I feel I need to give you a little back ground to the project and the name.

For many years now certain channels have been making mockumentaries about My Community and other “Traveller” groups.

Which ever “Traveller” or “Roma” community is being talked about, which ever community I recognise on the TV, radio or print, they are always “Gypsies”

Now I get most people don’t understand what my point is…..

Can you imagine a show called my Big English Brides, and the Brides on it were Scottish, Welsh, Irish and American.

Gypsy is not an umbrella term, Gypsy is part of an Ethnic Identity on a group of people who share a history, language and culture. A group of people who are protected under The Race Relations Act.

Traveller is an umbrella term, the term is something Government uses to help them classify a huge number of people and try to put us all together. Similar to the term Asian, the difference being the term Asian only includes people who are Asian and are protected under the Race Relations Act .

Here is a shocker for you… not everyone under the banner “Traveller ” Travels, over 50% of those classified as Travellers live in Bricks and Mortar and a further 25% are settled down on permanent sites.

Only 25% of the “Traveller” population actually Travel all year and that is  because they are officially Homeless.

The Term Traveller includes

Romany Gypsies, Irish Travellers and Scottish Gypsy/Travellers (these are separate and distinct Ethnic Groups)

New (Age) Travellers and Bargees (these are  people from the “Gorja” community who adopt a lifestyle)

Travelling Show People (Fair Ground) and Circus people (these are again these are  people from the “Gorja” community, but travel for work)

The project has invited many people from many of the different backgrounds to be involved. To show the world their heritage, however the responses have been predominately the ethnic Groups.

The project came about from these communities despair at the images they were being assaulted with, mainly the older generations. they felt that the younger generation were beginning to look at the media portrayal and starting to own it. so instead of the media telling a story of a community, the media was in fact shaping the community.

Which leds us here, many chats and focus groups and consultations later we came up with the Proud Gypsy Traveller Project.

We the community wanted to tell OUR story for future generations

We the community wanted to decide what was important, not a albeit very nice but misguided anthropologist  documenting our lives with his own communities coloured glasses on.

We wanted to reclaim our heritage, We wanted to reappropriate our culture and We wanted to present a true Gypsy aesthetic.

Then we wanted to share it with each other and with the rest of society, so it can be seen.

we are so much more than what you think and that we have a right to be #Proud Gypsy Traveller