....get to know us

Jackie Nevin

All of the words in this book are the voices of

the Traveller, Roma and Gypsy communities

living in the UK who came together on three

weekend residential meetings to share, learn

and be together.

The voices are of a community openly

discussing the joys, problems and

complexities of their lives through

conversations, art, poetry and photography.

The overriding message from Travellers is

‘Get to know us’.

……..get to know us

Roma

Irish Travellers

English Gypsies

Settled community

We came together to discuss

Our life and ways

Discrimination

Education

Freedom

Family

Rights

‘Get to know me’

‘We sometimes feel that the

settled community don’t want

to get to know us.’

Family First Some of our traditions change because

circumstances beyond our control have

made it so, but in the same token when it

comes to our values….

Family first, life second

If something befalls the family everything

else closes down.

Gypsies Roma and Travellers, we are all one

family

Moving about and

getting a living Our work used to be seasonal. English

Travellers would follow work. It would be

fieldwork in the past. That’s how it was in

the past. Everybody worked for the family

Moving about to get a living

It’s in your blood

Your parent’s did it

When I see the nice weather, I want to hit

the road

Fred

Traditional Traveller work in the past

Horse dealing

Tinsmiths

Sharpening tools

Holly wreathes

Pulling sugar beat

Scrap dealing

Travellers work in all kinds of

professions. Many hide their identities

for fear of discrimination.

We came to England in 2011. It was very

difficult. I really want to work; to cook,

clean or babysit, but I do not have the

right to work. Back home in Romania

there is so much racism and women

generally do not work. I would spend a

lot of time on my own with the children

and my husband would work.

At the moment we are living in Bristol.

We have been living in a Bed and

Breakfast for 8 months now. We have

been placed there by the City Council, It

is very difficult. I have 5 children and

with my husband we are are all living in

1 room, with 1 bedroom.

Claudia

It is important to have a voice at a higher

level. It is not enough to speak between

us. We want something good for our

children, but we are afraid of losing our

culture. We need to start community

groups, to come together and educate

each other. Empowerment is important

for the Gypsy and Traveller community.

‘You can never empower a community, a

community has to empower itself’

Server

Education

‘

I am very happy here in England

because my children have

school. I came here without

English and I try and try and

try…….

I am very happy for my children

and I like because there is

freedom. The discrimination is

different compared to Romania.

Server

Christy, aged 10 (his story in his own words)

‘I had to leave school because my granddad was very,

very sick and he probably could have died. He’s got

asthma and he’s about 76. So I left school with my

family to look after him for 6 or 7 months. Every

morning around 6.30am and checked on him. He was

usually asleep in the chair.

173 miles to Manchester, where my Granddad lives

When I came back it was a long journey.

Mummy rang up the school one Monday after I got

back. They said, “Sorry you have lost your place. You

will have to fill out a form in the New Year”. New Year

we filled out the form and they said they still didn’t

have a place. In January a girl called Hayley left and I

still didn’t get a place. So at the moment I am still not

at school.’

‘I think I am the most bored child in the world. I am so

bored.’

We are Roma and we came here to the UK because

there was so much discrimination back home. My

parents work but they don’t have enough money. The

children did not go to school in Romania because we

didn’t have enough money. Discrimination affected us

very badly. The poverty is terrible. You knock doors

and if you are a Gypsy you cannot get work. It is

normal for children to go to school yes, but if you don’t

have money for bags, books, pens and packed lunches

it is very difficult to send your children to school.

Roma We’re here from Romania because my

child has Autism and the children had a

huge problem with discrimination. They

took my son with Autism out of school

and told him to go home, hospital or he

is crazy. If you try to go to the doctor you

have to put money in their pocket to get

a good service. There is a lot of

corruption back in Romania. If you have

money you have good health, if you have

no money, you are dead.

Alexandru

Rosie

Hi I am Rosie an Irish Traveller and I would like to tell

you what I tis like to be a Traveller girl. Before I was

not in school, but I am in full time education now. I

had to research what I was entitled to by law because

no one else was going to do it for me.

I lost 2 school places because of bullying and racism

and it forced me out of my education. I was out of

school totally for a year and 3 months.

I am now at a college called Southgate, which has a

section for children under 16. I am now furthering all

my education by studying. I would like to be a Youth

Worker during the day when I am older and a

hairdresser for extra money in the evening.

I have a lot of experiences that young people

experience today. I feel that I could offer support and

understanding to people.

I don’t want to stay at home and be

a wife, which is what most people

think that Traveller women want.

