ITMB Annual Conference 2012

The policy newsletter of
57,680 Gypsies and
Irish Travellers in
England and Wales
stand up to be
counted in the 2011
Census
Wheels in
Motion
Big Fat Gypsy Wedding
complaint to Ofcom
When the Going Gets
Tough; ITMB Annual
Conference 2012
ISSUE No. 11 FEBRUARY 2013
Issue no 11 February 2013
Content
Directors Welcome
Pg 2
Policy
Pg 3
Updates from the Policy aspects of ITMB work
Features
Pg 10
A tribute to Pecker Dunne
Capacity Building
and Partnerships
Pg 11
Tell Someone DVD Launch
News from Partnership Team
An update from the Health Team
Operational and
Community
Pg 14
The Conference Report
An update from Josie
Rivka’s Internship
Notice Board
Pg 16
Pg 1.
Director’s Welcome
I am delighted to welcome you all to our first
newsletter of 2013, which as you can see
has got a bit of a makeover from our
traditional style. We hope you like the
changes.
We are stepping into this new year with a great
deal of expectation and renewed determination
garnered from a very busy and demanding
2012. We eagerly anticipate starting a number
of new work programmes for 2013.
A warm welcome to Dr. Paddy Walls who joins
our research team on a new project supported
by the Department of Health “The Impact of
Insecure Accommodation on Gypsies’
and Travellers’ Health” which we hope to
start very soon. No doubt we will be contacting
some of you later in the year with reference to
this project. Plans are also in place to kick start
a specific campaign and engagement project
lead by our community interns to raise
awareness and engage more Gypsies and
Travellers to register on the electoral register
and use their vote. We would love to here
from any organisations or individuals that have
been doing anything in this particular field. We
have a really strong planning committee
working hard to draw up our plans to celebrate
Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month
this year. Thus far it is shaping up really well
with lots of fun, song and dance promised.
Keep your eyes peeled for updates over the
coming months for this two day event.
Throughout 2013, we also hope to further build
individual Gypsy and Traveller advocacy and
representation in media, health, employment
and planning policy and expand our successful
community internship programme.
There are considerable changes to welfare
benefits happening this year with the
introduction of the Universal Credit
System which will impact on also many
Gypsies and Travellers. ITMB have a number of
concerns about how these changes will impact
on the Traveller and Gypsy communities many
already living below the poverty line. As a
member of the Department of Work and
ISSUE No. 11 FEBRUARY 2013
“The Conference Brochure is now on the ITMB Website.”
Pensions Ethnic Minority Advisory
(EMAG) We have been raising
these concerns.
Group
Our Policy Team will be sending out an online
survey and plan a roundtable event in London
while Leeds Gypsy and Traveller Exchange will
also host a roundtable event to capture
concerns and provide case studies for our joint
report.
The Policy Team also report back on the 2011
Census. ITMB believes the number of Gypsies
and Travellers-established as 57,680 in England
and Wales-to be an undercount and have
undertaken an analysis of the data by
comparing the statistics to other available counts
of Travellers and Gypsies. This research will be
available within the next few weeks.
We are finally able to take a big sigh of relief that
Basildon Council have agreed to support our
joint application with Home Space Sustainable
Accommodation to the Homes and Communities
Agency to develop the Gardeners Lane site.
We will keep you all updated on this.
The ITMB Annual Conference “When the
Going Gets Tough” was held last November and
proved very successful in helping us to increase
our learning and determine our priorities for
2013. The Conference Brochure is now available
on the ITMB Website. You can read more on all
the above work areas and much more inside.
Finally I would like to take this opportunity to
welcome Lord Avebury as our new Patron.
Lord Avebury as many of you will know is a
veteran campaigner on Gypsy and Traveller
human rights. We are deeply honoured by his
acceptance of this new role and look forward to
a renewed and productive relationship together.
All the best in 2013!
Yvonne MacNamara
ITMB CEO
Pg 2.
Policy Corner
57,680 Gypsies and Irish
Travellers in England and
Wales stand up to be counted
in the 2011 Census
In December last year, the first ever census
figures for the population of Gypsies and
Travellers in England and Wales were
released. In all 54,895 Gypsies and Travellers
in England and 2,785 in Wales were counted.
Although it is widely acknowledged that this
figure is a significant undercount, ITMB would
like to pay tribute to the tens of thousands of
community members who stood up and proudly
identified themselves as Gypsies and Travellers.
The Council of Europe has previously estimated
that the UK’s Gypsy and Traveller population is
up to 300,000, referencing a number of different
sources to support this, including a 2004
Commission for Racial Equality report.
