And… The Travellers’ Times 2024 readers survey prize WINNER is!
The Travellers’ Times recently undertook a reader’s survey to find out what you all thought about us and to help shape our future - and hundreds of people took part.
To help encourage responses we promised to give a £300 prize to one of the respondents who was drawn out of a hat once the survey had closed.
The survey has now closed, and the winner is… David Johnson!
David was generous enough to also allow us to interview him in a Q and A session:
Question: Could you tell us a bit about you?
Answer: I am a descendent of the Lee family in Essex, my Nan was Genty Lee, daughter of Jimmy Lee, and he was a horse dealer. My mum was Lily Millen and she had 3 sisters Naomi, Elvie, Genty and brother Frank, who all travelled with two trailers, and travelled between Essex and Kent.
They were all born on different farms; however my mum was born on Doddinghurst Road, Billericky, Essex in the late 30s.
Q: How did you feel when you found out you won the prize draw?
A: I was absolutely amazed as I never win a thing.
Q: How do you plan to use or enjoy your prize?
A: I will share it with my children and grandchildren.
Q: How long have you been a reader of Travellers’ Times?
A: I have had Traveller Times magazine for about 10years.
Q: What do you enjoy reading about the most?
A: I like the family stories and achievements.
Q: How does the Travellers’ Times represent your community?
A: It gives Travellers a voice and a sense of worth because people still see travelling people as worthless, but in my view, we give a service to people by recycling scrap metal and the like, way before it was economical.”
My final word is to say thank you for Traveller Times over the years keeping me connected with my traveller roots, may the magazine carry on for years to come.
Thank you for your support David and we are glad that you won something at last!
We will be releasing the results of the survey as soon as we have crunched the figures and put them into a report – which we will share with our readers.
The Travellers' Times is currently on a new DRIVE towards independence!
By July 2025, we aim to become a fully independent media platform, owned and led by the very Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities we represent. An independent TT aims to empower Gypsy, Roma and Traveller voices through authentic, community-led media to foster pride, combat misrepresentation and inspire change.
For over 25 years, Travellers' Times, a project of Rural Media Charity funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, has been a trusted source of award-winning news and media for and by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. Now, we have the chance to take the reins and become a truly independent voice.
So keep watching this space!
TT News
(Lead photograph: Vardos on Fair Hill at Appleby Fair 2024 (c) Eszter Halasi)