From the Coventry Telegraph
VILLAGERS refusing to quit a protest camp set up after Gypsies moved onto greenbelt in Meriden claim they’ve been warned they could face a £20,000 fine – or jail.
Solihull Borough Council has rejected a call by Residents Against Inappropriate Development (RAID) to let them stay at their Eaves Green Lane site until March 2013.
Instead, the council has voted for legal action against the protesters – despite giving Gypsies until that date to move on.
The village campaigners, including many infirm and elderly, say they now face the threat of court action and a maximum £20,000 fine, or even a possible jail term.
The authority could also look into a Dale Farm-style ‘direct action’ demolition of their 824-day camp.
Around 250 protestors have kept up a 24-hour vigil at the site since Travellers arrived during the May Bank Holiday in 2010.
Neither the locals nor the Gypsies have planning permission for their camps, but the Travellers were told they could remain until next March following a High Court battle with Solihull Council.
Now, following a private planning meeting, councillors have voted to prosecute locals who have defied an enforcement notice issued in April to leave their site. The authority says it will consult lawyers before commencing any action.
Yet protesters remained defiant last night – with many stating they are prepared to go to jail for their cause.
RAID chairman David McGrath said: ‘‘The council could have given us the same extra time deal as they gave to the Travellers who don’t live at the site at night but are causing daytime harm to the greenbelt.
see also: The Daily Mail - Villagers face jail after setting up protest camp against Gypsies... while Travellers stay there illegally
The Birmingham Mail - Protestors against Meriden Gypsy camp claim they face £20,000 fines
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
'We're coming' warn Travellers - Kent
From the Paddock Wood Courier
MORE Travellers will pitch up in Paddock Wood unless councils provide space for them elsewhere, the Gypsy Council warned this week.
As Tunbridge Wells Borough Council confessed it had no idea how significant the demand was for Traveller sites, the official representative body for Gypsies said the matter would have to be dealt with urgently.
Gypsy Council secretary Joseph Jones said: "London has a big unmet need, there are nearly 100 sites there, all full, and as there are no plans to provide any more, the overflow of homeless Travellers will be coming to the surrounding areas.
"Gypsy communities grow faster as the families tend to have more children than the general population and, as they grow up, of course they will be looking for somewhere to live."
According to Dr Chris Hinde, a resident who has previously criticised lack of action against Gypsy camps, Paddock Wood suffers because of its location.
He said: "Both Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells borough councils don't seem to know what the other is doing, so we are getting little clusters either side of the boundary, which is now making up a community of caravans."
The issue looming over the town will be discussed by the borough council's planners on Monday when they decide on two applications for Traveller sites in Paddock Wood.
Proposals for two pitches in Pearsons Green Road, and another pitch on land near Five Furlongs in Queen Street, will be discussed by the eastern area planning committee.
Despite recommending they are approved, the planning department has asked a committee of councillors to look at them to see what impact they and similar applications could have on the area.
However, the report into both applications also revealed that due to changing policies, the council was not sure how much need there was for Traveller sites in the borough, and that it was a "work in progress".
Judging by biannual caravan counts, the council said it estimated just six homes – referred to as pitches – were needed in the entire borough.
A council spokeswoman told the Courier: "Pitch targets have not yet been set and are something we will be consulting on in due course."
Mr Jones added that the Gypsy Council was keen to take part in the council consultations on Traveller pitches.
Currently, the borough has just one official Traveller site, at Cinderhill in Matfield, with six pitches.
However, under the approved Core Strategy – a blueprint setting out plans for the borough until 2026 – there are plans to create more.
In May, Dr Hinde was one of a number of campaigners featured in the Courier after pledging to withhold council tax payments amid concerns that Travellers' sites were being built on nearby green belt land without planning permission. The group later backed down.
He said: "The council doesn't seem to see the global picture, what is necessary for Travellers and how they are going to do it.
"They have got to decide where they can stay.
"Also I keep hearing complaints that there seem to be two sets of laws developing, one for residents here and another for Travellers, and then authorities wonder why there is resentment building up."
MORE Travellers will pitch up in Paddock Wood unless councils provide space for them elsewhere, the Gypsy Council warned this week.
As Tunbridge Wells Borough Council confessed it had no idea how significant the demand was for Traveller sites, the official representative body for Gypsies said the matter would have to be dealt with urgently.
Gypsy Council secretary Joseph Jones said: "London has a big unmet need, there are nearly 100 sites there, all full, and as there are no plans to provide any more, the overflow of homeless Travellers will be coming to the surrounding areas.
"Gypsy communities grow faster as the families tend to have more children than the general population and, as they grow up, of course they will be looking for somewhere to live."
According to Dr Chris Hinde, a resident who has previously criticised lack of action against Gypsy camps, Paddock Wood suffers because of its location.
He said: "Both Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells borough councils don't seem to know what the other is doing, so we are getting little clusters either side of the boundary, which is now making up a community of caravans."
The issue looming over the town will be discussed by the borough council's planners on Monday when they decide on two applications for Traveller sites in Paddock Wood.
Proposals for two pitches in Pearsons Green Road, and another pitch on land near Five Furlongs in Queen Street, will be discussed by the eastern area planning committee.
Despite recommending they are approved, the planning department has asked a committee of councillors to look at them to see what impact they and similar applications could have on the area.
However, the report into both applications also revealed that due to changing policies, the council was not sure how much need there was for Traveller sites in the borough, and that it was a "work in progress".
Judging by biannual caravan counts, the council said it estimated just six homes – referred to as pitches – were needed in the entire borough.
A council spokeswoman told the Courier: "Pitch targets have not yet been set and are something we will be consulting on in due course."
Mr Jones added that the Gypsy Council was keen to take part in the council consultations on Traveller pitches.