However, it is far from certain how accurate the
COE figure is, considering the sources it
references are not necessarily based on primary
research. For this reason ITMB is conducting a
small research project which will estimate a
minimum population for Gypsies and Travellers
in England based on Local Authority Gypsy and
Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessments.
ITMB believe that the 2011 Census figure is a
significant undercount. This is most likely due to
many Gypsies and Travellers not self-ascribing
as a result of the marginalization and
discrimination they face on a day-to-day basis.
Low educational attainment and poor literacy
skills would have also contributed to the
undercount.
ISSUE No. 11 FEBRUARY 2013
“ITMB believe that the 2011 Census figure is a significant
undercount.”
significantly higher than the figures in the
2011 Census.
Log on to the ITMB website to read the final
report and for more information on the 2011
Census data.
Office for National Statistics 2011 Census map
Big Fat Gypsy Wedding
complaint to Ofcom
Following on from the successful complaint to
the Advertising Standards Authority about the
‘harmful’ Channel 4 ‘Big Fat Gypsy Wedding’
billboards depicting Traveller children, the ITMB
have complained about the BFGW series itself
to Ofcom, the TV regulator. At the time of going
to press, the Ofcom complaint is still under
consideration. As with the ASA complaint, Howe
and Co solicitor; David Enright, is helping to
push the complaint through.
Our soon to be published research will ensure
that the Government, Local Authorities and the
wider public understand the extent to which
Gypsies and Travellers have been
undercounted in the 2011 Census.
The report will also recommend policy makers
and service providers ensure inclusive policies
and appropriate provision acknowledging that
the Gypsy and Traveller population is
Pg 3
Policy Corner
When the Going Gets Tough;
ITMB Annual Conference
2012
The ITMB recently celebrated another
successful annual conference with Gypsies,
Travellers, Roma, representatives from
Traveller organisations, service providers
and professionals descending on the
conference suite of the Resource Centre on
Holloway Road, London to debate and
discuss Gypsy Roma and Traveller issues.
There was a very good community turn out this
year, with a contingent of Scottish Travellers
representing the Minority Ethnic Carers Centre
travelling all the way from Edinburgh. There
were many Gypsies and Travellers involved in
site development and management at this
year’s event too, attracted by the ITMB’s
success in Basildon with the Gardiner’s Way
Traveller site application and the conference
workshop on site delivery.
The Conference ended with delegates
delivering six Key policy recommendations to
work on in 2013:
1) Extend and strengthen Gypsy Traveller
Roma (GTR) engagement in new health service
planning and delivery structures.
2) Continue to promote greater
understanding and challenge inaccuracies and
stereo-typing of GTR in the media and better
inform the GTR public of media complaints
mechanisms.
3) Improve the awareness of GTR
communities and service providers of mental
health issues and examine ways to extend the
numbers of GTR mental health ambassadors.
4) To examine the impact of Universal Credit
on GTR and develop community led initiatives
to support the training and employment needs
of young GTR’s.
5) Conduct strategic engagement with the
Ministry of Justice/National Offender
Management Service and expand GTR culture
and awareness training programs to include
delivery to management and staff in probation
and
ISSUE No. 11 FEBRUARY 2013
prison services.
6) Gypsy and Traveller Groups, CoOperatives and Not-for-Profit Businesses need
to take pro-active steps to ensure that
Government funding for Traveller sites translates
into provision on the ground in those areas of
highest need.
“There were many Gypsies and Travellers involved in site
development and management at this year’s event too”
Pauline Anderson; ITMB Trustee Advisory Group
Member and Chair of the Conference, opened
by telling the delegates that she has a particular
interest in early deaths amongst Travellers and
the too often precarious housing circumstances
experienced by her community. She also
described her strong interest in promoting
Traveller ethnicity and self-ascription,
establishing a culture of Traveller pride, hand in
hand with challenging discrimination and
prejudice.
The key speakers included Lord Avebury; All
Party Parliamentary Group for Gypsy Roma and
Travellers, Martin Gibbs; Health Inequalities and
Inclusion Health, Department Of Health, Fr.
Gerard Barry; Prison Chaplain Full Sutton Prison
and Helen Goodman MP; Labour Shadow
Minister for Media, and a lively panel debate
followed by challenging questions from the floor.
ITMB Advisory Group Members
Pg 4
Policy Corner
Other workshops included ones that discussed
mental health, school bullying, Travellers in
custody, media prejudice, apprenticeships and
employment of young Gypsies and Travellers,
women issues and what to do about blatant
discrimination such as the ‘No Traveller’ signs
outside pubs. Highlights of the workshops
included discussion of the status and
experiences of Gypsies Roma and Travellers in
custody under the new National Offender
Management Service (NOMS); a recounting of
the history and successful outcome of the
complaints made to the Advertising Standards
Agency (ASA) regarding Channel 4 Big Fat
Gypsy Wedding billboard posters and a critical
challenge to the claims that forced marriages
was an “massive problem” within the Gypsy and
Traveller communities when no solid evidence
had been found to substantiate the allegations.