A Better Me I’m a Traveller to my very soul,

a Traveller longing for the road.

“Get an education, you’ll be sound,

then you’ll be able to roam around.

Times have changed, like all the rest

Go to school; it’s for the best,

Forget the roads; that’s in the past

It’s a different era; be like the rest.”

So we stopped travelling, I went to school

made some friends; broke some rules.

But then school was over; real life began

with its politics and prejudices; it wasn’t fun.

Now not wanted by my own.

They think I sold my very soul.

To country people; we’re less than dirt,

their hypocritical smiles don’t work.

My friends from school are far and wide

with only one or two on my side.

My true identity is gone,

I’m now not wanted by anyone.

Travellers too, have their say –

saying, “You’re like a country person;

you have their ways.”

With snide remarks and innuendos,

“You think you’re better than us.”

But they know more than I’ll ever know

for they stayed true,

travelling on the roads,

While I was shut up in a room,

they were out there – free to roam.

My soul is screaming to be free;

to travel the roads to be able to breathe.

But life is such, my soul is chained.

I may have an education,

but I don’t think I’ve gained.

I truly think, I’ve lost.

Kit

Helen People have got to accept that we are

different and that we have got

different traditions. My son goes to a

very good school, Finchley Catholic

High. I know a lot of Traveller boys

aren’t going to school. I want my son

to go to school. My fear is that my son

won’t want to go to school when he is

over 13. Because other Travellers

haven’t been to school they might put

pressure on him not to go to school.

Discrimination ‘I would like to see Travellers and Gypsies being able to

book a venue on their own and in their own name. Then

if we wanted to book up for a wedding or something like

that we wouldn’t be turned away. This is a real problem.

We have to get a settled person to do the booking for

us. If people hear your voice on the phone they’ll say

that they are fully booked. Then if you do get a booking

then they’ll come back to you and say that they are

double booked.’

‘When I was younger there would be signs on the doors

to keep us out. If you go for a drink on your own now

you may be ok, but if you go in a group then you are

likely to be turned away. We don’t go out in the same

way as settled people. We don’t really go out as

couples. With Travellers, the men will sit together and

go to their table and the women will go to their own

table. As men we like to talk about dogs and horses and

the women talk about their own problems. They’re

cleverer than us!’

Patrick and Tommy

We are afraid to complain because of the fear of

the unknown. People that run sites hold a branch

over you. It feels like a tree. Here in Oxford the site warden goes to many

meetings both in Oxford and nationally too. We

have traditionally not been allowed to go to these

meetings, even though it is about Travellers and

Gypsies. We have a warden of several council

sites here in Oxford. We have all been terrified to

complain because of the repercussions.

Kit

We feel ‘done to’ as if

we do not have a voice

in the planning of

services for us.

No more I see

The ways of our people have changed I see

no more the carefree days I see

no more tradition of old I see

no more travelling the roads.

The ways of our people have changed I see

no more the horse and cart I see

no more the wagons and tents I see

no more the ways of old.

The ways of our people have changed I see

no more the pocket is worn I see

no more the selling of pegs I see

no more the pride of the old.

The ways of our people have changed I see

no more the flowers are made I see

no more the tinsmith tinning I see

no more the joy of the road.

The ways of our people have changed I see

no more the campfire blazing I see

no more the tales of old I see

I think our souls have been sold.

Kit

I don’t want my children to have to go through

what I have been through. It is better today but

my daughter Rosie still gets called names. I’ve got

2 new babies and I know they are going to go

through it.

There are enough Travellers to come together to

fight discrimination.

I don’t want people to discriminate against my

children. If people discriminated against Black

people then something would be done. It seems

ok to discriminate against Travellers today and

people get away with it.

I don’t think people understand the Traveller

community. Although I do have some non-

Traveller friends and they treat me fairly. But I

think even though non Travellers get to know you,

they still don’t accept you.

Caroline

“I want a person to know me before they

judge me”

No Freedom No roaming the roads so freely no stopping for a couple of days no following the lane with our horses and carts no more the carefree ways. No heating the water by the open fire no baking the bread with the ashes no having the wet clothes on the bushes no more wearing the shawl or the blanket. No more the ways of the Travellers, traditions and freedom has gone. Now it’s sites, chalets and houses, In this nameless, faceless time.

Kit

‘In Ireland discrimination is bad. There are a

lot of good people in Ireland don’t get me

wrong. But if I go for a beer and you don’t let

me in, how can I become a member’

How can I integrate if I’m not given a

chance?

