December has been another busy month for the kavarna.  We have continued to help people with problems, which without the kavarna drop-in would go unsolved and have also acted as a place for Roma in Gateshead to come and feel at home.  This is still a very important part of our work; providing a safe place for social activities and meeting others. 

In the 12 months we have been open we have had over 300 client visits and have been able to build up a good strong base of clients who come regularly as well as having others who come less frequently who we are able to provide with help. I am pleased to say that we have received some new funding from Awards for All, for which we are very grateful. 
This will enable us to not only keep this work going, but means that we can develop it. We aim to help the Roma community in Gateshead to become both more self-sufficient and feel more part of the wider community on Tyneside. It is important that we help the Roma community to overcome the dual barriers of language and the effects of the discrimination they have faced in other parts of Europe. 

We are also continuing to work towards helping members of the Roma community to learn what to do regarding Brexit and help them to learn how they can get Settled Status.   To this end, we are helping to organise a meeting at the Venerable Bede Church on West Road, Newcastle on the evening of Tuesday 15th January.  We are also helping to raise awareness, about the plight of the Roma in the Holocaust and more recently, as well as the genocide in Bosnia in the 1990's, by hosting a conference entitled 'Torn From Home', as part of the Newcastle Holocaust Memorial Day programme. 

This Christmas we have been able to provide toys for members of the Roma community in Gateshead, thanks to a number of sources of support, including Gateshead Council and Northumbria Police.  Our heartfelt thanks go to them.  

Our thanks again to Awards for All, Gateshead Citizens Advice Bureau, Healthworks and all of our other supporters.

Peter Sagar, Company Secretary, A Living Tradition CIC, and Irma Karchnakova, interpreter and worker, January 2019