Delegate feedback after the conference proved
to be excellent with 100% of respondents
expressing positive views on the event as a
whole and 95% saying that the event met their
expectations
ISSUE No. 11 FEBRUARY 2013
Travellers pay compared to ‘the settled
community’.
A complaint was lodged in October by the ITMB
and the Traveller’s Times following an inaccurate
claim by a BBC West Midlands Radio (BBCWM)
presenter during an interview with Traveller’s
Times Editor, Damian Le Bas and David
McGrath, the leader of RAID (Residents Against
Inappropriate Development), a group of
residents opposed to a Traveller site planning
application in Meriden, Derbyshire.
During the live interview broadcast on a popular
BBCWM talk-back show, the presenter
digressed from the local issue and said to Mr Le
Bas that: “A couple facts about the Travelling
community. When you have a look at the amount
of taxes they pay, it tends to be a lot lower than
the settled community.”
“the Travelling community paid less tax than the settled community”
The presenter then went on to claim that: “When
you look at how they wish to integrate then,
that’s a lot less integration than the settled
community (and) how they participate in
democracy, also a lot less than the settled
community.” When Mr Le Bas demanded to
know the source for those claims, the presenter
claimed that: “This is a Home Office Study
backed up by the Treasury which was done in
2010. What it said was that the Travelling
community pays less money in taxes than the
settled community, which is something they
suspected for some time.”
BBC to rectify inaccurate
Gypsy and Traveller tax claim
after ITMB complaint
After the programme, Mr Le Bas phoned the
show’s producer to try to verify the source of
those claims. When this failed, Mr Le Bas
contacted ITMB Media and we decided to act as
co-complainants. This then became part of our
ongoing strategy to affect the way Gypsies and
Travellers are reported on and represented by
the UK’s public service broadcaster.
ITMB Media has recently pursued a
successful complaint about an inaccurate
claim about the amount of tax Gypsies and
After some initial investigations, the ITMB found
out that the document that BBCWM had used to
back up its ‘facts’ was a 2006 report by the Local
Government Association, a quango set up to
spread good practice amongst local authorities.
ITMB Annual Conference 2012
Pg 5
Policy Corner
ISSUE No. 11 FEBRUARY 2013
Crucially, the report did not back up the claim
that “the Travelling community paid less tax
than the settled community”, or the associated
claims that Gypsies and Travellers did not
“participate in democracy” or wish to integrate.
Consultation on changes to
the education of Travelling
children
Instead, the report’s focus was to push LA’s
towards tackling the dire shortage of site
provision by countering local opposition to new
sites by ensuring that Gypsies and Travellers
living on sites “should be seen” to pay the same
council taxes as everyone else. In fact, Gypsies
and Travellers living on authorized sites are
subject to the same taxes as anyone else.
The Government is proposing to introduce
major changes to legislation which will result
in economically nomadic families being
prosecuted for their child’s non-attendance
in school.
“At the time of going to press, the ITMB has two other
complaints going through the BBC complaints system”
Angry that a report designed to counter
prejudice was actually being used to fuel it, the
ITMB lodged a formal accuracy complaint with
the BBC. After an initial knock-back, the ITMB
and Mr Le Bas appealed and eventually, the
BBC Editorial Complaints Unit upheld the
complaint and the BBCWM producer offered to
broadcast an apology with a correction.
This success is doubly important because the
BBC issues an editorial bulletin to all of its
hundreds of regional and national producers
and news desks that analyses successful
complaints and suggests improvements,
meaning that corrected mistakes effect how all
BBC content is produced. At the time of going
to press, the ITMB has two other complaints
going through the BBC complaints system; One
concerns a joke about the Gypsy experience of
the Holocaust broadcast on Radio 4, the other
concerns BBC Online’s repeated highlighting of
ethnicity in the headlines of criminal cases
involving individuals of Gypsy and Traveller
ethnicity.
If you have a complaint about any TV
programme, radio show or press report and do
not know how to take it forward, then please
contact the ITMB and ask for ITMB Media and
we will discuss with you what to do next.