Currently, the borough has just one official Traveller site, at Cinderhill in Matfield, with six pitches.
However, under the approved Core Strategy – a blueprint setting out plans for the borough until 2026 – there are plans to create more.
In May, Dr Hinde was one of a number of campaigners featured in the Courier after pledging to withhold council tax payments amid concerns that Travellers' sites were being built on nearby green belt land without planning permission. The group later backed down.
He said: "The council doesn't seem to see the global picture, what is necessary for Travellers and how they are going to do it.
"They have got to decide where they can stay.
"Also I keep hearing complaints that there seem to be two sets of laws developing, one for residents here and another for Travellers, and then authorities wonder why there is resentment building up."
Plan to sell Travellers sites in West Sussex
From the Argus
Council officials plan to privatise their Traveller sites.
West Sussex County Council is to begin consultation into proposals to sell off 113 plots for Gypsies or Travellers that it currently owns.
The ten sites had been costing the council £150,000 a year until a recent restructuring of the system which reduced costs by two-thirds.
They could be taken over by another local authority, housing association, community group or even a private firm.
Traveller groups argued that current residents at the site should get first option of a right-to-buy on their pitches.
They also said that the move was likely to be unpopular among the Traveller community and that they feared rents would rise under new owners.
It is thought that the council is ideally looking for one organisation to take on all ten sites.
Last night a council spokesman said that due to commercial sensitivity the amount of money anticipated to be raised from the sale would not be released.
The council believes the proposal is viable after meeting with six interested organisations to discuss how they would run and manage the sites.
Traveller groups and councils will be consulted on the plans over the next two months and further work will be carried out with interested parties.
The results of the consultation will be revealed at a council meeting on September 27.
Maggie Smith-Bendell, a Romany Gypsy liaison officer and National Federation of Gypsy Liaison Groups member, said Travellers should be given the opportunity to buy the pitches before they were offered to another company.
She said: “They should be offered in the same way as council houses and I think you would see the appearance of the sites improve because people would have pride in their own property.
“Travellers will be afraid to speak out against the proposals because they are worried that they will have a black mark against them and will become homeless.
“These companies will be looking to make a profit and many of these sites will need money invested in them and so the money will have to be raked back from somewhere.
Council officials plan to privatise their Traveller sites.
West Sussex County Council is to begin consultation into proposals to sell off 113 plots for Gypsies or Travellers that it currently owns.
The ten sites had been costing the council £150,000 a year until a recent restructuring of the system which reduced costs by two-thirds.
They could be taken over by another local authority, housing association, community group or even a private firm.
Traveller groups argued that current residents at the site should get first option of a right-to-buy on their pitches.
They also said that the move was likely to be unpopular among the Traveller community and that they feared rents would rise under new owners.
It is thought that the council is ideally looking for one organisation to take on all ten sites.
Last night a council spokesman said that due to commercial sensitivity the amount of money anticipated to be raised from the sale would not be released.
The council believes the proposal is viable after meeting with six interested organisations to discuss how they would run and manage the sites.
Traveller groups and councils will be consulted on the plans over the next two months and further work will be carried out with interested parties.
The results of the consultation will be revealed at a council meeting on September 27.
Maggie Smith-Bendell, a Romany Gypsy liaison officer and National Federation of Gypsy Liaison Groups member, said Travellers should be given the opportunity to buy the pitches before they were offered to another company.
She said: “They should be offered in the same way as council houses and I think you would see the appearance of the sites improve because people would have pride in their own property.
“Travellers will be afraid to speak out against the proposals because they are worried that they will have a black mark against them and will become homeless.
“These companies will be looking to make a profit and many of these sites will need money invested in them and so the money will have to be raked back from somewhere.
Torfaen football club cries foul in Gypsy site expansion plan
From the South Wales Argus
A JUNIOR football club in Pontypool could be given a new playing field as part of proposals for a £3.6 million expansion of a Gypsy and Traveller site, but claim they are being “held over a barrel” about the plans.
Race Junior Football Club have been battling for a designated safe football pitch since 1997 when Torfaen council closed their local pitch due to subsidence.
As part of the council’s proposals for the expansion of the existing Gypsy site based around the Shepherd’s Hill site in Cwmynyscoy, the former pitch, which subsided due to past industrial use, could be used to accommodate further caravan pitches.
A replacement playing field and facilities would also be created for Race FC under the proposals, but people involved with the junior football teams say they feel under pressure as they can have a new pitch only if the Gypsy site expansion goes ahead.
Currently the junior teams play next to Race Social Club on an unmarked field, which has no changing room facilities or floodlights.
Chairman of Race Junior FC, Dai Coslett, said: “The council is dangling a carrot on a stick for us.
“But as far as I’m concerned if a pitch has been identified for us we should have it regardless of what happens to the gipsy site.
“We’ve been waiting 15 years for a football pitch, but it’s not the answer to be held over a barrel.
“Our original pitch has just been sat there and now it can be made safe, but not for us.
“Four caravans have recently appeared on the small pitch the juniors currently play on so now there’s nowhere for them to train until the caravans move on.
“Our disabled team are having to train down in Cwmbran by the boating lake.”
Mark Williams, a coach at the club, added: “I understand the plight of the Gypsies but we have a problem of our own having nowhere for the kids to train.
“We are being treated unfairly.
“We’re in a catch 22 situation and are being held to ransom as a football club.
“The only reason we will be getting funding is because of the Gypsies. It’s a bit naughty really.”
A spokesman for Torfaen council said: “We are in active discussions with the club and have identified a potential site as part of our gipsy traveller proposals.
“The proposals are not totally dependent on each other, however there are potential funding opportunities to finance the new football field which we would look to explore.”
