Travellers’ Times Online Blog

After 7 months, the Travellers Times Online Blog is moving to a brand new home on the internet to Travellers Times Online. 

For further blog postings, news, events and much much more, please visit: http://www.travellerstimes.org.uk

Travellers’ Times is the only national magazine for Britain’s 300,000 Gypsies and Travellers and it’s just got faster, louder and bigger.
TT Online launched on International Roma Day - 8th April 2009 - with news, films, radio, learning and comment by, for and about Britain’s Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
The new website has been developed by The Rural Media Company with funding from the Department of Children, Schools and Families. “We are building on 9 years of publishing the magazine”, says Rural Media’s Jane Jackson, “to offer an exciting and instant view of Traveller life and culture in Britain today, both for Travellers themselves as well as the education sector”.
“Whether it’s trading on Ebay or keeping in touch through BeBo or savvychavvy.com, and with more of us going on the internet, it’s high time we had a website that did us, and our views, justice”, says Jake Bowers, the Romany journalist, who is the new Editor of TT Online.
The site will offer a high level of interactivity: opportunities for young people to showcase their successes, their music and photographs; for parents and teachers to find and review school resources on Traveller history and culture; for Travellers to keep up to date with news, health and legal issues; for the public sector to find out more about this misunderstood community and a way to communicate directly with them via editorial and advertising.
“If all of Britain’s Gypsies and Travellers gathered in one place, we’d take up a city the size of Cardiff, Nottingham or Belfast.” writes Jake Bowers, “But we’re not all in one place (thankfully some might say!). At the very least, we’d have our own weekly newspaper and local radio station. TT Online will be a combination of all those things and more.”

www.travellerstimes.org.uk

April 16th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (1)

As the recession begins to bite, councils across England are reducing housing benefits on Gypsy and Traveller sites in order to make ends meet. Sarah Lovelock meets one community that have fought back and won.

The Green grass of home: The residents of Kessingland have succesfully fought back against housing benefit cuts which would have left many homeless

A Traveller community in Suffolk has fought back against attempts to reduce the housing benefits it says it needs to survive. Earlier this month, Waveney District Council announced they were going to cap the benefit of residents from an average of £70 to £33.50 per week at the Kessingland site in Suffolk leaving residents to pay the shortfall.

Site manager, Jill Real said: “We received a letter saying the Rent Service had determined that the maximum benefit would decrease. The residents can’t afford to make up the shortfall in rent which means we would have to evict them or they would leave. Either way they could have ended up homeless.”

The residents held a peaceful protest outside council offices last week with one single mother, Natasha Lord, cradling her newborn baby.Waveney District Council have now informed the managers of the Kessingland site that the amount of housing benefit will not be reduced and will continue at the same average of £70 per week.

Some of the residents have lived on the site for a number of years and would have had nowhere to relocate if they were forced to leave.
Sherry Bacon, who has lived at the site for over ten years and has three children, said: “None of us are in a position to pay extra rent money.”

Although the site is privately run, the rents for the caravans - which range from about £65 to £75 a week - are set by Suffolk County Council.
Site manager Jill Real said: “A single person on Jobseekers receives about £50 a week so how would they be able to survive with a benefit cut? They would have been on the poverty line and I think this is against their human rights.”

Adrian Mills, the service manager from Waveney District Council said: “We have been in negotiations with the Kessingland traveller’s site, there isn’t an issue anymore and the benefit will continue. “We look at all sites and the rent that is charged because at the end of the day it’s the tax payers money. Everyone is satisfied now and the matter has been resolved.”

The Traveller Liaison office for Suffolk, Keren Wright, said: “All sites are rent capped if they are privately leased like Kessingland. The proposed reduction would have caused problems for residents as the shortfall would have been a hell of a lot of money to pay”

Ian Real, who has owned the site since 2001, said: “I’m pleased the matter has been resolved but it is a shame it hasn’t been sorted out sooner and that there wasn’t more help at hand. “It caused a lot of uncertainty and unrest and it is the first time I have seen all the site residents stand united when they protested last week.”

March 26th, 2009 | Tags: Housing Benefits, Jill Real, Kessingland | Category: Homes, News | Leave a comment

Saban Bajramovic was the original Romany Rockstar. A hard and fast living musical genius who knew prison, popularity and poverty. But as the anniversary of the his death approaches, the author of the Romany National Anthem is to be honoured with his very own boulevard.

