About ITMB

Who are we?

The Irish Traveller Movement (ITMB) is a national second tire community development charity working to raise the capacity and social inclusion of the Irish Traveller community in Britain. We were established in 2000 and are a registered Charity and a Company Limited by Guarantee.

ITMB act as a bridge builder bringing the Traveller communities, service providers and policy makers together, thereby stimulating debate and promoting forward-looking strategies to promote increased race equality, civic engagement, inclusion, service provision and community cohesion.

ITMB have an established track record of active policy development, community engagement and social cohesion work. We were a shared award recipient of  the Liberty Human Rights Award 2004 for our management of the Traveller Law Reform Project and recently awarded the All Party Parliamentary Group on Maternity care for award 2011 for our health and wellbeing project with the Traveller communities

 

Organisational Aims and Objectives

  1. To create an evidence and resource base for positive change for the  Traveller community
  2. To promote the social inclusion of  Travellers by campaigning on issues that contribute to their exclusion and to promote equality of access to statutory and voluntary services
  3. To develop policy models for working with Travellers and educate statutory and other services who work with  Travellers.

Vision

Our vision is of a world in which members of the Traveller Communities reach their full potential; where they are accepted, proud of who they are and have an equal voice

Mission

Our mission is to develop a platform and voice for Travellers, working in solidarity with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, within the UK and across Europe, to achieve equality through self-determination and proactive participation in influencing and shaping policy

Ambition

Our ambition is to extend our EU influence and remain the most effective UK resource, information and lobbying charity for groups, organisations and individuals working for and with the Irish Traveller communities in Britain so that collectively we can bring about significant, positive change for people living in those communities.

Core Values

  • We believe that discrimination is wrong
  • We are opposed to racism in all its forms
  • We value and promote diversity
  • We believe in equality of access to services and in equality under the law
  • We value and promote self-determination, believing that individualshave the right to make choices about issues affecting them
  • We endorse the Declaration of Human Rights
  • We value the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller identities and cultures
  • We work in partnership with the Traveller communities

What we do                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

 ITMB seeks to empower Traveller communities by campaigning for a new policy framework for addressing exclusion and discrimination. ITMB encourages  Traveller projects and other interested service providers to use ITMB as a channel to collect and disseminate information on legislative policies and their effect on the Traveller community.

ITM also promotes equality, diversity and racial harmony for the benefit of all members of British society by encouraging others to understand the culture and needs of Travellers.

In summary, ITMB:

• Promotes Travellers, Gypsy and Roma as a minority ethnic group
• Challenges discrimination against GRT communities
• Develops national policies and models of good practice that ensure the inclusion of GRT communities in all levels of civic society
• Monitors disadvantage amongst GRT communities across Britain
• Supports other organisations and individuals working with GRT communities
• Offers cultural awareness training to community voluntary and statutory services
• Acts as a consultation conduit for community and policy makers

The organisation is currently governed by 8 trustees from a variety of backgrounds and 22 Advisory Group members all of whom are members of the Traveller community.

 

Operational aims and objectives

  1. To continue to  involve Travellers the decision-making processes and to change the governance structure to ensure that the ITMB is more representative
  2. Develop and maximise the use of skilled volunteers and interns in order to gain maximum impact from limited resources
  3. Develop and strengthen the senior management team and staffing levels and structures to ensure ITMB can deliver its strategic aims
  4. Review and develop ITMB  partnerships
  5. Develop formal tools for assessing the impact of  our work on national and EU policy development and capacity building  work .
  6. Develop the ITMB brand and logo and develop a communications and PR strategy, including development of a website
  7. To develop a fundraising strategy in order to diversify sources of funding and become more sustainable

PQASSO Quality Mark

In October 2011, Irish Traveller Movement in Britain achieved the PQASSO Quality Mark at Level 2. The PQASSO Quality Mark is a nationally recognised award that offers users, as well as commissioners and funders, external verification of the quality and credibility of an orgnaisation.  Organisations that achieve the PQASSO Quality Mark at Levels 2 and 3 of PQASSO 3rdEdition will be able to use the Charity Commissions Charity Quality Standards Stamp confirming that they are accredited by standards that meet the Hallmarks of an effective charity.The PQASSO Quality Mark is valid for three years, and is a massive achievement by all in the organisation.

If you would like to find out some more information about the PQASSO Quality Mark, please click on the logos above.