Existing legislation, under section 444(6)
Education Act, gives parents a defence in which
they cannot be found guilty of a school
attendance offence, provided that the child is of
no fixed abode and:
• parents are engaged in a trade or business of
such a nature as to require them to travel from
place to place, and
• the child has attended at a school as a
registered pupil as regularly as the nature of that
trade or business permits, and
• if the child has attained the age of six, that he
or she has made at
least 200 attendances during the period of 12
months ending with the
date on which the proceedings were instituted.
“We do not believe that repealing section 444 (6) Education
Act will improve the education outcomes of children of
Travelling families.”
ITMB fully acknowledge that the attendance and
achievement of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller
pupils is unacceptably low and that the
Government, Schools and Parents need to work
together to address this issue. However, we do
no believe that repealing section 444 (6)
Education Act will improve the education
outcomes of children of Travelling families.
We would encourage the Government to focus it
energies on building safety and trust, mutual
respect, high expectations, partnership working,
flexibility and support for access with Gypsy,
Roma and Traveller pupils and parents, rather
than pursing an agenda focus on enforcement.
Pg 6
Policy Corner
To read ITMBs response to the consultation go
to the education policy page on our website:
http://irishtraveller.org.uk/policy/education-policy/
Major changes to benefits
with the introduction of
Universal Credit
In April 2013 the Government is taking a first
step towards introducing major new
changes to millions of people in receipt of
benefits, including many Gypsies and
Travellers. Called Universal Credit, the new
benefit will replace child tax credits, housing
benefit, income related employment and
support allowance, income based jobseeker’s
allowance, income support, parts of the social
fund and working tax credits. The Government
states the objective of Universal Credit is to
simplify the current benefits system and remove
barriers to people getting and keeping work.
ITMB has a number of concerns regarding the
introduction of Universal Credit and its impact
on Gypsies and Travellers in receipt of benefits.
Whilst supportive of measures that encourage
claimants into work and skills training, there is a
danger that sections of the Gypsy and Traveller
community will lack the basic literacy skills and
education to make the required progress from
benefits to work or training courses. There may
also be cultural barriers which prevent sections
of the communities reliant on benefits taking up
full and part-time work or training. ITMB also
has concerns regarding the new benefits cap
being introduced alongside Universal Credit
which will limit the total amount of benefits
received by working age people and families to
£500 per month.
ITMB, in partnership with Leeds GATE, will be
organising focus groups in Leeds and London
to review the possible negative impacts on
Gypsies and Travellers as a result of Universal
Credit. We will be writing a short report based
on the information gathered in these sessions
ISSUE No. 11 FEBRUARY 2013
“ITMB has a number of concerns regarding the introduction
of Universal Credit and its impact on Gypsies and
Travellers in receipt of benefits. “
and raising any concerns with key policy makers.
Keep an eye on ITMBs website for further
information about the focus groups and report.
ITMB publish new report on
the inclusion and ethnic
monitoring of Gypsies and
Travellers in the National
Health Service
After a year of research, which included
sending 146 freedom of information requests to
Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in England, ITMB
have published a new report highlighting the
exclusion and lack of ethnic monitoring of
Gypsies and Travellers in the NHS. ITMB
conducted the research after becoming aware of
the dearth of reliable national and local data on
Gypsies’ and Travellers’ health.
The report found that just 20 (16%) of PCTs had
monitoring procedures in place (or were in the
process of introducing them) to assess Gypsies
and Travellers service use and health and
wellbeing outcomes. The majority of
respondents (71%, 89/125) conducted no ethnic
monitoring of Gypsies and Travellers and 16
(13%) said either the information was not held or
gave an inconclusive response.
The report acknowledges there are a variety of
reasons for the poor inclusion of Gypsies and
Travellers health needs including discrimination,
unstable accommodation, lack of cultural
awareness, poor literacy and engagement with
statutory bodies. However, the report found
another significant reason is the Department of
Health’s (DHs) non-inclusion of Gypsies and
Travellers alongside the sixteen ethnic minority
groups/categories they monitor in the NHS.
DHs position is in conflict with a national policy
trend towards greater inclusion of Gypsies and
Travellers who are ethnic minority groups under
UK law and were included for the first-time
Pg 7
Policy Corner
alongside the 16+1 national ethnic codes in the
2011 Census.
ITMBs findings have been used to inform the
Inclusion Health Boards’ Data and Research
Group progress report, including
recommendations presented to Anna Soubry
MP, Minister for public health. ITMB are hopeful
that the Minister will support measures
proposed by the Inclusion Health Board to
address the continuing exclusion and poor
health of Gypsies and Travellers.
ISSUE No. 11 FEBRUARY 2013
“Mrs McCarthy is very proud of appearing in the local press
and sees it as recognition of her years of tireless campaigning for Gypsy and Traveller rights”
contact between services and Travellers before
a crisis occurs.