In Serbia, one of the boulevards in Nis, the largest city in Southern Serbia, could soon bear the name of the legendary singer of Romany music Saban Bajramovic.  The proposal has been put forward by the public board that is responsible for naming streets and squares in Nis. The recommendation will then be put forward to Serbian Ministry for Public Administration and Local Self Government

The President of the Board Dragoljub Stamenkovic has said  that he expects the procedure to be finished by the beginning of June when the first anniversary of Bajromivic’s death will be marked.

“It is very important that Saban’s wife also agrees, because it would be wrong to make a decision if members of his family do not agree. The Board considered several suggestions and by the majority of votes, this suggestion has been accepted. The boulevard is still not finished, but it will be a street worthy of the great singer,” Stamenkovic says.

 A suggestion to name one of the streets in Nis after Bajramovic was made by officials of the Nisville Jazz Festival.

Saban Bajramovic was born in Nis in 1936. At the age of 19 he deserted the army to run away with a girl with whom he had fallen in love. As a deserter, he was sentenced to three years prison on the notorious island of Goli Otok where opponents to former Yugoslav President Tito were sent.

  He started his musical career in the prison orchestra that played, among other things, jazz (mostly Louis Armstrong, Sinatra, and sometimes John Coltrane) with Spanish and Mexican pieces. Once he left Goli Otok, his music career took off. He made his first record in 1964, and since then is believed to have composed 650 songs. Saban also composed the official Roma people anthem “Djelem, Djelem” in 1964.

 After years of hard and fast living, he faded out of the limelight and in 2008, was found living an impoverished existance in Nis, with serious health complications and was no longer able to walk. The government of Serbia intervened to provide him with some funds. He died in Nis on June 8, 2008, from a heart attack.

March 26th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

After winter comes Spring, and for one Gypsy community in Suffolk, the return of longer and better days is being marked by a wedding to be proud of. Sarah Lovelock reports.

Wedding bells are ringing for a travelling family in Kessingland after months of illness and suffering.

The Bride and Bridegroom to be Susie Davis and Jimmy Butler

Doreen Davis was admitted to the James Paget Hospital, Gorelston, on New Years Day with pneumonia and is still in hospital. She has only been home for six days in the past three months.
Her husband, William Holland, was later admitted the same day for heart problems and is back in his mobile home after having a pacemaker fitted.
Lifting the spirits of the site is their granddaughter, 20 year-old Susie Davis, who is getting married on Saturday March 28 at 2.30pm at Kessingland Church.
Susie said: “My grandma Doreen might not be able to make the wedding, she has had her leg amputated from her knee because of diabetes. My granddad is going which is really great as we didn’t think he’d make it.”
Around 200 guests are expected at the silver and white wedding reception at the White Feather Hotel in Great Yarmouth. Susie and her fiancé Jimmy Butler, 19-years-old, from Hereford, have made lots of friends travelling around the country and have large families.
The couple met at a wedding and started dating four years ago.
Jimmy proposed last year over the phone and then again at the Cambridge fair. Jimmy said: “At first she said no but I brought it up again six months later and that’s when she said yes.”
Site manager, Ian Real said: “This wedding will lift the spirits of the site, the Davis family in particular, and it’s good to see some light at the end of the tunnel.”
There will be four bridesmaids as well as two flower girls from the Kessingland site. Susie wants her wedding dress to be a surprise on the day. She said: “I don’t want anyone to know what it looks like but I do want Leona Lewis playing as I walk down the aisle.”

March 24th, 2009 | Tags: Gypsy, Jimmy Butler, Kessingland, Sarah Lovelock, Suffolk, Susie Davis, Traveller, Wedding | Category: Culture, News, What's On | Comments (2)

Hundreds of mourners gathered yesterday in St Helens for the burial of a well-known local Traveller. Travellers from across Britain and Ireland made their way to the borough to pay their last respects to Johnny Doran, who died last week. The 69-year-old’s interment took place on this side of Billinge Hill to allow him to be with his still-born daughter.

Johnny, who was known across the North West, also spent a large amount of time living in St Helens. Survived by his wife of 48 years, Violet Johnny was diagnosed with an aggressive form of stomach cancer at Christmas.

Daughter Bernadette said: “He was a big, big man in so many ways and it was heartbreaking watching all the body come off him as he fell ill.
“But you would never have known because he was very brave right to the end and never complained, even though he was in pain.

“Just days before he died he was still cracking jokes and he had a pint of two of Guinness as he said his goodbyes.

“Dad had his own seat at The Bowling Green pub and they say that they are going to keep it for him.

