Current Issues
'English Travellers have travelled these roads for 500 years.'
If you’re born a Gypsy, a Romany Gypsy, you’re a Gypsy.
It’s quite plain as that… just because you settle down and there’s no other way you can do life now.
You’ve got to either be on a caravan site, a council site, which we all know is very far and few between, or you buy your own land and make your own site, which I did here.
Bill Newland
We travel around because it’s what we’ve known all our lives; it’s what we’re brought up to...Â
But in this day and age it is a lot harder for moving around because society has made it so much harder. Because everywhere we used to stay, which was perfectly ok say, 20 years ago, has been built on now.
Anita
English Travellers have travelled these roads for 500 years.
Now they have to find waste grounds, dumps, old yards, park under pylons…
With the 1968 Caravan Act, Travellers were led to believe that pitches and sites would be built with good facilities, but it never happened. In my opinion, the act was used to move a lot of Travellers into houses, scare them out of travelling; it made them lose their way.
George
Audio Clips
Linda Smith's advice about getting planning permission
Anita talks about evictions and issues with education
Bill Newland highlights planning issues
Damian Le Bas talks about how prejudice affects people's views
Teaching Resources
If you are a teacher, take a look at our teaching resources.
Donate
If you would like to support Friends, Families and Travellers work, you can make a donation here.