A JUNIOR football club in Pontypool could be given a new playing field as part of proposals for a £3.6 million expansion of a Gypsy and Traveller site, but claim they are being “held over a barrel” about the plans.
Race Junior Football Club have been battling for a designated safe football pitch since 1997 when Torfaen council closed their local pitch due to subsidence.
As part of the council’s proposals for the expansion of the existing Gypsy site based around the Shepherd’s Hill site in Cwmynyscoy, the former pitch, which subsided due to past industrial use, could be used to accommodate further caravan pitches.
A replacement playing field and facilities would also be created for Race FC under the proposals, but people involved with the junior football teams say they feel under pressure as they can have a new pitch only if the Gypsy site expansion goes ahead.
Currently the junior teams play next to Race Social Club on an unmarked field, which has no changing room facilities or floodlights.
Chairman of Race Junior FC, Dai Coslett, said: “The council is dangling a carrot on a stick for us.
“But as far as I’m concerned if a pitch has been identified for us we should have it regardless of what happens to the gipsy site.
“We’ve been waiting 15 years for a football pitch, but it’s not the answer to be held over a barrel.
“Our original pitch has just been sat there and now it can be made safe, but not for us.
“Four caravans have recently appeared on the small pitch the juniors currently play on so now there’s nowhere for them to train until the caravans move on.
“Our disabled team are having to train down in Cwmbran by the boating lake.”
Mark Williams, a coach at the club, added: “I understand the plight of the Gypsies but we have a problem of our own having nowhere for the kids to train.
“We are being treated unfairly.
“We’re in a catch 22 situation and are being held to ransom as a football club.
“The only reason we will be getting funding is because of the Gypsies. It’s a bit naughty really.”
A spokesman for Torfaen council said: “We are in active discussions with the club and have identified a potential site as part of our gipsy traveller proposals.
“The proposals are not totally dependent on each other, however there are potential funding opportunities to finance the new football field which we would look to explore.”
Scheme supporting Gypsies and Travellers gets council grant - Bucks
From the Bucks Herald
Funding has been awarded to a project supporting Gypsies and Travellers in Aylesbury Vale by a council scheme.
A grant for £700 has been given to Parents and Children Together by the Aylesbury Community Chest to support Gypsies and Travellers who have housing related needs, are homeless or live in unsuitable accommodation.
The project also provides support in areas including substance misuse and domestic abuse.
Funding cuts meant it faced scaling back the service, but the grant means Gypsies and Travellers will continue to receive the specialist support.
Philip Cook, the project’s housing and homelessness manager, said: “This project provides valuable support to a community which is often marginalised and misunderstood.
“This specialist and culturally sensitive service is really important for Gypsies and Travellers to ensure they get the support they need to access safe, secure and suitable housing.
“I’d like to thank Aylesbury Vale Community Chest for providing the funding which allows us to continue this service.”
The Community Chest is run by Aylesbury Vale District Council and the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust.
Funding has been awarded to a project supporting Gypsies and Travellers in Aylesbury Vale by a council scheme.
A grant for £700 has been given to Parents and Children Together by the Aylesbury Community Chest to support Gypsies and Travellers who have housing related needs, are homeless or live in unsuitable accommodation.
The project also provides support in areas including substance misuse and domestic abuse.
Funding cuts meant it faced scaling back the service, but the grant means Gypsies and Travellers will continue to receive the specialist support.
Philip Cook, the project’s housing and homelessness manager, said: “This project provides valuable support to a community which is often marginalised and misunderstood.
“This specialist and culturally sensitive service is really important for Gypsies and Travellers to ensure they get the support they need to access safe, secure and suitable housing.
“I’d like to thank Aylesbury Vale Community Chest for providing the funding which allows us to continue this service.”
The Community Chest is run by Aylesbury Vale District Council and the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust.
Parish council told of plans for official Travellers' site - Cornwall
From the West Briton
MORE details have emerged of a potential official site for Travellers in the Coverack area.
They came at Thursday's St Keverne Parish Council meeting when there was also concern voiced that the parish could become "a hub" for Travellers.
The remarks came after it was revealed that a group of Travellers has moved onto the Dean quarry site.
The parish has previously taken issue with the presence of a separate group of Travellers' at a car park in Coverack and for a time on one of the approaches to St Keverne.
Members were told of plans for six permanent pitches and two temporary ones if an official site is approved.
The meeting also heard that negotiations were taking place with Cornwall Council as part of an overall scheme for Travellers and affordable housing in the village.
But the exact location is not yet being divulged for fear of attracting more Travellers to the area.
Earlier in the meeting, Councillor Anthony Richards said Travellers in vans and tents had moved into the former Dean quarry site.
He said: "Presumably they will be evicted in due course," but he also believed the council should make sure the landowners were aware of the situation.
"We should really push Cornwall Council into completing its Travellers' site within the parish."
Councillor Roger Combe questioned how the Travellers had got onto both the car park site a few years ago and now the Dean quarry location.
Councillor Dorothy Kemp said a lot of people living near the quarry site were concerned.
Councillor Bill Frisken also pointed out there had been gates at Dean quarry.
"It would appear Travellers generally have got wind of the fact there are going to be sites provided in this region," he said. "St Keverne is going to become a hub for travellers."
MORE details have emerged of a potential official site for Travellers in the Coverack area.
They came at Thursday's St Keverne Parish Council meeting when there was also concern voiced that the parish could become "a hub" for Travellers.
The remarks came after it was revealed that a group of Travellers has moved onto the Dean quarry site.
The parish has previously taken issue with the presence of a separate group of Travellers' at a car park in Coverack and for a time on one of the approaches to St Keverne.
Members were told of plans for six permanent pitches and two temporary ones if an official site is approved.