“There were many many travellers at the funeral but just as many people from round here as well, because he was respected by a lot of people, not just travellers.”

Johnny made a living exporting used lorry engines and transmissions - many to Ireland for use by travellers.

But he was also very well known among the traveller community as a famed grey hound fancier and courser at unofficial meets organised near caravan sites around the country.

He had lived in travelling caravans for most of his younger life but settled in Formby - he pitched up permanently on land he brought - when his children were born so that they could enjoy an education. Fifteen years ago he built his distinctive “cottage” with its horse head statues on the gates a nod to his roots, when their ‘living vans’ would be horse drawn.

Johnny, a gregarious man with a huge family, had prepared for his funeral and ordered that there wouldn’t be any black vehicles on show.

March 20th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A report released today by the Equality and Human Rights Commission proves that creating more Gypsy and Traveller sites generates income for councils, improves relations with the settled community and provides safe and decent accommodation for Gypsy and Traveller communities. 

The report “Gypsies and Travellers: Simple Solutions for Living Together” says as little as one square mile of land across all of England would be enough to provide all Gypsy and Traveller families with sufficient authorised sites.  There are 93,000 square miles of land in Britain.
But a survey of local councils in the report reveals slow and patchy improvement in the number of authorised sites. It also reveals that councils must double their rate of progress to meet the Government’s 2011 target of providing enough stopping places for Gypsies and Travellers.

Evidence gathered by the Commission shows that well-run, authorised sites can exist in harmony with settled communities. In contrast, unauthorised sites can increase community tensions and are often located in unsafe or unsuitable places lacking basic toilet and waste disposal facilities.

The report finds that authorised site provision also brings economic benefits. Currently, local authorities spend around £18 million a year of council tax payers’ money evicting Gypsies and Travellers from unauthorised sites. These costs could be significantly reduced if councils invest in legitimate sites. 

Investment in such sites could pay for itself over time. In Bristol for example, when authorised sites were developed, eviction costs fell from around £200,000 to £5,000 annually. The Council was also able to collect significant returns in rent, council tax and utility bills from the sites.

Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: 

“Unauthorised encampments do not benefit anybody apart from the lawyers.  Local authorities get tied up in expensive prolonged legal eviction processes, the settled community becomes anxious and the Gypsies and Travellers have to pitch in unsafe, unsanitary sites and lack access to the health and education services that every family needs.

“Everyone has the right to a decent home, whether that’s bricks and mortar or a caravan. For too long, Gypsies and Travellers have not had enough authorised places to stay and have remained at the edges of our communities.

“There is a simple solution to a problem that seems intractable in some parts of England.  One square mile could be all that’s needed.  Our report shows if we work together we can find a practical solution that suits Gypsies and Travellers, local residents and local authorities. We can give all Gypsies and Travellers access to authorised sites while reducing the burden on council tax payers. And most of all, we can provide the basis for safe and pleasant neighbourhoods.”

Gloria Buckley MBE, a Romany Gypsy and manager of three authorised sites says in the report:

“When I started managing one site [Costessey, In Norfolk] things were very rough, with terrible problems between the Gypsies and their neighbours. People said you can’t do it – but we got things in hand and we have made it work. We even got an award for making a contribution towards village life. We are one community – the Travellers and our settled neighbours. We’ve all got something in common: we want our children to be healthy and educated.”

Click here to read the whole report

Unfortunately, however, there are still many within British politics who do not accept such “simple solutions”. In this film, Ann Widdecombe MP and Romany Journalist Jake Bowers battle it out over whether there should be more Gypsy and Traveller sites in South-east England.

March 18th, 2009 | Tags: Equality and Human Rights Commission, Fenland District Council, Gloria Buckley MBE, Gypsies and Travellers, Trevor Phillips | Category: Culture, Debate, Homes, News | Leave a comment

The internet was once a place where Gypsies where attacked without mercy, but it’s recently been used to expose the seedier side of local English politics.

A Tory councillor in Leicestershire is facing criminal charges after he claimed Gypsies would ’stick a knife in you as soon as look at you’ at a packed public meeting. Cllr Robert Fraser also appeared to say that Romany Gypsies made Irish travellers ‘look like complete amateurs’ when it came to fighting.

The 59-year-old made the controversial remarks at a public meeting to discuss proposals to build a new Traveller’s site near the village of Groby in his constituency. But unknown to Cllr Fraser, his speech was filmed and later posted on the internet, where it has been seen by hundreds of viewers.

