Meet the team
The details of our core team are listed below. We also work closely with colleagues from local schools and colleges and Friends, Families and Travellers. Funding for this work has come from the Sussex Learning Network and the University of Sussex.
Dr Tamsin Hinton-Smith
Academic co-lead
Dr Tamsin Hinton-Smith is a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education at the University of Sussex. Her research focuses around higher education participation and inequalities and has included several projects working with GRT young people in the UK around experiences of education, as well as research with international university and NGO partners around Roma people's participation in higher education across Europe.
Dr Emily Danvers
Project lead
Dr Emily Danvers is a Lecturer in Education at the University of Sussex whose research focuses on higher education inequalities, pedagogies and identities. This has included work on GRT young people and their experiences and perspective on education, as well as research on Roma people’s participation in higher education across Europe, focusing on the significance of gender.
Christopher Derbyshire
Widening Participation co-lead
I have have been alarmed at the marginalisation of people from the Gypsy, Roma, and Travellers communities since I was a kid; use of language during my upbringing; scenes witnessed whilst travelling; and through material that I both read and watched. My role, as a Partnership Manager and a project lead in Widening Participation at University of Sussex allows me the opportunity to challenge prejudice and to seek and advocate for good practice and improved understanding when considering the opportunities made available to young learners from those communities. I have 20 years experience of supporting under-represented groups, ensuring people have access to information and experiences to enable them to make an informed choice about their futures.