News & events

Updates, information and news from London Gypsies and Travellers

Latest news

National Lottery funds new ‘Roadside Futures’ project

October 28, 2020

‘Roadside Futures’ project to improve lives of roadside Gypsies and Travellers across the UK, thanks to National Lottery funding Today, £2million in National Lottery funding has been awarded to ‘Roadside Futures’ which is a project that aims to improve the quality of life for nomadic Gypsies and Travellers and the communities in which they live …

A possible end to wide injunctions?

October 23, 2020

All councils that have taken out “wide injunctions” preventing Gypsies and Travellers from camping on open land may have to withdraw them if a new High Court hearing – due in the New Year – goes against them. This new hearing, centering around Enfield Council, follows a landmark legal ruling in early 2020 saying that …

Enfield council withdraws injunction application

October 2, 2020

In the wake of the successful Court of Appeal challenge to London councils’ “wide injunctions” preventing camping on open land, London Gypsies and Travellers’ work continues to bring individual councils round to a more humane approach. Ilinca Diaconescu, LGT’s Policy and Campaigns Coordinator, provides an update on important developments in Enfield. At a High Court …

Home Secretary owes Travellers an apology

September 30, 2020

Organisations for Gypsies and Travellers, including LGT, are demanding an apology from Home Secretary Priti Patel after she branded Travellers as criminal and violent in a recent Zoom meeting with Jewish community leaders. During the meeting, Ms Patel said she was determined to stamp out the “criminality that takes place and that has happened through …

A Bright Future awaits

July 15, 2020

London Gypsies and Travellers has relaunched its Bright Futures programme, which supports children and parents as they make the transition from primary school to secondary school or from school to college. Bright Futures now has its own logo, and LGT is promoting the programme widely. As part of the service, LGT’s youth development worker can …

Online event celebrates our history

July 7, 2020

Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month celebrations took a new format this year, with London Gypsies and Travellers, the Greater London Authority and other organisations staging a spectacular online event showcasing the community’s contribution and culture, but suited to COVID times. Debbie Weekes-Bernard, London’s Deputy Mayor for Social Integration, attended the event and spoke about …

#AfterDispatches community response

April 30, 2020

In a short film made by LGT, Gypsies and Travellers are sharing their responses to Channel 4 Dispatches programme The Truth about Traveller Crime. Since the programme was aired on 16th April, LGT has been gathering reactions from Gypsies and Travellers in London and beyond to feed into its formal complaints to Channel 4 and …

Dispatches programme provokes outrage

April 17, 2020

London Gypsies and Travellers is urging members of the community and the public to complain to Channel 4 television and Ofcom, following a Dispatches programme which claimed to reveal the links between Traveller sites and high crime levels. The programme, billed as an investigation and called “The Truth About Traveller Crime”, showcased public accounts of …

Traveller communities hit hard by COVID-19

April 8, 2020

London Gypsies and Travellers is raising urgent concerns about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gypsies and Travellers in London. With pitches on permanent sites and temporary stopping places thin on the ground, many families are struggling with overcrowding on available sites, leaving them unable to self-isolate if they are vulnerable or symptomatic. LGT …

LGT response to the Covid-19 outbreak

March 19, 2020

LGT response plan to the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak In response to the current Covid-19 outbreak, our office is currently closed until further notice. We are committed to supporting the Gypsy and Traveller community at this difficult time. We will continue working remotely but have made changes to the delivery of our services as outlined below. …