Speaking about Haringey's promise to consult
the Borough’s Travellers, Mrs McCarthy told the
readers of the Tottenham and Wood Green
Journal that: “They have made no contact. I
identified myself at the meeting and said that I
was a housed Traveller; my address is on their
computers and they never even sent a letter
saying whether the consultation is going ahead
or not.”
Office for National Statistics 2011 Census
When the tough get going:
ITMB Advisory Group
member Bridget McCarthy
fights for her rights in the
local press
ITMB Advisory Group member and Haringey
Irish Traveller Bridget McCarthy, was
recently pictured in the Wood Green and
Tottenham Journal protesting about cuts to
Traveller services outside Haringey Council
headquarters.
Mrs McCarthy’s picture ran alongside an article
that reported on Haringey Council’s failure to
properly consult the local Gypsy and Traveller
community about its decision to cut the award
winning Haringey Travelling Peoples Team. Mrs
McCarthy is one of many people who are
concerned about the decision to cut the HTPT,
which offers a unique equalities based model of
social work and engagement with Travellers
and a focus on prevention and facilitating
Bridget McCarthy outside the civic centre
http://www.tottenhamjournal.co.uk/news/
haringey_council_accused_of_broken_promises_by_
furious_irish_travellers_community_1_1678405
At the time of going to press, according to a
letter in response to a query from ITMB Patron,
Lord Avebury, Haringey have suspended the
decision to cut the team and are in negotiations
with the team members involved.
Mrs McCarthy is very proud of appearing in the
local press and sees it as recognition of her
years of tireless campaigning for Gypsy and
Traveller rights. She would also like to thank the
Tottenham and Wood Green Journal for taking a
local Traveller issue seriously and reporting fairly
and without prejudice a concern of a community
that does not often have a voice in the media.
Pg 8
Policy Corner
Basildon Council support
ITMB’s plan for a new
Traveller site near Dale Farm
The Irish Traveller Movement in Britain has
taken a significant step towards creating a
new Traveller site in Basildon, with the
Council deciding to lease the land to ITMB’s
partners, Home Space Sustainable
Accommodation (HSSA). This is an important
development in plans to build the new Traveller
site at Gardiners Way and address the serious
shortfall of Traveller pitches in Basildon and
Essex. In December, last year, the Council’s
Development Control Committee passed
ITMB’s planning application for the Gardiner’s
Way Traveller site. With Basildon’s decision to
support the lease of the land, ITMB and HSSA
are optimistic that they will be able to proceed
with securing the funding for the development
of the site from the Homes and Communities
Agency Traveller sites grant.
The new site is for 15 pitches and will provide
homes for the most vulnerable Travellers
residing in Basildon. The site will have a
community building, a children’s playground,
tree-planting and grassed areas and will be
bordered by English native hedging.
The site is a short drive from Cray’s Hill primary
school, which is attended by many of the
children evicted from Dale Farm who continue
to live in the Basildon area.
ITMB and HSSA estimate it will take 12- 24
months to develop the site at an estimated cost
of just over one million pounds. The site will
house 30 caravans on 15 pitches.
ISSUE No. 11 FEBRUARY 2013
Temporary Stop Notices –
Government attack on the
most vulnerable Gypsies and
Travellers
The Government is proposing to make it
easier for councils to use Temporary Stop
Notices against caravans. Temporary stop
notices are a planning enforcement measure,
which requires unauthorised development to
stop immediately with heavy fines and no
appeal.
“There remains a chronic shortage of sites. Some families,
and it tends to be the poor and vulnerable, move onto land
without planning permission because of the lack of any
where to go, and impossibility of living at the roadside. “
In 2004, the then Labour Government excluded
their use against residential caravans because
of the undersupply of Traveller sites. Now the
Coalition Government is proposing to allow
them, even though the accommodation
situation is no better.
Michael Hargreaves, ITMB Planning Expert,
said:
“There remains a chronic shortage of sites.
Some families, and it tends to be the poor and
vulnerable, move onto land without planning
permission because of the lack of any where to
go, and impossibility of living at the roadside.
We already have a formidable battery of
enforcement powers. Despite being required for
many years to make provision, most councils
have failed to do so. In many cases stop
notices will breach human rights, but the people
affected won’t be able to access the courts.
The planning system is heavily biased against
Gypsies and Travellers. Applications attract
many more objections. Many are refused, and
approvals only won by going to appeal, which
means the system is more expensive for
Travellers. This measure would
disproportionately impact on the most
vulnerable. If approved, it would be a blot on
the UK’s reputation for fairness to minorities.”
