On 2 July 2026, I attended the launch of the Council of Europe Strategy for Roma and Traveller Inclusion 2026–2030, hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma at Portcullis House in Parliament.

The event was chaired by Mary Foy MP, and brought together parliamentarians, Council of Europe representatives, civil society organisations, academics, policy leads, campaigners and community members.

But for me, it was more than a formal launch.

I felt genuinely blessed to be in that room.

There were people there who impressed me deeply. People who have carried this work for years. People who spoke with knowledge, courage and honesty. There were people I am proud to call colleagues, friends and family — and, in some cases, people who managed to be all of those things at once.

That matters.

Because when we talk about Gypsy, Roma and Traveller inclusion, we are not talking about abstract policy. We are talking about our people. Our children. Our elders. Our families. Our histories. Our futures.

The launch opened with an overview of the Strategy from Eleni Tsetsekou, Head of the Roma and Travellers Division at the Council of Europe, alongside Georgios Stamatis, PACE General Rapporteur on Roma and Travellers. They spoke about the Strategy and the responsibilities of Council of Europe member states.

That responsibility is important.

Because for too long, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people have been treated as if we are somehow outside the story of Europe. Outside the story of Britain. Outside the story of policy, education, rights and justice.

We are not outside that story.

We have always been here.

And we have the right to be included not as a problem to be managed, but as people with culture, knowledge, history, leadership and solutions.

Davide Bargna, from the Scottish Government’s Strategic Team for Anti-Racism, speech was read our by Mary Foy, it spoke about Scotland’s commitments to improving outcomes for Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities, and how those commitments align with the Strategy.

That felt important too.

Because Scotland’s history with Gypsy Traveller people is not neutral. It includes harm, removal, forced assimilation, discrimination and deep injustice. But it also includes resistance, survival, culture and pride.

There has been progress. But progress written in a strategy has to become progress felt in people’s lives.

It has to reach families. It has to reach councils. It has to reach schools. It has to reach health services. It has to reach the police. It has to reach planning departments. It has to reach the places where discrimination is not theoretical, but daily.

Allison Hulmes, Senior Lecturer at Swansea University and Romani and Traveller representative at the International Federation of Social Workers, spoke about the importance of the Strategy themes and the need for action. She reflected on work in Wales to tackle racism and discrimination and improve outcomes.

What stayed with me from that part of the event was the importance of embedding this work properly.

Not as an add-on.

Not as a one-off conversation.

Not as a paragraph in an equality statement.

But as something built into the way services think, act and make decisions.

We cannot keep asking communities to tell the same painful stories again and again while systems carry on as they were. If the problem is structural, the answer has to be structural too.

Systemic problems require systemic solutions.

That was one of the strongest messages I wrote in my notes.

Anti-racism is not just about changing opinions. It is about changing systems.

It is about changing what happens when a Gypsy or Traveller child walks into school.

It is about changing what happens when a family speaks to a housing officer.

It is about changing what happens when someone discloses their ethnicity to a health professional.

It is about changing what happens when a planning application comes from a Traveller family.

It is about changing what happens when the police respond to our communities.

It is about changing what happens when the media uses us for rage bait and social media fills with hate.

A strategy can open a door, but people still have to walk through it and do the work.

Esther Stubbs, from Buckinghamshire New University, spoke about the Higher Education Pledge and the work being done in schools and higher education to create more inclusive environments for Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showman and Boater learners.

That part of the event really mattered to me because education is one of the places where inclusion either becomes real or falls apart. Children know when they are safe.

They also know when they are only being tolerated.

Inclusion is not created by a school saying it welcomes everyone. It is created in the daily interactions: in classrooms, playgrounds, attendance meetings, safeguarding conversations, school trips, curriculum choices and the way parents are spoken to.

Our children should not have to shrink themselves to fit into education.

They should not have to leave their identity at the school gate.

And they should not only hear about who they are during Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month.

Our history, culture and contributions need to be taught properly. Not as a token lesson. Not as one book. Not as one hour. Not as a stereotype. But as part of the wider history of this country and Europe.

Mihai Bica, from Roma Support Group, spoke about Strategy Priority 1: increasing and promoting knowledge and awareness about Roma and Traveller communities in order to combat antigypsyism and prejudice, while also fostering pride in Roma and Traveller identities.

That word — pride — is important.

Because so much of the work around our communities starts from deficit. It starts with poor outcomes, exclusion, racism, homelessness, health inequalities, education gaps and crisis.

Those things are real. We have to talk about them. We cannot pretend they do not exist.

But we also have to talk about pride.

We have to talk about language, kinship, culture, care, resilience, tradition, memory, humour, work, skill, survival and love.

We have to talk about what has been kept alive despite everything that has tried to erase it.

But pride cannot be used to cover over pain.

We can celebrate culture and still demand justice.

We can honour resilience and still say people should not have had to be that resilient in the first place.

Josie O’Driscoll, CEO of GATE Herts, spoke about experiences of racism and prejudice, and the need for meaningful change.

That word meaningful is doing a lot of work. Because our communities have seen many promises. Many statements. Many pledges. Many consultations. Many reports.

What we need now is not more polite recognition that things are difficult. We need change that people can feel. We need change that means fewer children are bullied.

Fewer families are pushed from place to place. Fewer young people feel trapped between community pressure and outside racism. Fewer people hide who they are to get a fair chance. Fewer parents have to explain to their children why they are treated differently. Fewer organisations research us without involving us properly. Fewer services make decisions about us without us in the room.

One line I wrote in my notes was:

“Whose voice? Whose culture? Whose children? Whose research?”

That is the question. Because too often, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people are still spoken about rather than spoken with. We are included as examples, but not always as experts. We are consulted after the important decisions have already been made. We are asked for our lived experience, but not always trusted with leadership.

That has to change. If organisations want to understand the problem, they have to work with the people living it. If they want the answer to be real, the answer has to be shaped with us.

Not only by policy people. Not only by academics. Not only by government. Not only by large organisations.

But by families, young people, elders, grassroots groups, community advocates and those doing the work on the ground every day, often with little or no funding.

The Council of Europe Strategy gives us a framework. The APPG gave us a room. The speakers gave us challenge, knowledge and hope.

But the real test comes next.

Will this Strategy reach local level?

Will councils use it?

Will schools use it?

Will health services use it?

Will police forces use it?

Will planning departments use it?

Will children’s services use it?

Will government departments treat it as something to act on, or something simply to endorse?

Because a strategy that sits on a shelf will not protect a child from racism.

It will not stop a family being stereotyped.

It will not undo generations of harm.

It will not rebuild trust on its own.

That takes courage.

It takes honesty.

It takes resources.

It takes accountability.

And it takes those with power being willing to share that power with the communities who have been asking for justice for far too long.

I left the room feeling proud, but not comfortable.

Proud because there were brilliant people in that space. People I respect. People I love. People who have carried this work with integrity. People who reminded me that our communities are full of strength, knowledge and leadership.

But uncomfortable because I know how much there still is to do.

And maybe that is exactly how we should feel.

Grateful for the space.

Proud of our people.

But unwilling to settle for words without action.

The question now is not whether change is possible.

The question is whether there is enough courage to make it happen.