Category: ACERT

• If any of your delegates become ill during your event, you must let a member of staff know and ask the delegate to leave the venue. 
• Ensure you have a track and trace procedure before your event. As well as a contact for the person in charge of the track and trace register. This will be obligatory for any event. Please refer to the information on our web page for the different procedures organisers can use.
• The maximum capacities must be adhered to. The maximum capacities in each room include delegates and facilitators. It is the total number of people allowed in the room at once and allows for social distancing. Therefore, we will not be able to add any furniture or chairs during your visit.
• Do not allow people to wait in the communal areas of the building. If your event or meeting requires a waiting room then you may need to hire an additional room. Alternatively, you can ask guests to wait outside the building or at one of the many cafés nearby. This is to reduce the risk of contamination and make social distancing easier within the building.
• Encourage visitors to use the one-way system and maintain social distancing. To reduce the risk of contamination a one-way system is being employed. A map to help delegates find their way round the building can be found on our website.
• Do not allow facilitators or delegates to move the furniture in your room. We are employing the use of new social distancing layouts; they have all been measured to include either 1.50m – 2m distancing.
• Food and drink can be consumed inside the room. However, shared meals and catering are not permitted.
• Payments can be accepted by card over the phone or by BACs, we are discouraging the use of cash and cheques where possible to reduce the spread of germs.
• We recommend that face coverings are worn during the event itself unless the activity cannot be done whilst wearing a face covering.
• We are encouraging all staff and delegates to keep noise to a minimum to reduce the risk of contamination. If you have chosen the Main Hall, Balconies or Upper Hall then please consider hiring the PA system. We also have a mobile loop system which can be hired free of charge.

Our Guidelines

• We ask all event organisers to implement and make event attendees aware of their organisation’s track and trace procedure prior to their events.
• Organisers can use any track and trace method they choose so long as it records all delegates’:
  • name
  • contact phone number
  • arrival date
  • arrival times
• Please let Friends’ Meeting House know which method of track and trace you intend to use. It will need to be kept safely and securely  for 21 days after the last day of the event in accordance with GDPR regulations.
• Please let Friends Meeting House know the name of the person responsible for the register. This name will be the contact that we pass on to NHS Test and Trace if requested.

It was with great sadness that we learnt of the sudden passing of Ainlee Ryalla Duffy.

Ryalla had lived the life, lit many fires and told many stories.

Siobhan Spencer

Ryalla was well known to many ACERT members. She participated in the ROMED training in 2014 and, as well as participating actively in the training and discussions, she submitted an exceptional personal study.

“The period since [waggon time] has seen a gradual, intentional and unrelenting erosion of rights of an entire way of life, aided and abetted by legislation and media bias.”

Ryalla Duffy

Ryalla and her family went through endless enforcements themselves from 1987 in Sussex when they had to leave their own land. She was well known in the southern counties (as well as the Midlands).

Ryalla was an excellent representative for her people and Romany rights. She was very knowledgeable of the New Forest families and saw the comparisons of enforced camps and the final solution and wrote a chapter on this history of the “compounds” in the Patrin book as part of the Patrin project with the Monitoring Group, seeing the similarities of this particular aspect of Romany Gypsy history.

Ryalla worked hard in Lincolnshire and was responsible for getting the much-needed work undertaken on the Summergangs Lane site, in Gainsborough.

…. a wonderful character who fought continuously for her people and their rights and who was the author of several books and the star of 2 or 3 dvds.. She was also the subject of the classic Anglo Romani book ‘Born on the Straw’ by Dorothy Strange (1968). The community will miss her hugely and I shall miss a very dear friend. 

Bob Dawson

In 2005 Ryalla was one of the founder members of the National Federation of Gypsy Liaison Groups and took part in police training, parliamentary meetings and conferences.

Despite the knocks, it illustrates her sense of humour and the truth in life and how I would like to remember her.One of the last days we spent together was with Lord Bourne, for a heritage tribute as he laid a wreath at the grave of Private John Cunningham receiver of the Victoria Cross, in commemoration of the 100 years centenary of the Great War, a great day with her which, as usual, ended with great laughter.

Siobhan Spencer

She leaves behind her 4 daughters, 2 sons and all of 13 grandchildren.

Press Release issued 19th March 2021

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, 2021 will make accessing education impossible for nomadic Gypsy and Traveller children

The Advisory Council for the Education of Romanies and other Travellers (ACERT) is deeply concerned about the implications of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, 2021.

As a national UK charity working to ensure that Gypsy and Traveller children are able to access education at all levels, the new Bill will effectively serve to exclude the children of nomadic Gypsy and Traveller families from such public services. 

Through our active campaigning work over many years, we know very well the day-to-day challenges and struggles that are faced by families living on roadside sites. 

Being able to access services such as education can be hard enough without the damaging measures contained in this Bill, which will criminalise nomadism and severely disrupt the education of Gypsy and Traveller children. 

With family homes potentially being seized, as well as jail sentences (up to 3 months) and large fines issued (up to £2,500), the consequences of criminalising nomadism in the UK will be severe and damaging. 

ACERT aims to ensure equality of provision in education for Gypsy and Traveller children and we would urge the Government to look again at the Bill and to seriously think through the consequences of what is being legislated. 

The fundamental human right to an education for any child should not be dependent on where and how you live your life. The Government, through its actions, would seem to not share this view. 

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, 2021 will make accessing education impossible for nomadic Gypsy and Traveller children

The Advisory Council for the Education of Romanies and other Travellers (ACERT) is deeply concerned about the implications of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, 2021.

As a national UK charity working to ensure that Gypsy and Traveller children are able to access education at all levels, the new Bill will effectively serve to exclude the children of nomadic Gypsy and Traveller families from such public services. 

Through our active campaigning work over many years, we know very well the day-to-day challenges and struggles that are faced by families living on roadside sites. 

Being able to access services such as education can be hard enough without the damaging measures contained in this Bill, which will criminalise nomadism and severely disrupt the education of Gypsy and Traveller children. 

With family homes potentially being seized, as well as jail sentences (up to 3 months) and large fines issued (up to £2,500), the consequences of criminalising nomadism in the UK will be severe and damaging. 

ACERT aims to ensure equality of provision in education for Gypsy and Traveller children and we would urge the Government to look again at the Bill and to seriously think through the consequences of what is being legislated. 

The fundamental human right to an education for any child should not be dependent on where and how you live your life. The Government, through its actions, would seem to not share this view. 

UK Gypsy and Traveller Education Charity Condemns Government Bill

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, 2021 will make accessing education impossible for nomadic Gypsy and Traveller children

The Advisory Council for the Education of Romanies and other Travellers (ACERT) is deeply concerned about the implications of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, 2021.

As a national UK charity working to ensure that Gypsy and Traveller children are able to access education at all levels, the new Bill will effectively serve to exclude the children of nomadic Gypsy and Traveller families from such public services. 

Through our active campaigning work over many years, we know very well the day-to-day challenges and struggles that are faced by families living on roadside sites. 

Being able to access services such as education can be hard enough without the damaging measures contained in this Bill, which will criminalise nomadism and severely disrupt the education of Gypsy and Traveller children. 

With family homes potentially being seized, as well as jail sentences (up to 3 months) and large fines issued (up to £2,500), the consequences of criminalising nomadism in the UK will be severe and damaging. 

ACERT aims to ensure equality of provision in education for Gypsy and Traveller children and we would urge the Government to look again at the Bill and to seriously think through the consequences of what is being legislated. 

The fundamental human right to an education for any child should not be dependent on where and how you live your life. The Government, through its actions, would seem to not share this view.