In the video, Cllr Fraser is asked by a member of the audience about crime levels associated with Gypsy sites. He replied: ‘The Romanians - they’ll stick a knife in you as soon as look at you. There might be some good ones. Forgive me if there are any Romanians here [to which the audience laughed] and hopefully that’s a ‘no’ because I wouldn’t get out of here. I’m a bit slow.’

He also told the audience: ‘By gosh, some of these European ones, they make the Irish look like complete amateurs and I would dread, I would dread, to see them in Groby.’ Hundreds of local residents attended the meeting two months ago to discuss the proposed Travellers’ site.
Now Leicestershire Police are examining the footage to decide whether his comments constitute inciting racial hatred.

Alfred Kefford, chairman of the Leicester Gypsy Council Liaison Group, said: ‘I’m appalled, shocked and disgusted at these comments.
‘They are racist. A lot of damage has been done and seeing these comments on YouTube, of all places, is very, very hurtful. If they were directed at any other ethnic group, there would be a public outcry.’

Dr Ion Jinga, Romanian ambassador to the UK, said Councillor Robert Fraser’s comments were ‘extremely regrettable and totally unfair’.

He said: ‘I would like to remind people that Romanians are citizens of the European Union, like the British people are. Romanians living in the UK are, in an overwhelming majority, highly skilled, hard workers and respectful to the laws, just as the few thousands of British citizens living in Romania are.’

Cllr Fraser has apologised and said saying he regretted the ’spur of the moment’ comments but added that he was not aware the meeting was being filmed and refused to resign.

He said: ‘There was no intent on my part to introduce any racist element into the meeting, but I accept I may have allowed my judgement to become momentarily clouded. I don’t regard myself as a racist in any way.’

March 17th, 2009 | Tags: Alfie kefford, Cllr Robert Fraser, Groby, Gypsy, leicestershire, Traveller site | Category: News, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Sunday is International Women’s Day. Watch this film and feel proud of your wife, mother, sister and daughters.

I’m a Roma Woman, I’m a European Woman, I’m a Woman

The Romedia Foundation, a Budapest-based civil organization (www.mundiromani.com), and Amnesty International (www.amnesty.hu) initiated a video campaign on Roma women with the support of Duna Television (www.dunatv.hu) and the Decade of Roma Inclusion (www.romadecade.org).

The 4-minute spot, produced for International Women’s Day 2009, features flashes of the personal history of five Roma human rights activists from all over Europe along with footage from Roma settlements across the continent. In these times of crisis, as social cohesion is greatly endangered by the multiplication of acts of extreme violence against Roma in Hungary and elsewhere, the campaign exhorts the public to respect Roma in all their complexity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3zhBvPn34o

A 30-second Hungarian version of the spot is being screened from 6th to 10th March 2009 on hundreds of public screens across Hungary.

Directed by Csaba Farkas and Katalin Bársony

Music by Babos Project Romani

Lyrics by Ágnes Daróczi

March 6th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

In some of Britain’s prisons, Gypsies and Travellers make up 5% to 10% of those currently living behind bars, yet only 0.5% of the British population. John James is a young Gypsy man who represents his community on the inside.

Gypsies and Travellers make up to 10% of the population of some prisons and youth offending institutions

Since being at HMPYOI Reading I’ve had to change my lifestyle. On the outside as I was free to come and go as I pleased to not be stuck behind four great walls.

However I have adapted to the rules and regulations of HMP Reading as it’s the easiest way to do your time and to get enhanced. A Gypsy or a Traveller is used to their freedom and on enhanced you sort of get that more than what someone would do if on a lower regime.

My experience of HMP Reading for the time I’ve been here has been good. I’ve got on well with all staff. I’ve been treated the same way as I would expect any other person to be treated with a same or different background from what I have, as we are no different to them.

For Gypsy & Travellers on their first time in jail, is good for another Gypsy Traveller to go and see them. I’m a Rep, so I go to have a chat with them. I see how they are as they can talk to someone from their own kind because I understand them more than someone who aint! And probably they would prefer that, as I would of on my first night in jail. It’s a big step down from what they are used to.

I know if I want help at HMP Reading I can get it, some others don’t ask and that’s not right. If you need something you ask.
Gypsy & Travellers find it harder behind great walls, as a Rep I will help Gypsy & Travellers adapt because I understand them more.

J.James

With thanks to Andrea Miller, Race Equality and Diversity Manager at HMYOI Reading

February 27th, 2009 | Tags: Gypsy and Traveller, HMYOI Reading, John James, Prison | Category: Culture, Debate, Law | Comments (1)