The meeting also heard that negotiations were taking place with Cornwall Council as part of an overall scheme for Travellers and affordable housing in the village.
But the exact location is not yet being divulged for fear of attracting more Travellers to the area.
Earlier in the meeting, Councillor Anthony Richards said Travellers in vans and tents had moved into the former Dean quarry site.
He said: "Presumably they will be evicted in due course," but he also believed the council should make sure the landowners were aware of the situation.
"We should really push Cornwall Council into completing its Travellers' site within the parish."
Councillor Roger Combe questioned how the Travellers had got onto both the car park site a few years ago and now the Dean quarry location.
Councillor Dorothy Kemp said a lot of people living near the quarry site were concerned.
Councillor Bill Frisken also pointed out there had been gates at Dean quarry.
"It would appear Travellers generally have got wind of the fact there are going to be sites provided in this region," he said. "St Keverne is going to become a hub for travellers."
Moves to evict camp from development site - Devon
From the Plymouth Herald
TRAVELLERS have pitched up illegally at a disused sports ground in Beacon Park.
Five caravans and other vehicles set up camp at the old Civil Service Sports Club off Recreation Road on Sunday.
Similar camps have been moved on from Central Park and Derriford in the past three weeks.
Redrow, which owns the land, is taking legal action to evict the trespassers.
Keith Annis, Redrow South West planning director, said: "We have alerted the local council to the trespassers and have also been in touch with local police who are monitoring the situation. In addition, we have been in touch with a number of neighbours to let them know that we are taking legal action to deal with it.
"We recently held a public exhibition to show what could be developed on the site and following further discussions with the council we are now advancing these plans. This will allow us to implement a permanent solution to benefit residents and prevent future problems like the one we are currently experiencing."
The firm said the gates had been broken open, having been closed and locked prior to the arrival of the Travellers.
Beacon Park residents have complained to the council and police, saying dogs have been allowed to run wild from the site.
A woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "The dog are running around in the road and messing on the grass, barking all night."
Plymouth City Council deals with around 25 illegal encampments every year, partly because there are no organised transit sites in Plymouth.
When on private land, it is up to the owners to take legal action.
Strict legal guidelines mean each unauthorised encampment can take between ten days and four weeks to evict. The only permanent Gypsy and Traveller camp in the city is at The Ride, next to Chelson Meadow.
TRAVELLERS have pitched up illegally at a disused sports ground in Beacon Park.
Five caravans and other vehicles set up camp at the old Civil Service Sports Club off Recreation Road on Sunday.
Similar camps have been moved on from Central Park and Derriford in the past three weeks.
Redrow, which owns the land, is taking legal action to evict the trespassers.
Keith Annis, Redrow South West planning director, said: "We have alerted the local council to the trespassers and have also been in touch with local police who are monitoring the situation. In addition, we have been in touch with a number of neighbours to let them know that we are taking legal action to deal with it.
"We recently held a public exhibition to show what could be developed on the site and following further discussions with the council we are now advancing these plans. This will allow us to implement a permanent solution to benefit residents and prevent future problems like the one we are currently experiencing."
The firm said the gates had been broken open, having been closed and locked prior to the arrival of the Travellers.
Beacon Park residents have complained to the council and police, saying dogs have been allowed to run wild from the site.
A woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "The dog are running around in the road and messing on the grass, barking all night."
Plymouth City Council deals with around 25 illegal encampments every year, partly because there are no organised transit sites in Plymouth.
When on private land, it is up to the owners to take legal action.
Strict legal guidelines mean each unauthorised encampment can take between ten days and four weeks to evict. The only permanent Gypsy and Traveller camp in the city is at The Ride, next to Chelson Meadow.
Self-styled, settled saviour - Thelma's Gypsy Girls
From http://politico.ie
It’s the silly season. During July and August, the standard of tripe churned out in TV-land becomes unbearable. You would imagine our friends in Channel 4, as an alternative to the Olympics, would be using this opportunity to develop a new audience. Is this their intent with “Thelma’s Gypsy Girls”? By Rosaleen McDonagh.
Is reality TV the mirror that we see our reflection in? Distorted; tacky; unbalanced and poorly edited in a salacious fashion. Is reality TV a version of ourselves satellited back to its viewer via settled media and editorial diktat. My understanding of documentaries is that they should educate, inform, be interesting and tell a narrative where the vulnerable become strong and empowered during the course of the storyline – “empowered” being the key word.
Thelma’s Gypsy girls are supposed to be empowered by a settled woman giving them a job. A job in which they’re ridiculed on television in a multi-dimensional way. Class, ethnicity, cultural vulnerability and educational disadvantage are all key factors in negating an accurate representation of Traveller beoirs.. Social solidarity amongst women should not be about a rich businesswoman employing Traveller girls to teach them a trade. It’s the archetypal story of philanthropic posturing. The settled white woman knows best. The settled white woman will dictate and demand you aspire to her standards. The settled white woman can demean and denigrate with just one word . Calling them “love” in that false, familiar, patronising tone. The beoirs are grateful for the opportunity because other avenues of employment, training or education aren’t always open to them. This settled fairy godmother can wave her wand but unfortunately can’t wave away her own racism and sense of self righteousness.
This woman, Thelma Madine, wants to “give something back” to our community , the Traveller community. This is her mantra throughout the series. She built a business and made a living out of dressmaking; her niche market is Traveller beoirs’ wedding dresses.
