29 September 1998

Grant will help protect Human Rights

A grant of more than £0.25 million from the National Lottery Charities Board will create Scotland’s first advice and information service for the country’s Travelling people. The grant has been awarded to the Scottish Travellers Consortium which brings together Save the Children, the Scottish Gypsy Traveller Association and the Scottish Human Rights Centre.

The service will benefit Traveller families throughout Scotland - an estimated population of 10,000 - 15,000 people - and will also act as a resource to the range of agencies and organisations who work with Travelling people, including Health Boards, the Police and the Commission for Racial Equality.

The three year grant comes at a time when the Scottish Office is reviewing the provision for Travellers in Scotland. As well as creating a telephone information line, the project will utilise outreach workers, booklets and audio tapes. It also aims to involve the Traveller community in representing their views and concerns.

Chairman of the National Lottery Charities Board Garth Morrison said,

"Every country in western Europe has its own group of Travellers. Scotland has a distinct legal and governmental framework and Travellers, like other minority ethnic communities, can have difficulty accessing services and support. This grant will go some way towards enabling the Travelling community to address some of the problems facing them."

Save the Children has long been concerned about the basic rights of Traveller children. Acting as a spokesperson for the Consortium, Director Alison Davies said,

"The Travelling tradition gives children a positive sense of their culture and identity but families can also suffer from prejudice, lack of appropriate places to stay and problems with service provision such as education and health. This grant will provide support and information to Travellers across the whole of Scotland - urban and rural - and enable Travellers to play an active part in shaping their own futures." Florence Garabedian from the Scottish Gypsy Traveller Association said,

"The SGTA is extremely happy that the National Lottery Charities Board has recognised the difficulties faced by the members of our community and the need to address them.

"The SGTA believes that the Consortium will provide a new dimension and extra support to the work of our organisation and contribute greatly to our continuous fight for our rights and against discrimination."

Commenting on behalf of the Scottish Human Rights Centre, Douglas Hamilton said,

"We are delighted that the Board has agreed to fund this project and recognise the unique difficulties encountered by the Gypsy Traveller Community."

The grant is one of 33 announced by the National Lottery Charities Board today. Since the first grants were announced in August, a further £3.25 million has been made available under the Board’s Community Involvement Programme which is designed to strengthen local organisations and to enable people to become more involved in community life.

Today’s grants go to groups right around the country, from a grant in the Shetland Islands of £185,000 to create an enterprise centre for adults with learning difficulties, to a successful application for £12,000 to refurbish a local community hall for disabled people in Hawick, Scottish Borders.

Further information about grants announcements from Kay Caldwell on 0131 221 7100 or 0468 58 34 41.

The Director of Save the Children Fund Scotland, Alison Davies, is available for interview about the Scottish Travellers Consortium on 0131 527 8200.

Film, photograph and interview opportunities with Travellers may be arranged through Save the Children on 0131 527 8200.