Pg 9
Features
A Tribute to Pecker Dunne
By Richie Butler
ISSUE No. 11 FEBRUARY 2013
traditional song.
Pecker also performed for occasional, but brief,
pub residencies and concerts. Among his
greatest fans were the Clancy Brothers and the
Dubliners. Pecker made the album “Last of the
Travelling People” in 1987, happily receiving
£600 cash-in-hand from the record company,
rather than having a concern for the legalities
and complexities of artist royalties.
“In his music compositions, he wrote about the lure and
consequent hardships of life on the road and with great
sadness and concern that the Traveller way of life seemed
to be gradually disappearing”
It is with great sadness that ITMB heard of
the passing away of Patrick Stephen
“Pecker” Dunne on 19th December 2012,
aged 80. Pecker was a Traveller musician,
composer and story-teller; well-known and
loved across the island of Ireland. At various
times, he brought his entertainment to London,
Birmingham and elsewhere in England. In his
latter years, Pecker lived in Killimer, Co. Clare,
Ireland.
Pecker was born in Castlebar, Co Mayo on 1st
April 1932 to a Traveller family with roots in
Wexford. Pecker followed the family musical
tradition, learning to play banjo, melodeon and
fiddle among other musical instruments. Pecker
was originally called ‘ Major Packard’ after a
man for whom he rode horses. His youngest
sister mispronounced the word ‘Packard’ as
‘Pecker’ and the name ‘Pecker’ stuck. Pecker
left home at the age of 13 to busk in numerous
countries for over five decades.
Pecker was very proud of his Traveller culture
and heritage. In his music compositions, he
wrote about the lure and consequent hardships
of life on the road and with great sadness and
concern that the Traveller way of life seemed to
be gradually disappearing. Pecker met his
future wife Madeleine in a pub she owned in
Co. Cork. They travelled the road together for
many years before finally settling in Killimer to
allow their four children-Stevie, Madeleine,
Tommy and Sarah-to attend school. Pecker
stopped drinking around this time and had over
30 years of sobriety at the time of his passing.
After Pecker’s funeral Mass at St. Senan’s
Church in Kilrush, his son Stephen played a
musical tribute, including a very well-received
rendition of his father’s song “O’Sullivan’s
John.” Pecker’s remains were transferred from
a hearse to a horse and cart for the final leg of
his journey to Burrane Cemetry, near Killimer.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam (May his soul rest
with God).
Pecker was a regular and very recognisable
presence at top GAA matches, race meetings
and traditional music festivals, playing his 5string banjo or fiddle interspersed with
Pg 10
Capacity Building
& Partnership Team
News from Partnership team
Many schools would like to engage with
GRTHM month but are unsure of what to do
or where to start. For that reason we have
been promoting a user friendly and practical
resource CD with a range of ideas and activities
for GRTHM June 2013.
And it’s free. We have written to all the heads
of children services in London reminding them
of GRTHM in June and enquiring what their
plans are to support it. We are also linking up
with other London boroughs to explore how we
can work together to promote knowledge of the
histories of Gypsies, Roma and Travellers in
June. We have a meeting coming up with
School Inclusion and Learning Achievement in
Greenwich to plan events for June.
We have been regularly hosting support and
planning meetings for a range of education
professionals, to help them deliver activities
during the month. We have been working with
Rocky Deans, who is the coordinator for the
London Gypsy Roma and Traveller History
Month. It is worth having a look at the website
for possible inspiration,
www.grthmlondon.org.uk/
Meanwhile Hackney library have come up with
a list of tips for getting local libraries involved in
GRTHM. They should know as they have run
a number of popular and successful events
during previous history months
1. Its important to get agreement from the Head
of Library Services to celebrate GRTHM.
2. Its important to get a time commitment for a
staff member to lead on GRTHM for libraries
with a small budget for events and publicity.
3. It is essential for libraries to work with a
steering group made up of local Traveller
services.
4. Include GRTHM in the libraries events plan
for the year (this plan includes other event
ISSUE No. 11 FEBRUARY 2013
programmes such as Black History Month, Adult
Learners Week, Family Learning Festival etc)
5. Ensure the Councils Communications Team
are aware of GRTHM and include it in their
yearly events plan too - this helps to ensure
proper media coverage of the month.
For more info above please contact:
info@irishtraveller.org.uk
GRTHM 2012 at Elthorne Park
An update from the Health
Team
The primary focus of our current health work
is Mental health awareness and ensuring
Local Authorities are fully aware and
including Gypsies and Travellers within local
Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.