The programme is a spinoff of Channel 4’s “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding”. Not only is it difficult to watch. I struggle to have something remotely positive to say about this. Being a Traveller woman of a certain age who has benefitted from third level education, it is not my intention to undermine, sneer, laugh or criticise young beoirs for the choices they make. Universal globalisation means television is more accessible and more aspirational for most young people. Why shouldn’t they want to be on television? The world is changing; traditions and cultural norms are patterns. Some of the old sequins get pulled off. Some of the new diamonds are too shiny and big for the thread to stitch them together. So you end up with a fabric that often is a mismatch for the dimantes. Yet the strong thread of tradition will bring a needle to a new fabric where consciousness and politicisation are swapped for the shiny sequins that eventually will fall off any dress. Our culture is sturdy. We, as women, are strong. We’re custodians of our culture. The programme, like all programmes about us, makes a definite attempt to portray us as victims, subordinates and unintelligent. Of course, we’re all subordinate to Thelma, for without her we’d have no needle, no thread and she’d have no need to make pretty dresses.
Before speculating on Thelma’s motivations for “giving something back to the community”, we,, as Travellers are supposed to be benefactors of her generosity, arrogance and her self indulgence. Other questions need to be asked. Would Channel 4 commission a programme like this involving young Asian women or Muslim women? Would the exoticisation be so overt? Maybe not, but the difference is that members of the Asian and Muslim communities have some power or space in the media. Travellers don’t. Thirty or more years ago, Asian women in Britain did push their way through the glass ceiling by way of education, business and media. Not many, a few. The history of Asian women in Britain obtaining second and third level education is short and recent. Nonetheless, it’s there as a reference and as a marker of change within the community. A marker to outsiders, in this particular case, the media. The filtering effect : our community has yet to experience that breakthrough. So, the power and influence to call a halt or to take these programme makers to task are tiresome and often vacuous. We’re talking to ourselves.
Thelma, the self-styled saviour of Traveller women, is putting her own money into a business where she intends to provide Traveller girls with the possibility of becoming seamstresses. Intentions often get played out in a very ugly, nasty way. People with good intentions often have huge egos. There lies the problem. The opening sequence portrays a huge contrast between Thelma’s five-bedroom house with swimming pool to the young Travellers being picked up from a halting site in Merseyside. Her own daughter, a precocious five- or six-year-old, goes to a private school with a boater hat, blazer, brown leather satchel and a good lunch. The programme, in its voyeuristic, insensitive way, highlights the fact that few of the beoirs, apart from one, has had much education.
Thelma’s ego encompasses everything about her when she says, “I’ve worked with these people, Travellers, for 15 years. I know all there is to know. The families trust me.” 25 years ago, that’s how nuns and social workers spoke about us and to us. Like Thelma’s Gypsy girls, we were used and, in some cases, still are used as commodities. Commodities for Channel 4 to revitalise reality TV for the silly season now that Big Brother has moved to a different station. Commodities for Thelma’s ego, while she promotes her business. Commodities aren’t just the shiny sequins on the dresses that she’s made a good living out of but the young beoirs are like shiny dolls that she’s playing with.
The programme doesn’t even have a vague veneer of liberalism to it. Instead, it’s controlling, demeaning and insulting. As if Thelma has taken it on herself to correct and encourage. Then she expects Traveller beoirs to emulate settled women. The sad part of the programme was when one of the participants, Bridgie, an English Traveller who had done her GCSEs, talked about the racism she experienced while in school. “They tell me I live in a dustbin.” - was a remark that she had received from settled peers.
While the other Traveller girls were ganging up on Bridgie, Thelma –the adult- said, “She’s doing herself no favours by not being one of the girls.” Bridgie, a shy, quiet young beoir didn’t want to wear a short, sequinned tutu skirt - “My family don’t do that.” Again, Thelma laughed when Bridgie’s mother insisted that there was a Traveller chaperone rather than a settled chaperone going to a ‘Moulin Rouge party’ with the young people. Bridgie left the party early; the settled environment, to her, wasn’t that glamorous or exciting. In fact, it seemed dangerous and threatening, which mirrored Bridgie’s experience of going to school.
Any room for difference or diversity among the girls was laughed at. The mantra that all women are different isn’t afforded to Traveller women. The outsider, the settled gaze, cultivates the notion that culture means homogeneity. Diversity or individuality, while adhering to cultural norms, is far too complicated for telly-land.
Again this type of racism is the catalyst for the programme when Thelma’s workers, in particular her own daughter, the older one, talk about how difficult it is having to “share a workspace with Travellers”. Another one of Thelma’s settled workers says, “Most of the Traveller girls have hygiene problems and you just can’t tell them”. A third employee says, “They’re always looking for a fight and I’d prefer not to eat my lunch with them.”
This line reminded me of the experience that a female cousin of mine had 20 years ago when, in a training centre for Traveller women run by nuns. The curriculum was based on hygiene, sewing, cleaning and cooking. Assimilation at its worst and rehabilitation at its poorest. There were separate cups and toilets for Travellers. Not just because they were trainees, but there’s always an element that somehow our ethnicity needs to be contained because it just might be contagious. This is the hidden story of Irish Travellers of my generation. Training and education was always compounded with a good dose of racist ideology. My cousin lasted two days and made sure to break every cup in that building before she left.
Spinoffs, clichés, stereotypes and recycling of bad TV, that’s really what summer television is about. It’s there in the background but no one really watches it. The churning out of Thelma’s generosity is almost too much to stomach. I do hope the young beoirs get something more than their 15 minutes of fame or how to thread a bobbin on a sewing machine. Sewing, as an alternative to education, not just gender stereotyping but also sustains low expectations among the community. It also gives women like Thelma a sense of authority through her unwanted kindness. This programme is not about settled women helping Traveller women. Unfortunately, it’s about a settled bully who thinks her behaviour towards Traveller women is presented in a veneer of goodwill.
It’s the silly season. During July and August, the standard of tripe churned out in TV-land becomes unbearable. You would imagine our friends in Channel 4, as an alternative to the Olympics, would be using this opportunity to develop a new audience. Is this their intent with “Thelma’s Gypsy Girls”? By Rosaleen McDonagh.