Guys know that I am a Traveller or a Gypsy,

but at work people don’t say it to me. I don’t

mention it. I think it would damage my

position. The people I work for are good

guys, but I think the prejudice is deep and it’s

always in people’s minds. I lose confidence.

I can’t say I am a Gypsy because I would lose

my job.

Patrick

I

LOSE

MY

SPIRIT

Rights

We want to know our rights

I watch the news

I want to hear, learn.

I want to know

I learn English

I want to be somebody.

Sergiou

I would like the right to be accepted for who you

are. If you go into the pub you can sit down

without everybody looking at you as if you’ve got

two heads.

Near Stable Way if one person gets barred from

the pub then everybody gets barred. If it was a

bunch of footballers in a pub and one person was

causing trouble the landlord wouldn’t bar the

whole team.

Patrick

What matters is that we are all human

beings. We are all people

Patrick

I live on a site. I don’t think the government

would care if all Travellers and Gypsies went into

living in houses. We like to stick together. We like

everybody to be together. On site, everybody’s

there with their family. If we went into houses

then that wouldn’t be the case. Everybody would

be separated and just living on their own.

I would like to see…

Rather than putting people into houses I’d like

more sites for people to move into; transit sites

and permanent sites so that we could travel and

have a base to come back to. That’s a change I

would love to see, whether we are ever going to

get it I doubt.

There are issues where Traveller sites are built.

Stable Way is built under a flyover and levels of

carbon dioxide are very high. There is the site in

Brent where the dust is a problem from the

concrete yard. Middle ground is right off a busy

motorway and so dangerous to pull on and off the

site. In Tottenham there is the site with the

sewerage works alongside. At the Redbridge site

on Oxford it is build right next to the big refuge

and recycling depot and just off the ring road.

We learn to live with it. We would love more sites

to be built. We learn and have had to learn to

make do and live in the places we are put

We would consider anywhere if the government

would build more sites.

Sites are built in the most isolated places

Hidden away

They try and hide you away

The Redbridge Women’s Traveller group was set

up twenty years ago by the Joyce family in Oxford.

With some support the group taught Travellers to

read and write and so much more. It also runs

workshops to educate the settled community

about Traveller ways. The group has gone from

strength to strength over the years; more recently

setting up a Residents Association for all Traveller

sites in Oxford. There are many groups and

organisations that the Traveller and Gypsy and

community have set up to organise and challenge

discriminatory laws and policies. Find out more

about Traveller groups and organisations and get

involved.

Drawing by Diamond

Freedom….. My children go to school. I grew up in Kentish Town. I

was born in a Trailer in Hammersmith, Latimer Road,

now known as stable way. We lived there for about 10 years before we went to live in a house.

Travelling

Sometimes we go on, but it’s just hassle, when the kids

are not at school we go travelling. We have been

followed by the police and when we park up the police

come and check all our details. The police would then

give us notice to move on.

Where I live in a house in Barnet there aren’t any sites.

I’d like to live on a site because the kids have more

freedom and it’s all about our way of life; hook up a

trailer and our children can have animals. Our children

know nothing about horses these days.

Helen

Our children are not

allowed to explore our

traditions

Traveller and Gypsy

children want to be

proud of who they are.

We don’t want to be

afraid of who we are

Freedom is being able to

get up and move

around. Not being told

that you cannot move.

It feels as if Nomadism is

a crime today.

It is a way of life for us.

It is in our blood

It is who we are

In my lifetime everything was done outside. I

still want to be outside. Outside is in my

blood. When I light a fire outside the

children now think I am showing them up.

The world is changing and we are changing

because of it. It is a shame.

Living in a house is like being in a prison.

Being in a trailer is freedom. You are not

boxed in.

Equality

I think ideas are passed down from parents

to children. We are always portrayed to be

beggars and thieves.

We get sick, we bleed and we die in the

same way. It’s just that we have a different

culture. We live in caravans. That is what we

choose. There are Travellers who are

millionaires, but they still want to live in a

caravan. To me, the government just wants

to put people into houses.

I say, ‘Come live with me and get to know me’

It would be devastating

for the Traveller

community to go into

houses.

‘Even if I had loads of

money, I still couldn’t

buy a house’

Fred

CHANGE

In the old days we learnt from

our families

Whether we like it or not we

know we have to change. We

lose parts of our culture in the

changing world.

