MM1100 16/03/1016/03/10 MM1111www.ey.com/uk/careers www.ey.com/uk/careers

gain five good GCSE passes - the gold-en ticket that represents job opportuni-ties and a living wage.

Few will be aware of this shockingdeprivation. The Travellers’ existence isgenerally perceived as an annoyance.When Iain Wright took up his post asthe Minister for Gypsies and Travellersin 2007, he said, “People feel able totalk about Gypsies and Travellers inone block, as if they could be the devilincarnate.” But speaking to Travellersin York, mostly identifying as EnglishRomany Gypsies, and those who workwith them, it becomes apparent thatMiddle England’s stereotypes are, to nogreat surprise, unfounded.

On visiting York’s Traveller sites, it

is painfully obvious that the squalor oftheir living conditions is a disgrace, andthe authorities held responsible fortheir welfare should be forced to dosomething to remedy the situation. A1998 report by the University of Yorkshowed that the Travellers then facedovercrowding, below average health-care and educational provision, andpolice harassment. According to thelatest report by a team of academicsspeacialising in social justice, nothinghas changed. In fact, the number ofTraveller children regularly attending

Gypsies and Travellers are the lastminority group in our countryagainst whom many feel it’s rea-

sonable, normal and permissible toharbour indiscriminate racism. Afterdecades of education in civil rights,people keep the N-word and the P-word to themselves, but happily launchinto ‘pikey’ and ‘gypo’, and tiradesabout their dirty, criminal lives. It’sseen as acceptable to hold these beliefsbecause they have never been chal-lenged by authorities, and they’ve beenreinforced by a steady slew of local andnational legislation which, since theSecond World War, has sought to robTravellers of their cultural heritage,their means for a good standard of liv-

ing and has driven them to the marginsof society. In these aims our govern-ment and local authorities have experi-enced great success.

The average life expectancy for aTraveller is just 66, 12 years below thenational average, and far behind thoseof Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnicgroups – apparently regarded as themost deprived minority populations inthe UK. Almost one in five Travellermothers will face the trauma of losing achild in their early years, and only onein ten of those that survive will go on to

“The Travellers want to be treated withmore respect by the police. They’re tired ofthem coming in absolutely mob-handedevery time there’s a rumour about drugs.”

Christine, “Job searches and applica-tions, making sure the Travellers arecompliant with the most recent legisla-tion, training, helping with key skillslike money management and budget-ing, and generally getting shouted at bythe Travellers!”

Christine also deals with individ-ual welfare cases, which in the circum-stances of extreme poverty are oftenharrowing: “We had one young familyon the Clifton site. A poor young girlwas living with her family and twoyoung children. The family had a fall-out and she was thrown out with herkids. So this single parent pulled intoan area where they turn the carsaround, not doing anyone any harm.She was then told by the council thatshe would be evicted onto the roadside.What would be the sense in that? It’s along and expensive process to evictsomeone. The Travellers do it becausethey’re desperate for accommodation,not for the fun of it.”

Gary, who worked with Christinefor almost a year in compiling thereport, was cautious about the organi-sation’s future: “The York TravellersTrust’s funding is due to run out in acouple of years. Christine is reallyrespected by the Travellers but theyknow she’s completely overwhelmed. Ifthe local authority took the issue of theTravellers seriously they would putmuch more funding into that organiza-tion, because it’s broadly trusted.”

Christine has headed the Trust forten years now, and as she guidesGeorge, our photographer, and Iaround the James Street site, it’s clearshe has built a hard-earned rapportwith its residents. The site is opposite

been doing. These recent raids on theClifton site were totally disproportion-ate. Drugs aren’t just a problem in theTraveller community but outside too.All the Travellers are tarred with thesame brush when in reality it mightonly be one or two individuals.”

After reading full-page articles inthe York Press on the drug swoops,Gary Craig accused its Editor of racismgiven the complete disregard for theappalling treatment of the Travellers.The Press then published an articlewith a more positive portrayal. ForGary, though, the police handling ofthese issues needs to improve, andquickly: “The Travellers want to betreated with more respect by the police.They’re tired of the police coming inabsolutely mob-handed every timethere’s a rumour about drugs. There’sthis constant feeling they’re beingwatched. The police stop children andtalk to them. The raid on Osbaldwickin 2004 produced such an atmosphereof paranoia and suspicion that it’sgoing to take ages to recover - it wassuch a damaging experience. TheTravellers just don’t believe that thepolice have their best interest in mind.”