Is reality TV the mirror that we see our reflection in? Distorted; tacky; unbalanced and poorly edited in a salacious fashion. Is reality TV a version of ourselves satellited back to its viewer via settled media and editorial diktat. My understanding of documentaries is that they should educate, inform, be interesting and tell a narrative where the vulnerable become strong and empowered during the course of the storyline – “empowered” being the key word.
Thelma’s Gypsy girls are supposed to be empowered by a settled woman giving them a job. A job in which they’re ridiculed on television in a multi-dimensional way. Class, ethnicity, cultural vulnerability and educational disadvantage are all key factors in negating an accurate representation of Traveller beoirs.. Social solidarity amongst women should not be about a rich businesswoman employing Traveller girls to teach them a trade. It’s the archetypal story of philanthropic posturing. The settled white woman knows best. The settled white woman will dictate and demand you aspire to her standards. The settled white woman can demean and denigrate with just one word . Calling them “love” in that false, familiar, patronising tone. The beoirs are grateful for the opportunity because other avenues of employment, training or education aren’t always open to them. This settled fairy godmother can wave her wand but unfortunately can’t wave away her own racism and sense of self righteousness.
This woman, Thelma Madine, wants to “give something back” to our community , the Traveller community. This is her mantra throughout the series. She built a business and made a living out of dressmaking; her niche market is Traveller beoirs’ wedding dresses.
The programme is a spinoff of Channel 4’s “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding”. Not only is it difficult to watch. I struggle to have something remotely positive to say about this. Being a Traveller woman of a certain age who has benefitted from third level education, it is not my intention to undermine, sneer, laugh or criticise young beoirs for the choices they make. Universal globalisation means television is more accessible and more aspirational for most young people. Why shouldn’t they want to be on television? The world is changing; traditions and cultural norms are patterns. Some of the old sequins get pulled off. Some of the new diamonds are too shiny and big for the thread to stitch them together. So you end up with a fabric that often is a mismatch for the dimantes. Yet the strong thread of tradition will bring a needle to a new fabric where consciousness and politicisation are swapped for the shiny sequins that eventually will fall off any dress. Our culture is sturdy. We, as women, are strong. We’re custodians of our culture. The programme, like all programmes about us, makes a definite attempt to portray us as victims, subordinates and unintelligent. Of course, we’re all subordinate to Thelma, for without her we’d have no needle, no thread and she’d have no need to make pretty dresses.
Before speculating on Thelma’s motivations for “giving something back to the community”, we,, as Travellers are supposed to be benefactors of her generosity, arrogance and her self indulgence. Other questions need to be asked. Would Channel 4 commission a programme like this involving young Asian women or Muslim women? Would the exoticisation be so overt? Maybe not, but the difference is that members of the Asian and Muslim communities have some power or space in the media. Travellers don’t. Thirty or more years ago, Asian women in Britain did push their way through the glass ceiling by way of education, business and media. Not many, a few. The history of Asian women in Britain obtaining second and third level education is short and recent. Nonetheless, it’s there as a reference and as a marker of change within the community. A marker to outsiders, in this particular case, the media. The filtering effect : our community has yet to experience that breakthrough. So, the power and influence to call a halt or to take these programme makers to task are tiresome and often vacuous. We’re talking to ourselves.
Thelma, the self-styled saviour of Traveller women, is putting her own money into a business where she intends to provide Traveller girls with the possibility of becoming seamstresses. Intentions often get played out in a very ugly, nasty way. People with good intentions often have huge egos. There lies the problem. The opening sequence portrays a huge contrast between Thelma’s five-bedroom house with swimming pool to the young Travellers being picked up from a halting site in Merseyside. Her own daughter, a precocious five- or six-year-old, goes to a private school with a boater hat, blazer, brown leather satchel and a good lunch. The programme, in its voyeuristic, insensitive way, highlights the fact that few of the beoirs, apart from one, has had much education.
Thelma’s ego encompasses everything about her when she says, “I’ve worked with these people, Travellers, for 15 years. I know all there is to know. The families trust me.” 25 years ago, that’s how nuns and social workers spoke about us and to us. Like Thelma’s Gypsy girls, we were used and, in some cases, still are used as commodities. Commodities for Channel 4 to revitalise reality TV for the silly season now that Big Brother has moved to a different station. Commodities for Thelma’s ego, while she promotes her business. Commodities aren’t just the shiny sequins on the dresses that she’s made a good living out of but the young beoirs are like shiny dolls that she’s playing with.
The programme doesn’t even have a vague veneer of liberalism to it. Instead, it’s controlling, demeaning and insulting. As if Thelma has taken it on herself to correct and encourage. Then she expects Traveller beoirs to emulate settled women. The sad part of the programme was when one of the participants, Bridgie, an English Traveller who had done her GCSEs, talked about the racism she experienced while in school. “They tell me I live in a dustbin.” - was a remark that she had received from settled peers.
While the other Traveller girls were ganging up on Bridgie, Thelma –the adult- said, “She’s doing herself no favours by not being one of the girls.” Bridgie, a shy, quiet young beoir didn’t want to wear a short, sequinned tutu skirt - “My family don’t do that.” Again, Thelma laughed when Bridgie’s mother insisted that there was a Traveller chaperone rather than a settled chaperone going to a ‘Moulin Rouge party’ with the young people. Bridgie left the party early; the settled environment, to her, wasn’t that glamorous or exciting. In fact, it seemed dangerous and threatening, which mirrored Bridgie’s experience of going to school.
