Making June a month to remember
Gypsy Roma and Traveller History Month 2009 – making June a month to remember
With exactly one month to go, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities across Britain are gearing up for the second Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History month in June 2009. From Cornwall to Cumbria, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities will be working in partnership with schools, councils and other public bodies to creatively challenge the many myths and stereotypes that blight Gypsy, Roma and Traveller lives.
Launched in June 2008, with political backing from the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF), Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History month was embraced by thousands of Gypsies and Travellers working alongside central government, local authorities, schools and heritage organisations to explore Gypsy and Traveller history and culture.
This June, its impact will be even bigger thanks to a doubled level of grant from the DCSF, and more widespread grassroots support for the initiative. Having waited 500 years for central government to recognise their history, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller activists, academics, craftsmen and historians have embraced the month as an opportunity to educate the public. Across all 8 local government regions in England they are working in partnership with public sector workers in schools, museums, council buildings and libraries.
Patricia Knight, the national coordinator of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month says: “Britain’s 300,000 Gypsies, Roma and Travellers have lived, worked and travelled throughout Britain for over 500 years, yet we have been almost entirely written out of British history. Go to most museums, libraries and schools and nothing about our history and culture is kept or taught. The result is a widespread ignorance about who we are, which sometimes turns to hatred, fear and misunderstanding, but always has an impact on Gypsy and Traveller lives.”
“So this June, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities are coming together, with central government backing, to continue the long overdue task of educating the British public about who we are and where we come from. We’re doing it for one simple reason: If people do not realise that we were an important part of Britain’s past, they will never accept us as a crucial part of Britain’s future.”
Some of the highlights of the events planned across the month include:
• On June 1st, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller representatives from every English region will gather with MPs in Westminster to launch the second Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month
• From June 4th to June 11th, Europe’s largest Gypsy horse fair, dating from 1685, will take place in Appleby in Cumbria
• On June 6th, Gypsies and Travellers will gather at the Epsom Derby one of the biggest horse racing events in Britain with a long Gypsy history and big Gypsy attendance.
• On June 12th, the Irish Travellers movement will be holding a Pavee Ceilidh in London
• On June 13th, Kal, the original Serbian Gypsy punk band will kick off a UK tour at the celebrating sanctuary festival in London
• On June 14th, Gypsies and Travellers music and culture will be celebrated at the Baro Ziro festival in Doncaster
• On June 20th, Gypsy musicians and craftsmen will gather at events across the country from Epsom in Surrey to Frome in Somerset, as thousands more Gypsies and Travellers gather at Cambridge Midsummer Fair
• On June 25th, teenage Gypsies and Travellers will gather at Ripon Racecourse in North Yorkshire to celebrate “tomorrow’s history”
• On June 28th, Gypsies and Travellers will celebrate their history and culture at Hartlebury Museum in Worcestershire
• On June 30th, the Irish Travellers movement will be holding a Pavee Ceilidh in Manchester
For those wanting to contribute, a booklet on how to organise events and apply for funding is available at: http://www.grthm.co.uk/gettinginvolved/index.html
For more information on the events and issues involved in Gypsy, Roma and Traveller history month please see: http://www.travellerstimes.org.uk/admin/www.grthm.co.uk
If you have organised an event please list it here