Separate to the launch of our mental health DVD
Tell Someone we have been commissioned to
deliver a number of mental health awareness
training sessions. We delivered the first of these
to Oxley NHS Trust which covers a large region
of south London. The training was very well
received giving pause for thought to some
outreach workers and service managers about
the delivery of their services. The evaluations
were very impressive and we enjoyed and they
enjoyed themselves.
If you are an NHS trust or service provider and
require training in delivering health and wellbeing
Pg 11
Capacity Building & Partnership Team
services to the Gypsy and Traveller
communities then please get in touch
health@irishtraveller.org.uk or phone 0207
6072002
‘Tell Someone’ DVD launch
ISSUE No. 11 FEBRUARY 2013
health services, and health service providers
are not always very good at accommodating
them when they do.”
Sophia also featured in the DVD: “It was a
chance to share my experience with the
community about how I learnt to cope with and
eventually recover from postnatal depression,”
she says. “Telling someone is very therapeutic
and can be the first step towards recovery.”
The Irish Traveller Movement in Britain
recently celebrated the launch of our ground
-breaking DVD that explores the delicate
subject of mental health amongst Traveller
communities and the discrimination that
many face when trying to get treatment.
The DVD, called ‘Tell Someone’ is both for the
community and for professionals and service
providers. Traveller men and women, some
coming from as far away as Scotland, watched
the DVD in the plush surroundings of the
Tricycle Theatre cinema in Kilburn, London and
enjoyed the buffet in the foyer upstairs
afterwards.
The DVD is divided into sections and includes
Travellers talking about their mental health and
recovery, as well as showing interviews with
“Telling someone is very therapeutic and can be the first
step towards recovery.”
particular health clinic adapted its services to
become more inclusive towards Gypsy and
Traveller communities.
Produced by Flexible Films, the film includes
interviews with Thomas McCann, the Irish
Traveller psychologist who runs Eire’s only
dedicated Traveller counselling service, Paul
Farmer; CEO of Mind and Father Jed Barry;
prison chaplain at Feltham prison.
Sophia Vale, English Traveller and Health
Promotion Officer for the ITMB who was
involved in making the DVD, said: “’When they
are feeling low, many Gypsies and Travellers
tend to bottle it up and keep their problems to
themselves. A lot of Gypsies and Travellers do
not know how to access health and mental
ECOPS Scottish Travellers with Sophia at ‘Tell
Someone’ launch
“’When they are feeling low, many Gypsies and Travellers
tend to bottle it up and keep their problems to themselves.
Yvonne MacNamara, CEO of the Irish Traveller
Movement in Britain, says: “As their traditional
way of life becomes increasingly untenable and
in the face of hostile prejudice and
discrimination, many in the Gypsy and Traveller
community are increasingly falling prey to
mental ill-health and developing symptoms of
depression, anxiety, panic attacks, low self
esteem and hopelessness.”
“Research from Ireland shows that the suicide
rate for Traveller men in Ireland, is three to six
times higher than the wider population.
Pg 12
Capacity Building & Partnership Team
ISSUE No. 11 FEBRUARY 2013
“Anecdotal evidence suggests that similar rates
of suicide in the UK. Irish Traveller
Psychotherapist, Thomas McCann, says that
the rate of suicides amongst Traveller women is
rising to the same level as men. This is fast
becoming a crisis for a vulnerable community
that has difficulty accessing the help and
services which many benefit from.”
“’Tell Someone’ is a ground-breaking
educational DVD that was made in response to
this crisis. It was made with the help of Gypsies
and Travellers and is aimed at the Gypsy and
Traveller community, as well as health
professionals, mental health charities, service
providers and campaigners,” she says.
‘Tell Someone’ features Gypsies and Travellers
talking about their mental health and recovery.
It also features GP’s and other health
professionals and mental health service
providers talking about how they have adapted
their services to be inclusive of Gypsy and
Traveller communities.”
Tell Someone DVD
Pg 13
Operational and
Community corners
ISSUE No. 11 FEBRUARY 2013
The Conference Report
An update from Josie
With a great deal of preparation, and
organisation, the hard work paid off on
Thursday 15th November 2012, when the
ITMB Annual Conference, When the going gets
tough took place.
Hi Everyone Here’s a little update for you on
what I’ve been working on over the last
couple of months
Participants at the ITMB confernece
As part of the operations team, we ensured
that evaluation forms were present for
everyone to complete. 42% of individuals who
attended the conference completed feedback
forms. This means, as a Team, we can identify
areas which need to be worked on, and items
which need to be amended.
The conference evaluation can be found within
the 2012 ITMB Conference report which will be
available on the ITMB website in the next
week.
“Excellent and thought provoking”
Overall the conference was a great success,
and the comments we received support that
statement.