Memories

We met, we married, a long time ago We worked for long hours, when wages were low, No TV, no radio, no bath-times were hard Just a cold water tap and a ‘walk down the yard’ No holidays abroad, few carets on floors We buried coal on the fire and didn’t lock door Our children arrived, no pill in those days And we brought them all up without any state aid. They were safe in our lanes and could play in the park And old folk could go for a walk after dark No valium, drugs and no LSD We cured most of our ills with a good cup of tea. No vandals, no muggings there was little to rob We felt we were rich with a couple of bob

Milk man and farmer would whistle and sing

A night at the pictures was one big, mad fling.

Now we’re alone and look back through the years

We don’t think of bad times, the troubles, the tears

But remember the blessings - our home and our love

And that we have shared them, we thank God above

Poem donated by Sally

Stable Way

“Based in the Royal Borough of Kensington

and Chelsea, Stable Way (formerly the

Westway Travellers site) has been a

traditional stopping place for Gypsies and

Irish Travellers for centuries. Made official in

1976, Stable Way has 19 pitches, a

community Hut and is home to Irish Traveller

families comprising approximately a hundred

people. In 2010 the Stable Way Residents

Association was constituted to ensure the

voice of Irish Traveller families was heard in

decisions affecting them. It received the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea,

Resident Association Gold Standard Award in

2012 and is becoming increasingly involved

in the national movement Gypsy Roma and

Traveller rights and equality. ”

I AM a Traveller I have a heart

The stories I have heard and read, tear me apart.

I read your consultation; I read your points of view

I pay my way, all my taxes just like you do.

You like to put me down and you haven't got a clue.

I try not to react and have a say,

But I can't sleep at the end of each day.

I feel I have to take up for myself,

As I can't take any more.

But some of the settled community is slamming the

door.

Don't get me wrong, we have made good friends, whom

I will never forget.

This five year fight is something I do not regret.

I think we have proven, though not to everyone

That not everything we do is wrong.

Some don't want my children to go to school.

Do you think they can't follow the rules?

Why would you not want them to have an education?

Is it because you believe they will end up in a police

station?

Or do you think they could harm your child?

Believe it or not, they're not that wild.

Don't take my word. Ask the parents where my children

go.

They'll tell the truth because they all know.

They are only children, they do what kids do.

These lovely families gave them a chance.

Why won't you?

So please think what you're saying before you ridicule.

You are the adult. Stop being so cruel.

I bring up my children the best way I know how.

They are all I own, they are all I have now.

They have manners, they are kind, they are my delight.

But that's not what you shout as you drive by at night.

We only want to live like this, for it's our heritage, it's

our culture.

We are trying to preserve it peacefully not as a subject

of torture.

Yes, we know it's Green Belt land

But wasn't everywhere before it became man's.

Why can't we live beside you?

Why can't you understand?

We are only asking to stay on our own land.

I know this is not well written

I know it is not very good.

But I'm trying my best like any mum would.

If my children finish their education,

I know they could do better

And next time around,

They could be writing my letter.

I am appalled at some of the things I have heard and

read.

They say: "Get rid of all gipsies, they should be shot

dead."

They say we don't pay our way, are all thieves and are

really dirty.

If this was written about you, wouldn't it hurt you?

Our homes have been set fire to, stones thrown at us,

called names, the subject of much crime,

But we haven't complained.

We have not had time.

Packed up in the middle of the night, it is time to go.

How many are coming? I don't know.

Why are they coming? What did we do today?

NOTHING, it's because we live this way.

Get the children. Get the dogs.

“Watch your head. They're throwing logs.”

Running just as fast as I can with a baby in each arm.

They don't care when you're a gipsy.

You could be child, woman or man.

So we settled down to get away from this kind of life.

We don't want to live on the edge of a knife.

So all we ask is you give us a chance

And try to understand.

We are just a family and all we have done wrong

Was bought a small piece of land.

I don't want your sympathy,

I choose this way of life.

I want what's best for my family.

I am a woman, mother and wife.

Bernadette Reilly

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CCC hhhaaa nnneee lll lll eee OOO ’’’BBBrrr iii eee nnn KKK aaa iii ttt lll iii nnn OOO ’’’BBBrrr iii eee nnn

MMMiii ccc hhhaaa eee lll OOO ’’’BBBrrr iii eee nnn

GYPSY ROMA AND TRAVELLER HISTORY MONTH, 2013

(LOGO Created by Delphin. Based on artwork from

Gypsy Roma and Traveller young people)

This book is produced as part of a piece of work funded

by NIACE, Community Learning Innovation Fund. Thank

you to them for being brave and investing in us and

helping us produce this book.

Thank you also to everyone who took part and

contributed to this book. Particular thanks to

Bernadette, Helen and Kit for their pictures and poetry.