Roma community homework club awarded £40k grant

The initiative supports young members of north-east England's Roma community

A homework club supporting young members of the Roma community has been given more than £40,000 from BBC's Children in Need.

Irma Karchnakova, from Gateshead, started the Roma Right Path project nine years ago to help her community integrate into British society and challenge negative stereotypes.

The project includes homework clubs in Newcastle and Gateshead which are attended by about 80 children whose parents' first language is not English.

Ms Karchnakova said the clubs support those who "struggle at school or fall behind".

She said the homework clubs were made possible thanks to the £41,100 charity award.

There are about 30,000 people in the North East's Roma community - many who came from Eastern Europe in the late 1990s.

Irma Karchnakova says the homework clubs help boost pupils' confidence

Ms Karchnakova, whose family is from the Czech Republic, said: "I was studying fashion and design and I was drawn to my culture and people around the North East.

"I just wanted to support the community, so I set up the charity."

Samuel, 13, attends a club in Newcastle.

He said: "The homework club has been very good and really helpful.

"I'm not that nervous to do my homework now."

Dalibor Ferenc volunteers at the homework clubs

Dalibor Ferenc,19, moved to the region with his parents 10 years ago from Slovakia and struggled at school.

He now volunteers at the clubs and said he hoped to go to university to train as a teacher.

"I can share my experiences of school - what I've been through and how I've been taught, and then children tell me how they're treated and I can help," he said.

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