“Fantastic speaking from all the Travelling Community”
Josie O’Driscoll, ITMB Volunteer
With support from ITMB I am taking part in the
Romed Mediators programme which is a training
programme for Gypsy Roma Travellers launched
by the Council 0f Europe in 2011. A mediator is
a person whose work involves promoting
communication and understanding between
members of Gypsy, Roma Traveller communities
and any public authority, such as schools, health
services, council departments, government
agencies, landlords
Twenty four GRT trainees from all over the UK
started there training in Manchester Late 2012
and the second training will take place in March
in Manchester.
The first Congress of Roma mediators from the
Council of Europe/European Commission
Romed programme took place at the Crowne
Plaza Hotel in Brussels on the 17th-18th January
2013, with more than 250 Roma and Travellers
from the 20 countries participating in the
programme.
Six places were available for Representatives
Pg 14
Operational and Community corners
“Six places were available for Representatives
from the UK and I was lucky and privileged to have
been one of the six”
ISSUE No. 11 FEBRUARY 2013
here until I go back
to Berlin to continue
my social work
studies.
In the last months I
have been working
on different projects
with the ITMB
Policy team as well
as shadowing
experienced
Traveller social
worker and ITMB
Rivka Jubitz, ITMB Intern
Trustee Michael
Ridge and
education worker Peter Norton.
from the UK and I was lucky and privileged to
have been one of the six.
The congress was an inspiring experience. It
brought together so many Roma and Traveller
participants speaking many different languages,
including Romanes.
There was an evening concert , Orchestra
Europea per la Pace and the Alexian Group
whose star performer, Santino Spinelli, is also a
ROMED trainer. They performed the anthem
Jelem Jelem I can tell you everyone enjoyed
and most of the room was on there feet
dancing.
One thing that amazed me in Brussels was
how many similarities there are and how much
we have in common. I was lucky to attend the
congress and I’m grateful I get the chance to
share my experiences in the UK through the
ITMB Newsletter
Best wishes to all
Rivka’s Internship
Having been with ITMB for five months
already there is sadly just one month left for me
A big part of the work, especially in the last two
month has been research into the population of
Gypsies and Travellers in England. The other
project I am still working on is research into the
money that local authorities spend on evicting
Gypsies and Travellers from unauthorised sites.
“I am very happy about getting this experience and am
enjoying my time as long as I am here!”
Whenever it was possible I was shadowing Peter
in the work he is doing as an education support
worker in Walthamstow. With him I went around
the area to visit the families who needed his
help. Peter is doing this work voluntarily as he
got cut but is still really needed in Walthamstow.
Before Christmas I have also been shadowing
Michael Ridge in the work he is doing in
Haringey in the Travelling Peoples Team and
could see a child protection conference he was
working on.
The time I have and am still spending here has
been very interesting as I can see the different
views on the work ITMB is doing and is done
more widely with Gypsies Roma and Travellers
in London and the UK.
I am very happy about getting this experience
and am enjoying my time as long as I am here!
Pg 15
ISSUE No. 11 FEBRUARY 2013
Inclusion workshop—addressing the local
health inequalities of Gypsy and Traveller
communities.
Noticeboard
This workshop is a must for officers or
workers with a specific remit to develop
and address health inequality.
Like and Share
our Irish
Traveller
Movement in
Britain
Facebook Page
19th march 2013 at the Resource Centre,
Holloway Road, from 10am—1pm.
Please phone 02076072002 for more info
Visit the ITMB website to find out more
about the Policy work we do, with
briefings and reports available to
download:
http://irishtraveller.org.uk/policy/
Have you got something you
would like to advertise? Land?
Caravan?
Gypsy Roma Traveller
History Month, June 2013:
Let us know if you are
holding an event. Email
us at
info@irishtraveller.org.uk
Please contact the office, and we can
arrange for this advertisement for you
in our next newsletter. The content is
subject to acceptance.
Interested in Volunteering?
If you are interested in volunteering, and
would like to know more about what
volunteering opportunities there are at
ITMB,
please email: info@irishtraveller.org.uk
Pg 16.
Contact us
How to find us
info@irishtraveller.org.uk
media@irishtraveller.org.uk
policy@irishtraveller.org.uk
www.irishtraveller.org.uk
Irish Traveller Movement in Britain
Follow ITMBritain
020 7607 2002
Irish Traveller Movement in Britain
The Resource Centre
356 Holloway Road
London, N7 6PA
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Thank you to all of our Funders from all at ITMB
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If you would like to make any contributions to our next issue or simply to make a comment on this policy
newsletter, please get in touch:
Editor: Sabrina M Fahy
sabrina@irishtraveller.org.uk
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