Spring had thought better of it on the cold windy evening of May 3rd when we welcomed Josie O’Driscoll, CEO of GATE Herts, the membership organisation for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) people across Hertfordshire. Home | Gate Herts
Josie, an Irish Traveller herself, lived a nomadic life in Britain before settling in Hertfordshire in the 90s and has wide experience in GRT matters across Europe, including Gate’s partnership project on the Roma Holocaust memorial in Berlin. She and Kate Belinis, Hertford Soroptimists’ current president, worked together on the pre-schoolers Playbus before GATE was set up in 2010, so they go back some time.
Josie described how there are several different communities of gypsies and travellers: Romany Gypsies, who include English, Welsh and Scottish Gypsies; Irish Travellers, Barge Travellers who live on the canals, as well as New Age Travellers.
Romany Gypsies originate in North East India and are related to Eastern Europe Roma, of whom there are reckoned to be about 300,000 in the UK.
Roma only travel within their own country. Although they now live in caravans they did not do so originally. They are more settled than Irish Travellers, who are indigenous to Ireland and date back to Celtic times, when most people were nomads. No one owned a house and they preferred to stay on the land.
New Age Travellers originated in the squats and counterculture and free festivals of the 1970s, such as Windsor and early Glastonbury.
Language and religion
Gypsies and Travellers speak the language of the country in which they live, as well as their own language. Many Irish Gypsies speak Rom, also known as Romani, which is related to Sanskrit and which in turn is the root of many, but not all, Indian languages, such as Hindi and Bengali. The language of Irish Travellers is related to Gaelic. Romany Gypsies are proud to be called Gypsies but many other communities would rather not be called that.
Irish Travellers are Roman Catholics, while Roma are Evangelists and English Travellers are Protestants. In Eastern Europe, Gypsies and Travellers take the religion of the country where they live.
Origins of GATE
GATE Herts was set up in 2010 with the assistance of Norbert McCabe, Head of the Gypsy & Traveller Section of Hertfordshire County Council, to act as a bridge between the different communities and the authorities since it was recognised that they needed help.
Despite Gypsies and Travellers only making up 1 per cent of the population, they receive a large number of racist attacks, often fuelled by the media. During elections especially they are an easy target.
Only about 10 per cent or 3-4,000 live on the road, the rest live in houses or on developments. But the latter are still part of the traveller community, whether or not they travel. When the children living on local sites grow up they can either stay on the sites, which then become overcrowded, or go on the road. Currently there are only some 300 on-site spaces available, with 1400 families on the waiting list, so many are forced into “bricks and mortar” or may become homeless due to lack of provision. Many traditional stopping places are now closed so people are being driven further into towns, which may cause friction.
Settlements are not illegal, despite what the media says. Nor is pulling in illegal; the only offence is if people refuse to leave when asked (a fine of £2,500 can be imposed if people stay on someone else’s land without permission). People living on the road pay no council tax etc as they don’t receive any services – and don’t have an address to pay from. In Josie O’Driscoll’s view, people have the right to live as they want to live. And under the UN Convention on Human Rights they have the right to travel.
However, if people live on a local authority site they must pay rent and council tax in the normal way. (In Leeds, Gypsies and Travellers pay under contract on land owned by the city council on which it has provided showers etc. The council reckons to have saved £300,000 in one year through not having had to make any evictions.)
Hertfordshire has the largest number of travellers in the country after Kent. The South Mimms site is designed for people coming in and out of the county and although officially they can only stop for 28 days, it is now more like a permanent site. Hertfordshire is better than many other counties. Its sites have good relationships with their tenants, but some are in bad condition having had no maintenance for 40 years (this is now self-funded). On some sites the toilet and laundry outhouses are damp and in poor condition but newer ones are better designed.
Work
In the past Gypsies and Travellers made pots and pans. They also used to collect scrap metal but this is now much harder since it requires a licence. They are very knowledgeable about wildlife and fixing things and do jobs like gardening and tree pruning, but many also own big businesses or are in regular jobs such as teachers, the police and doctors.
Education
20-25 years ago children only went to school 1-2 days a week. Now they are more settled, especially at primary level, while at secondary level they may attend full time. However, schools are not always sympathetic and children may be bullied and can end up being home schooled, but usually only for short periods.
Health etc
Gypsy and Travellers’ traditions may be becoming slightly diluted but they have been around for 1000 years so they will survive. Irish Travellers may marry into Romany Gypsies but some marry out.
Although Gypsy and Traveller communities are close-knit, living on the edge of society takes its toll. It is hard for women and girls to escape domestic violence and some refuges will not take males above the age of 12.
Life expectancy is 10-12 years less than the national average, and Gypsy and Traveller mothers are 20 times more likely than the rest of the population to have experienced the death of a child*.
Mental health is a great problem and the suicide rate is six times higher than the general population, although the younger generation are more open to speaking about such matters.
Addiction is a stigma, although Gypsies and Travellers do access the services of The Living Room. Drugs and divorce etc make the communities unwilling to mix much with the world outside.
Several mental health and other charities work with the communities. These are funded by the National Lottery and by charities such as the Joseph Rowntree Trust.
During the Covid pandemic water provision and many sanitary facilities were closed down. Since these are frequently shared by 20-30 families, social distancing was extremely difficult. Evictions also continued to be carried out, despite this being forbidden by the government.
It is hard for Gypsies, Roma and Travellers to access services but no harder than for other ethnic communities. However, since these communities face more barriers than most when it comes to voting in national elections, the Traveller Movement has launched #OperationTravellerVote to ensure that they are registered to vote and most importantly, have their voices heard during elections, so progress is being made, although it is slow.
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*Jenny and Kate mentioned at a subsequent Club meeting that the Traveller community tends to resist the support offered. Women’s health is a low priority since the family comes first. Gypsies and Travellers don’t register with GPs but prefer to go to A&E. Part of the reason for this, as with other services, is that their addresses immediately show where they live, which encourages stereotyping.