Any room for difference or diversity among the girls was laughed at. The mantra that all women are different isn’t afforded to Traveller women. The outsider, the settled gaze, cultivates the notion that culture means homogeneity. Diversity or individuality, while adhering to cultural norms, is far too complicated for telly-land.
Again this type of racism is the catalyst for the programme when Thelma’s workers, in particular her own daughter, the older one, talk about how difficult it is having to “share a workspace with Travellers”. Another one of Thelma’s settled workers says, “Most of the Traveller girls have hygiene problems and you just can’t tell them”. A third employee says, “They’re always looking for a fight and I’d prefer not to eat my lunch with them.”
This line reminded me of the experience that a female cousin of mine had 20 years ago when, in a training centre for Traveller women run by nuns. The curriculum was based on hygiene, sewing, cleaning and cooking. Assimilation at its worst and rehabilitation at its poorest. There were separate cups and toilets for Travellers. Not just because they were trainees, but there’s always an element that somehow our ethnicity needs to be contained because it just might be contagious. This is the hidden story of Irish Travellers of my generation. Training and education was always compounded with a good dose of racist ideology. My cousin lasted two days and made sure to break every cup in that building before she left.
Spinoffs, clichés, stereotypes and recycling of bad TV, that’s really what summer television is about. It’s there in the background but no one really watches it. The churning out of Thelma’s generosity is almost too much to stomach. I do hope the young beoirs get something more than their 15 minutes of fame or how to thread a bobbin on a sewing machine. Sewing, as an alternative to education, not just gender stereotyping but also sustains low expectations among the community. It also gives women like Thelma a sense of authority through her unwanted kindness. This programme is not about settled women helping Traveller women. Unfortunately, it’s about a settled bully who thinks her behaviour towards Traveller women is presented in a veneer of goodwill.
The truth about Thelma's Gypsy girls
From http://tggexposed.blogspot.co.uk
First day
The first day of "work" started disastrously by having to wait half an hour, for a taxi that had already been to pick me up once before. Still the excuse I am given is "I didn't know where the site was". Suspicious much? Supported by the fact that upon arrival I was met by the news, all but one of the other girls were equally as late. Not only that but they were all given the same lame excuse. The only girl on time being Margaret as she gave up waiting and made her own way there. I honestly don't blame her as she was supposed to be picked up by the same taxi as myself, from this I have the knowledge that it only arrived there at 10:25 am. Work was supposed to start at 10:00 am. This raises the question, how could she, along with all of the girls have possibly made it to the factory on time? The first of many, not so subtle, dramatised set ups.
When all of the girls had arrived we were made to line up against the wall like the Primary children Miss Madine assumes us to be. While Leanne takes the opportunity to have a good laugh at the girls' expense, simply because they have a can of Red Bull, and some of their style choices aren't what she deems appropriate for a first day of work. Firstly, I would like to question the humorous aspects of drinking a can of Red Bull early in the morning. I know many teenagers, Travellers and Gorjers a-like that drink it as a pick me up, it is an energy so therefore it is serving its purpose. Secondly, I would like to point out that each and every girl received a phone call from the film crew, requesting them to dress their best for their first day of work. Only the girls that hadn't been in a place of work before listened to their vague dress code. I for one thought it pretty cruel of them, it is uncomfortable enough feeling out of place, on your first day of work without the dreaded feeling of being overdressed.
Once the floor had been set up into the crews' liking, we were positioned, repositioned, and then repositioned again. The staff took turns introducing themselves and what they do before Thelma took her turn to step up. One of the first things to leave her lips was none of the colleges in the area will let us take up a course or attend the college because "...you are Travellers and no one trusts you...". Clearly a lovely nugget of inaccurate gold to pass on to your newly hired "apprentices". She then went on to remind us of the rules and various other information. Immediately taking this opportunity to alienate me by saying I am the most "experienced" and most "educated", being neither subtle or phrasing it softly. As if that wasn't enough she carried on by announcing I would be working on corsets with Yan-Lee. Soon after which she just dismissed the other girls by reason of she hadn't given any thought yet as to which area they would be working in.
Lunchtime arrived and it was clear that Leanne wanted nothing to do with us and didn't want any of the other staff interacting with us either, so she plotted for them all to eat in her design room, with clear disregard for Thelma's rules. Thelma gave merely one attempt to reestablish her authority over her own rule-breaking employees but it was clear she had no control over them, in the coming weeks it became apparent as to why.
Thelma Madine was barely ever at the factory, when she was there she would hide out in the kitchen or the office and not let any of the girls near her unless the cameras were there at the ready. During my ten weeks there I saw Thelma on a sewing machine once for all of five minutes. This was to show Victoria how to do a straight stitch on a piece of scrap material.In fact I was told straight from the horses mouth after I put a zip into a pencil skirt "I can't even put zips in". I didn't learn a thing from her, I was actually put to work on the customers' wedding dresses within a few weeks. The few things I did learn on the "course" I learnt from Thelma's unappreciated workers: Yan-Lee, Stacey, Doll, and Marta. All of whom are of other nationalities, and I got along with them better than most of the other people in that factory where as I didn't see one ounce of respect from Thelma towards them. I would love to know how from this it is Gypsies & Travellers that are "racist" to people that "can't speak English".
First day
The first day of "work" started disastrously by having to wait half an hour, for a taxi that had already been to pick me up once before. Still the excuse I am given is "I didn't know where the site was". Suspicious much? Supported by the fact that upon arrival I was met by the news, all but one of the other girls were equally as late. Not only that but they were all given the same lame excuse. The only girl on time being Margaret as she gave up waiting and made her own way there. I honestly don't blame her as she was supposed to be picked up by the same taxi as myself, from this I have the knowledge that it only arrived there at 10:25 am. Work was supposed to start at 10:00 am. This raises the question, how could she, along with all of the girls have possibly made it to the factory on time? The first of many, not so subtle, dramatised set ups.
