The experiences of Romany Gypsy and Irish Traveller young adults in prisons
Details
Date: 5 October 2026
Time: 11:00am to
Pricing
Free event
Delivery Method
This webinar is delivered live online via Zoom. Joining details will be sent to each attendee by email after booking.
Trainer
Raise the Bars: Improving the experiences of Romany Gypsy and Irish Traveller young adults in prison
What does a prison system that understands and responds to the experiences of Romany Gypsy and Irish Traveller young adults look like?
In this resource launch event, Friends, Families and Travellers will share findings from our latest co-produced research with young Romany Gypsy and Irish Traveller adults in prison, exploring the issues that can create barriers to equality, trust, engagement and positive outcomes.
Drawing on engagement across 20 prisons in England and Wales, we will explore what young people told us about their experiences of the criminal justice system, including:
- the importance of recognising and understanding ‘hidden’ ethnicities and supporting people to disclose their identity;
- the vital role of Traveller Representatives and trusted peer support;
- barriers to education, including literacy, confidence, trauma and neurodiversity;
- how differences in communication and body language can lead to misunderstanding, conflict and disciplinary action;
- experiences of racism, discrimination and cultural misunderstanding;
- the importance of family, faith, community and culturally appropriate support;
- creating opportunities for positive engagement within prison; and
- communication, parole and release, and the barriers young people can face when preparing to leave custody.
The webinar will introduce our new co-produced guidance and resources for prison staff and voluntary and community sector organisations. The guidance has been developed directly from the experiences and recommendations of Romany Gypsy and Irish Traveller young adults, with the aim of supporting more culturally responsive practice and contributing to longer-term systemic change across the criminal justice system.
We will share practical examples of approaches that have helped improve engagement and support, alongside the findings and recommendations from the accompanying report.
Who is this webinar for?
This session will be particularly relevant to prison staff, Equality and Diversity staff, probation and criminal justice professionals, voluntary and community sector organisations, policymakers, commissioners and anyone working to improve outcomes for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people in the criminal justice system.
The Raise the Bars guidance, report and accompanying resources will be made available through the Friends, Families and Travellers website following the webinar.