London to apply for Settled Status.

Watch our latest videos on the EU Settlement Scheme which tell you what it is, when to apply and why to apply.
The Roma Support Group has set up a new European Union Settled Status advice and support service to help Roma people in London to apply for Settled Status.
BREXIT and Benefits
Please see these videos explaining how Brexit will affect your benefit entitlements

Children and Parenting

Click on one of the headings below:
​CHILDREN'S HEALTH ADVICE IN SLOVAK
Listen to health advice on the Roma Slovak Health Resource – audio in Slovak with text available in English and Slovak – produced by Sheffield Children’s Hospital. Gives advice for Roma Slovak parents about common childhood health problems. Includes resources on:
  • Bronchiolitis
  • Diarrhoea and vomiting
  • Fever
  • Iron
  • Looking after your child’s teeth
  • Safer sleep for your baby
  • Scabies
  • Seeing
  • Hearing
  • Healthy Start vitamins
  • Head lice
​MULTIMEDIA TOOLKIT FOR ROMA PARENTS
This Law for Life project aimed to address a significant need for knowledge and understanding about the legal framework of child protection among Roma parents living in the UK.

If you have been contacted by Children's Services you may feel confused or scared. You may be worried about what could happen to your children. Law for Life, in partnership with the Roma Support Group, Clifton Learning Partnership (Rotherham) and Roma Community Care (Derby) have created this guide to help you. The guide is primarily aimed at Roma families but is also relevant for any other parents living in England who are contacted by Children's Services about their children.

The Multimedia Toolkit for Roma Parents consists of:
  • a Survival guide to child protection for Roma parents
  • a short film Keeping our children safe
  • training on child protection.
​
A Survival guide to child protection for Roma parents
The training package A Survival guide to child protection for Roma parents was developed to help Roma community champions and advocates working with Roma families involved with Children's Services gain a better understanding of the child protection process in England. It also aims to support Roma champions to disseminate relevant information to Roma families so that they feel more informed and empowered to navigate this process.

​The Survival guide to child protection for Roma parents is also available for printing in pdf format. Click on the image opposite.
Keeping our children safe
This short film, Keeping our children safe, looks at key elements of the legal framework of child protection in England and the skills you need to fully meet the requirements. The film is aimed specifically at Roma parents living in the UK and addressing their needs but it may also be useful to social workers and other professionals in helping them understand UK requirements. The film is narrated by Roma community members in Romanes and was created by Law for Life and the Roma Support Group.

Training
Roma Support Group staff can deliver training on child protection in relation to Roma families. Please see the information on our page on Customised Training for Organisations and contact us at rsep@romasupportgroup.org.uk to make a request for training of this kind.
​CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AWARENESS
See this video (in Slovak), produced by Roma young people, about the risks of the sexual exploitation of children.​​
Roma Women talk about breastfeeding
In this video, Roma women from the Slovakian community in Kent talk about breastfeeding. The film was produced by the Centre for Health Services Studies (CHSS) at University of Kent and has been selected by Public Health England as an offering for National Breastfeeding Week, #CelebrateBreastfeeding. The film is ten minutes long.

This blog on the Institute of Health Visiting website gives the background to the making of the film.