When all of the girls had arrived we were made to line up against the wall like the Primary children Miss Madine assumes us to be. While Leanne takes the opportunity to have a good laugh at the girls' expense, simply because they have a can of Red Bull, and some of their style choices aren't what she deems appropriate for a first day of work. Firstly, I would like to question the humorous aspects of drinking a can of Red Bull early in the morning. I know many teenagers, Travellers and Gorjers a-like that drink it as a pick me up, it is an energy so therefore it is serving its purpose. Secondly, I would like to point out that each and every girl received a phone call from the film crew, requesting them to dress their best for their first day of work. Only the girls that hadn't been in a place of work before listened to their vague dress code. I for one thought it pretty cruel of them, it is uncomfortable enough feeling out of place, on your first day of work without the dreaded feeling of being overdressed.
Once the floor had been set up into the crews' liking, we were positioned, repositioned, and then repositioned again. The staff took turns introducing themselves and what they do before Thelma took her turn to step up. One of the first things to leave her lips was none of the colleges in the area will let us take up a course or attend the college because "...you are Travellers and no one trusts you...". Clearly a lovely nugget of inaccurate gold to pass on to your newly hired "apprentices". She then went on to remind us of the rules and various other information. Immediately taking this opportunity to alienate me by saying I am the most "experienced" and most "educated", being neither subtle or phrasing it softly. As if that wasn't enough she carried on by announcing I would be working on corsets with Yan-Lee. Soon after which she just dismissed the other girls by reason of she hadn't given any thought yet as to which area they would be working in.
Lunchtime arrived and it was clear that Leanne wanted nothing to do with us and didn't want any of the other staff interacting with us either, so she plotted for them all to eat in her design room, with clear disregard for Thelma's rules. Thelma gave merely one attempt to reestablish her authority over her own rule-breaking employees but it was clear she had no control over them, in the coming weeks it became apparent as to why.
Thelma Madine was barely ever at the factory, when she was there she would hide out in the kitchen or the office and not let any of the girls near her unless the cameras were there at the ready. During my ten weeks there I saw Thelma on a sewing machine once for all of five minutes. This was to show Victoria how to do a straight stitch on a piece of scrap material.In fact I was told straight from the horses mouth after I put a zip into a pencil skirt "I can't even put zips in". I didn't learn a thing from her, I was actually put to work on the customers' wedding dresses within a few weeks. The few things I did learn on the "course" I learnt from Thelma's unappreciated workers: Yan-Lee, Stacey, Doll, and Marta. All of whom are of other nationalities, and I got along with them better than most of the other people in that factory where as I didn't see one ounce of respect from Thelma towards them. I would love to know how from this it is Gypsies & Travellers that are "racist" to people that "can't speak English".
Traveller exhibition in Burgess Hill - Sussex
From the Mid Sussex Times
TRAVELLERS got lucky third time round when they staged their ‘A Romany Gypsy Traveller History exhibition and show’ in the sunshine at St John’s Park, Burgess Hill.
It was the first time in three attempts rain had not struck at their gathering.
The show should have been held at the Fairfield Fayre in Burgess Hill earlier this year but a soaked ground forced the cancellation.
Lisa Williams, one of the organisers, told the Middy at the park: “Last year we had nothing but rain for four hours and had to stay indoors so it’s nice for us today.”
Travellers stage the event to give people a truer picture of their life. The controversy of Channel 4 programme Big Fat Gypsy Wedding was referred to in a display of the Travellers’ magazine Travellers’ Times with its blunt headline in reply: “A Big Fat Mistake”.
An exhibition told how the term Gypsies first came because people thought the travellers were from Egypt and the word gradually got corrupted. The first travellers were in fact believed to have journied from India to Persia many centuries ago.
As early as 1530 James V of Scotland paid gypsies to dance before him at Holyrood House, and nearly 50 things Travellers did were listed including acrobats, ballad singers, wrestlers and conjurers.
Travellers who died in wars were remembered in a “Those Who Did Not Come Home” display including Samuel Brazil of the Rifle Brigade, who died in May 1918.
Entertainment on Friday included tap dancing by Riley Smith, 15, who featured in Travellers Got Talent on television. The Sussex Travellers’ Action Group organised the event, staged in and outside the cricket pavilion.
TRAVELLERS got lucky third time round when they staged their ‘A Romany Gypsy Traveller History exhibition and show’ in the sunshine at St John’s Park, Burgess Hill.
It was the first time in three attempts rain had not struck at their gathering.
The show should have been held at the Fairfield Fayre in Burgess Hill earlier this year but a soaked ground forced the cancellation.
Lisa Williams, one of the organisers, told the Middy at the park: “Last year we had nothing but rain for four hours and had to stay indoors so it’s nice for us today.”
Travellers stage the event to give people a truer picture of their life. The controversy of Channel 4 programme Big Fat Gypsy Wedding was referred to in a display of the Travellers’ magazine Travellers’ Times with its blunt headline in reply: “A Big Fat Mistake”.
An exhibition told how the term Gypsies first came because people thought the travellers were from Egypt and the word gradually got corrupted. The first travellers were in fact believed to have journied from India to Persia many centuries ago.
As early as 1530 James V of Scotland paid gypsies to dance before him at Holyrood House, and nearly 50 things Travellers did were listed including acrobats, ballad singers, wrestlers and conjurers.
Travellers who died in wars were remembered in a “Those Who Did Not Come Home” display including Samuel Brazil of the Rifle Brigade, who died in May 1918.
Entertainment on Friday included tap dancing by Riley Smith, 15, who featured in Travellers Got Talent on television. The Sussex Travellers’ Action Group organised the event, staged in and outside the cricket pavilion.
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