Fully supportive of the Travellers,though, is Christine Shepherd, whojuggles her work as the only full timemember of staff at York Travellers Trustwith an MA at the University of York’sCentre for Women’s Studies. Herfriendly office is located in a residentialarea of the city, and her desk is coveredin the tidy mounds of paper you mightexpect in an ordinary job. Her work isanything but.

“It can be absolutely anythingfrom one day to the next,” says

nation. Gary Craig, a visiting Professorat Durham University and one of thewriters of “Marginalised andExcluded?”, the most recent report withspecific research on York Travellers,insists, “Gypsy Travellers are the mostexcluded and deprived community inthe country. The way they are treated isa national disgrace. They live waybelow the poverty line in whicheverway you want to define it.”

Police raids on the Clifton Moorand Osbaldwick caravan sites haveincensed Gary, as has their subsequentpresence in the York Press. On 5February of this year, 160 police officerswith drug specialists and sniffer dogsarrested ten people at the Clifton Moorsite, seizing 21 cannabis plants and£750 in counterfeit cash. A week later,a force of similar size collected heroinand ecstasy with a street value of£20,000 from the same site. The policehad acted on a series of complaintsfrom residents in the local area.

Nevertheless, these operationshave been heavily criticised for theirheavy-handedness and their disastrouseffect on York’s Traveller community.Christine Shepherd, Co-ordinator ofYork Traveller’s Trust, a charitablefoundation aiming to help theTravellers, has been continually frus-trated by the police’s actions: “Back in2004 there was a raid in Osbaldwickand that was absolutely over the top. Iunderstand that the police have a dutyto protect their staff but there were 200armed police officers, animal help, hel-icopters… You name it, it was there. I’vebeen trying to build bridges betweenthe Travellers and the settled commu-nity and that destroyed all the work I’d

school has taken a ten percent dive. It’s estimated that there are nearly

380 Travellers living in caravans atYork’s main sites at James Street,Clifton Moor and Osbaldwick. AcrossYork, there are 1,000 overall, a numberwhich sounds far-fetched, but is ren-dered realistic by the fact that Gypsiesin York struggle to obtain tenancyagreements for their ‘pitches’ (a smallpiece of land large enough to house acaravan). Effectively, this means theyare classed as homeless. Some live bythe roadside, with children, wagonsand animals in tow. On my visit to theOsbaldwick site, one Travellerinformed me that he’d been waiting 11years for a tenancy agreement, and wastherefore living illegally in the site. Thisis by no means uncommon. The com-munity fears the law not just because ofits heavy-handedness, but because peo-ple are forced, through simple commonsense, to live outside it.

Media coverage of the Travellersrarely offers any kindness. York’s com-munity in particular is deeply suspi-cious after years of partisan reportageand police raids. Nationally, though, wehave made a move from Daily Mailhate-mongering to seeing the Travellercommunity as anachronistic carica-ture. The Channel 4 documentary MyBig Fat Gypsy Wedding, which airedlast month to good critical notes andfive million viewers, set Travellers up assomething to be mocked. A cruel editsaw a shot of a young girl claiming shedidn’t like “tacky weddings” followedimmediately by her plans for an awk-ward 50ft train on her dream dress.

Ignored completely was the isola-tion of Travellers up and down our

Morrisons supermarket, just off theLawrence Street area where many stu-dents live, but until I researched thisfeature I had no idea of its existence.The report cites flooding and environ-mental pollution as two key problemson the site, and Christine adds, “WhenMorrisons was built a large brick wallwas erected. They said it was to protectthe Travellers from noise pollution. Itseems like they want to hide them awayand keep them in. Like all the sites,again it’s overcrowded.”

Obscuring the Travellers from theeyes of passers-by is a common prac-tice. The site was purpose-built by thecouncil on an industrial estate, just alittle further down from The RaylorCentre where you find car mechanicsand building firms. Perhaps as soon asthe authorities became aware of thelikelihood of increased traffic throughthe area, they closed off the view of thesite from the outside, so no one wouldfeel endangered, or offended.

Nevertheless, given all I had beentold, the James Street site came as awelcome surprise. The residents clearlyhave good community spirit and live inreasonable, if not ideal, conditions. Afew Travellers there partake in anannual Race For Life for CancerResearch UK. Much has been made bylocals of dogs roaming the site, barkingloudly, but in my time there for themost part they just wandered politelybetween the caravans. Initially, one res-ident is a little suspicious of George’scamera, believing him to be from theYork Press, but once assuaged wepassed through the site without bother.

