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Welcome

Thank you for visiting our holding page while our new site is in development.

In 2015, Margaret Clitherow Trust (MCT) was founded in partnership with, and for the benefit of, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. Our multi- disciplinary community work is currently focused on Southern England, although we deliver training to public and legal services nationally.

We believe in a world where everyone is safe – and is treated with equal dignity and justice. There must be no exceptions on account of ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, culture, social background – or indeed anything else. We believe that safety, dignity and justice is possible for our Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities and we look forward to being part of a society where this is realised.

We are a small charity achieving big things.

In our last 12 month reporting period:

·       Hundreds of public service professionals attended our training on effective practice with our communities.

·       30 women and children at risk of serious harm benefitted from our specialist domestic abuse or child protection services in conjunction with statutory bodies.

·       135 vulnerable people were given advocacy and legal support during crisis.

·       75 children experiencing exclusion and special needs, were empowered to engage in education that is best suited to them.

·       81 Traveller children and adults with significant health needs and disabilities were assisted to engage with the NHS, social care and other services.

·       3161 people have accessed outreach, pastoral care and sacramental inclusion work.

Our industry leading work on child protection and public service training is creating change far and wide.

We specialise in working alongside families and individuals where there may be complex and serious risk. Our impact is unique because:

·       We are led by and have the trust of our communities.

·       We have a multi-disciplinary team, from former lawyers to social workers and from chaplains to IDVAs.

·       We are collaborative with other organisations, including universities, using the latest research to inform professional practice.

·       We are the only UK Traveller charity with a dedicated chaplaincy team, meeting a core pastoral and cultural need for our communities, and acting as a trusted bridge to other internal and external services.

If you would like to know more, or you would like to enquire about our training for public sector and legal services, we would love to hear from you. Our Operations Lead can be contacted at tamasin.barnbrook@margaretclitherow.org .

Members of the community seeking assistance can call our helpline on 01491 756 013 (open (7 days a week from 8am to 8pm).

“Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people have the worst outcomes of any ethnic group across a huge range of areas, including education, health, employment, criminal justice and hate crime ... Behaviour that amounts to either direct or indirect discrimination is widespread and is unacceptable in our society. We have heard that this behaviour and the way it influences public services is one of the underlying causes of many of the inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.”[1]

[1] House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee (2019) Tackling inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities: Eleventh Report of Session 2017–19. London: House of Commons. HC 360.

The impact of marginalisation has been linked[1] to the fact that suicide rates in our communities are seven times higher than others[2]. This sadly includes children: our charity has direct experience of minors ending their own life as young as 13 years old in the UK.

[1] Dagli, A., Webb, R.T. Mental illness and suicidality among Roma and traveller communities in the UK, Ireland, and other countries: a systematic review. BMC Psychiatry 25, 331 (2025).

[2] NHS Race and Health Observatory (2023) New resource to help tackle suicide risk in Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. London: NHS Race and Health Observatory.