Assessing the Impact of Community Centre’s on Roma Integration: A Study of Eastwood

Olga Fuseini

doi:10.17583/ijrs.9141

Abstract

During the last 10 years, Roma have become the second largest and the most deprived ethnic minority in Rotherham and thus, the local authority has put Roma integration as a priority in terms of community planning and development. Due to the complexities around Roma integration and the government budget cuts to public spending, the local authorities rely on community centres to fill gaps in improving the Roma integration and their quality of life in the UK. This article aims to assess the impact of a community centre on Roma integration, specifically, focusing on the Eastwood area of Rotherham. The research methods included semi-structured interviews of professionals that regularly engage with Roma community and the Roma residents of Eastwood. The case study findings show that the Eastwood community centre plays a vital role in the Roma integration. Some of the main contributing factors include their expertise and the ability to effectively engage with the Roma community. However, this paper only touches upon the issue of Roma integration in the UK, which means that more comprehensive and a larger scale of research is needed to improve the processes of Roma integration and the integration of other communities in similar settings

Highlights

During the last 10 years, Roma have become the second largest and the most deprived ethnic minority in Rotherham and the local authority has put Roma integration as a priority in terms of community planning and development
When we examined the barriers of Roma integration in Eastwood, all professionals identified the lack of English skills as their primary hindrance in accessing jobs and services
This article has sought to assess the impact of the Eastwood community centre on Roma integration in Eastwood

Summary

Introduction

During the last 10 years, Roma have become the second largest and the most deprived ethnic minority in Rotherham and the local authority has put Roma integration as a priority in terms of community planning and development. Mainstream literature which deals with dimensions of Roma integration often focuses on the impacts of poor practices of Roma engagement or the negative outcomes of national and local policies which lead to Roma exclusion in accessing services and deprivation. While these are all very important subjects that need to be discussed, there is a gap in the literature that shows a lack of positive examples of the good practices and their impact on Roma integration. The following question is examined: To what extent has the Eastwood Community Centre enhanced the integration of Roma People in Eastwood, UK? In this case study, the term ‘integration’ was defined as: “The action or process of successfully joining or mixing with a different group of people” (Cambridge Dictionary, 2021:1)

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Conclusion