Cally, a Traveller who has been onthe site for 15 years, welcomes us intoher caravan. It is spotless inside andout; the windows are not even markedby rainwater.

“Over the years living here has got-ten better,” she says, “A lot of things aregetting done that weren’t years ago. Ienjoy it here, everybody just gets on.We all live the same on here.”

Cally has been working part timeat the Travellers Trust, and Christinebeams as she says, “Cally’s a great moti-vator. When we get people in for ses-sions or do any training Cally encour-ages people to get to the project and getinvolved.”

As I say we should move on to theOsbaldwick site, one Traveller laughs.“It’s not like this site,” warns Christine.

“Why?” I inquire, “Are the livingconditions a lot rougher?”

“More the people.” The Travellerreplies.

Christine clarifies: “TheOsbaldwick site is the worst site, defi-nitely. It’s the location, the problems onthere, people are packed in to such asmall space and the conditions arequite horrendous. I can’t believethe local authority thinks it’sacceptable for people to live inthese conditions. There’s been ahuge problem with fly tipping onthe site for years. It’s certainly beenthere as long as I’ve beenaround. Each pitch isovercrowded. There areat least two families liv-ing on a pitch onlyreally designed for onefamily.”

According toGary, Travellers onthe site are used topolice, media andindustrial intrusion atrandom and frequentintervals in their everydaylife.

“They’re very con-cerned about the CCTV

cameras [erected by local businesses]and living on an industrial estate. Theyessentially have to live with their cur-tains closed all the time because thecameras point straight into their livingroom.” One resident said that Keyline,a supplier of timber and other materi-als, had cameras able to distinguishwhether you were making a cup of teaor coffee in your kitchen.

The site itself is hidden away at thevery end of a long stretch of dirt-road.As I drove along, I asked Georgewhether we were going in the rightdirection. Luckily, discernible in thedistance was a Traveller’s horse trottingtowards, eventually running throughsome industrial gates. The road to thesite is paved with industrial litter andgeneral debris, and is said to be used asa dumping ground by many Travellersnot residing in Osbaldwick. As we parkon the site, we see that waste gathers inits every corner and the children - somein school uniform, some not - merrilynegotiate their way around it. Much ofthe ground is not concrete, but wetmud, and the stench of horse manureflies into the surrounding air.

George’s camera causes the localsto erupt. They emerge from their cara-vans, a few of them threatening tosmash it up. George quickly deletessome of his photos, increasingly grate-ful that he left his longer, flashier lensin the car. After years of having theirpolice presence be accompanied by alocal reporter, they associate the mediawith family members being taken away,arrests, and with the discriminationthey suffer on a day-to-day basis.

The difficulty of Christine’s job isall too clear. In these (and it is not astretch to say this) Third-World condi-tions the Travellers are understandablyangry and confused. One femaleTraveller says, “Cally’s only been to seeme about going on a reading course,” ina tone that exasperates Christine. Aroadside family has a go at her overtheir terrible predicament: they have asmall brick building, four caravans, anda menagerie of dogs and horses on onetiny pitch that isn’t even theirs.

As we leave a police car pulls in,winds down the window, and talks tothe children who directed us out of thesite. Suddenly we catch the smallestglimpse of the Travellers’ daily reality.It is little wonder they treat outsiderswith such caution when everyone eyesthem with the same, perhaps evengreater suspicion.

That this abandonment has man-aged to find its home in local policy,and that this discrimination hasworked its way into the minds of thelocal and national populace, withoutany hope of remedy or betterment, is

nothing short of disgraceful. In thelonger term, strategies are neededfor better integration andunderstanding, for improvededucation and health. But short-term provision is essential.Christine tells me that the council

has been instructed toprovide more accommo-dation in the form ofanother site, a solu-tion that wouldrelieve overcrowd-ing problems. Sheremains doubt-ful: “The road-side family we

just saw only want asmall space of theirown, and they’ve beenwaiting four years.Imagine how long it’lltake for them to buildan entire site.” M

Squalor and StruggleYork’s Gypsy and Traveller community has been exiled to themargins of the city. Liam O’Brien is shocked by their livingconditions and police intrusion on their sites.

Above: Thepolice are anintrusive pres-ence on theOsbaldwick site

Top left: A trav-eller’s horseenters anindustrial sitenear theOsbaldwickcampLeft: The campis used as adumpinggroundRight: Cally, atraveller at theJames Streetsite and part-time worker atYork TravellersTrust