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PEN Member Shortlisted for Gypsy. Roma and Traveller Communities Award
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PEN member, Dee Cooper, has been shortlisted for an award for her inspiring work with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities
We are delighted to share that PEN member Dee Cooper, of Surrey Gypsy Traveller Communities Forum, has been shortlisted for Friends, Families and Travellers Awards 2024!
The awards celebrate members of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities who have inspired special contributions to GRT communities as well and to wider society.
Dee has been nominated for the Inspiring Project Award for her instrumental role in the formation of a GRT Women’s Health Group.
The Group is entirely led by GRT women, for GRT women, and has led the way in joining up the GRT communities with a network of NHS nurses who have specialist GRT training.
The nurses who support and attend the group have gained extensive, first-hand experience of working within the community. They have invaluable insight into GRT cultures and an understanding of the barriers that GRT people face in accessing and receiving healthcare, and into the racism they are often subjected to.
The Group enables GRT women to identify their health needs and to discuss their experiences of using health services with the nurses and other women from the community.
Community Engagement Officer for the Public Engagement Network, Paige Lyons, attends the group sessions on a regular basis to receive GRT women’s feedback on health and social care services.
Dee has also played a key role in giving GRT people a voice within the Public Engagement Network and in her engagement with other PEN members and the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The Friends, Families and Travellers Awards Awards ceremony will be held on the 25th April 2024 in Brighton.
We wish Dee the very best of luck!
The meetings allow women from GRT communities to access information and have discussion on women’s health issues topics such as menopause, prenatal and perinatal care from specialist trained NHS nurses. The group is open to all Gypsy Roma and Traveller women across the UK living roadside or in settled accommodation. We wish Dee and the GRT Women’s Health Group the best of luck at the awards! Paige Lyons, Community Engagement Officer for the Public Engagement Network
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