Anglia Ruskin Research Online (ARRO)
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

Assessing gypsies’ and travellers’ needs: partnership working and ‘The Cambridge Project’

journal contribution
posted on 2023-07-26, 12:35 authored by Margaret Greenfields, Robert Home
This article discusses the Cambridgeshire and Sub-Regional Area Gypsy and Traveller Needs Assessment, a research project funded by a consortium of local authorities; primary care trusts and education services, and initiated in response to UK Government legislation which required that Gypsies’ and Travellers’ accommodation needs should be assessed to explore the extent of their need for caravan sites and ‘conventional’ housing. In this paper we outline the legislative and policy background, and the development of a culturally sensitive, mixed methods research methodology appropriate for use in this field of research. The ‘Cambridge Project’ is the largest UK study to explore the accommodation needs and aspirations of Gypsies and Travellers, alongside health, education, social inclusion and demographic findings which will enable future planning for a range of services. This project, which was undertaken in partnership with Gypsy and Traveller communities, incorporated an advisory group of Romany Gypsy and Irish Traveller elders and activists, and utilised the skills of trained community interviewers to administer the survey. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time such a methodology has been used, and the ‘Cambridge Model’ of needs assessment has been identified by Gypsies/Travellers, and by local and central government as best practice in terms of partnership working, fulfilling equalities requirements, community capacity building and delivery of valid findings. The methodology is now being utilised in a number of similar studies across Britain.

History

Refereed

  • Yes

Volume

16

Issue number

2

Page range

105-132

Publication title

Romani Studies

ISSN

1757-2274

Publisher

Liverpool University Press

Language

  • other

Legacy posted date

2010-11-29

Legacy Faculty/School/Department

ARCHIVED Faculty of Arts, Law & Social Sciences (until September 2018)

Usage metrics

    ARU Outputs

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Keywords

    Licence

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC