For ALL the saints!

I wonder why the saints in our stained glass windows are often not just European-looking, but also excessively white?

Ethnic minority ordinands reportedly say that the theology taught in our training colleges and universities is also stiflingly Eurocentric.

These thoughts were suggested to me by the person who leads the Council for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns (CMEAC), Dr Elizabeth Henry. CMEAC is hoping to publish a book to mark its 30th anniversary, and it will be about the saints of minority ethnic groups.

As secretary of the Churches Network for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, I have been asked to find someone who is Romani to write a chapter about a Romani saint. If you are interested, please text message me on 0751 811 7798. Likewise if you are a Scottish, Irish or Welsh Traveller, willing to write about one of your saints.

Panto and Prejudice

I love village pantomimes. It's great to see the children taking part, and to hear all the young voices yelling out from the audience.  It's comical to see the pantomime dame trying hard to convey that he would never normally enjoy drag, even as he minces limp-wristed around the stage. It's awesome to see the talent that you'd never suspect producing wonderful performances and some truly excellent scenery and costumes.

So it was disappointing to come away from our local panto feeling uncomfortable and guilty.

You see, the baddie had an ally who was just as black-hearted as he was, and the villain was a Gypsy. Well, I'm all for equality - why not a Gypsy?  What made me feel uncomfortable was the racist stereotyping that all those happy young people might take away with them as possibly the only thing anyone had ever told them about Gypsies. The brewing up of poisons was one example.  The stealing of fair-haired children was another.

What would you have done?  What would Jesus have done?  I felt it was wrong to just be silent, but probably hugely counter-productive to make a fuss.

When the organist played "The Old Rugged Cross" in church this morning, I thought it was possibly a little nod towards the spirituality of the Romani people, and was momentarily comforted. But when I asked him, it was in fact a memory of a Billy Graham crusade.

So what do I do now?  All suggestions gratefully received. What God has to say about it was displayed in the cathedral when I got my Permission To Officiate.  God is on the side of freedom and justice. The reading this morning reinforced that. But just being FROG (fully reliant on God) feels a bit like just standing by. We can't just turn a blind eye. Can we?  Again?

A Sinti boxer in Nazi Germahy

The theme of this year's Holocaust Memorial Day is "Don't stand by".  This heart-breaking story of a talented young boxer in Nazi Germany is a good illustration of why we should not stand by.

"They're trying to legislate us off the face of the earth"

New Planning Policy Guidance, its context and its impact

Context

Caravan Sites Act 1968

            Created a duty for local authorities to provide caravan sites for Gypsies residing in or resorting to their area.  Never enforced, and never implemented by some authorities, it nevertheless resulted in a reduction in unauthorised encampments, and the provision of approximately 300 sites, providing about 5,000 pitches by the time the relevant sections of the Act were repealed.

Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994

            Removed the duty to provide sites, and resulted in an almost complete halt in the provision of local authority sites.

            The rationale was that Gypsies and Travellers should provide their own sites, which many attempted to do.  However, planning law and local prejudice have combined to create a severe limiting effect on new sites, and many who have won planning permission on appeal have only temporary planning permission.

            Created a criminal offence if anyone remained on land where they had parked up or returned to it, after being directed to move. (A police direction did not require a court order.  This was so draconian, and placed such stress on Travellers’ health, welfare and educational opportunities that many police forces have been sparing in the use of this power.) Local authorities and others had the option of obtaining a court order, which could also result in a criminal conviction, followed by prison, a substantial fine, and/or the seizing of living accommodation if not complied with. This power has been used so extensively, that families have suffered a constant cycle of evictions, with serious consequences for their well-being, access to health care, access to education, and opportunities for social inclusion. Many Travellers now find travelling impossible for these reasons.

Housing Act 2004

            Required local authorities to assess the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers when drawing up their local plans.

The Housing and Planning Bill 2015/16

            Contains a clause (Section 5, clause 84) which removes the requirement for local authorities to carry out an accommodation needs assessment for Gypsies and Travellers.

Planning Policy for Traveller Sites 2015

Ø      Defines Gypsy or Traveller to exclude people who have settled permanently.

Ø      Makes planning permission for sites on Green Belt land almost impossible.  Exceptional needs such as disability, ill health or old age will no longer be considered to “outweigh the harm to the Green Belt”. The government acknowledge that this will particularly impact single women with children, whose opportunities for mobile occupations are much fewer than those of men, but chose to include this part of the policy regardless of the  vulnerable families who would be affected.

Ø      Local authorities are required to “strictly limit development in open countryside.”

Ø      Having stopped on land before seeking planning permission will count against applicants.

Impact (quoted from Johnson, Ruston and Willers, 2015)

from: http://travellerstimes.org.uk/Blogs--Features/Defining-Travellers-out-of-existence.aspxhttp://travellerstimes.org.uk/Blogs--Features/Defining-Travellers-out-of-existence.aspx

“Faced with relentless enforcement action taken against unauthorised encampments many Gypsies and Travellers will decide that it is no longer possible to continue travelling and will seek planning permission for a site. Yet in order to stand some chance of getting planning permission they will have to show that are still travelling! It’s a classic vicious circle of the Government’s own making!

“The position of those Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople who are too old or too ill to continue travelling is even more problematic. They will no longer fall within the planning definition of “gypsies and travellers” and “travelling showpeople” and will stand no real chance of obtaining planning permission for a caravan site despite the fact that they may be in greater need of a site than younger and more mobile members of their respective communities!

“We believe that these policy changes may be challengeable on grounds that they are discriminatory and violate the rights of Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople which are protected by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. We hope that those people most affected will take action to force the Government to reverse these policy changes and that this blog will encourage them to do so.”

Expressions of concern from the Traveller communities

Of most concern has been the issue of people’s ethnic identity being denied. 

“If I’m not a Gypsy, what am I?”

The future for younger members of the community appears especially problematic. If they have grown up on a settled site, it seems their ethnic identity will not be recognised, and they could be denied the right to even apply for planning permission for a site, or for a place on an existing site. “What’s going to happen?” said one young mother. “Are they going to tell us we aren’t Travellers any more, and bulldoze the site?”

Where authorities have accepted that they have a resident local population of ethnic Travellers, some quiet settled Traveller sites have been “tolerated”, rather than given planning permission. “I’ve been on a tolerated site for over thirty years now,” said one old age pensioner.  “We just don’t know what’s going to happen to us.”

Other Traveller sites have experienced a stressful series of time-limited planning permissions.  If the residents of these sites have made the effort to settle, and quietly pursued their local occupations, it seems they could be penalised by being re-defined as not-Travellers, and denied a renewal of their planning permission. “They’re trying to legislate us off the face of the earth,” said one such person.

Free me Lord, by Kelly Sarah Ltn

Free me lord 

For I feel so trapped 
Living in a house 
When I sooner be back 
Where the wild winds flow free 
Where the birds sing 
From Swaying trees 
Where nature is my only home outside the trailer 
That's where I belong .
I miss the open fields 
And the open skies
So blue 
I miss the earthy
Smells and the morning
Sweet dew 
And the chavvies smiles
Running about 
Not a care to be had
Those are the days 
I wish we still had 
Where mummy and me 
Would sit outside 
And could hear the waves 
Turning of the Crashing tides
Where family would meet 
And gather at night 
Sing many songs 
With star filled nights
Oh my father let this 
Be Our family 
Go back To the land and the free xxxx
Klee x

Travellers Tackle Prejudice

Did you realise that we've just passed the 30th anniversary of the Battle of the Beanfield?

Kushti Bok issued this press release today:

Travellers Tackle Prejudice

Thirty years on from the Battle of the Beanfield, Gypsies and Travellers still face huge levels of hostility and prejudice according to Kushti Bok, the Dorset charity that aims to provide a voice for Gypsies and Travellers.  On Tuesday, 2^nd June, Kushti Bok hosted an inter-agency meeting that pledged to address negative stereotypes and to work for improved community relationships.

“As a group of agencies working together, we can be much more effective,” explained Councillor Andrew Kerby of North Dorset District Council whose portfolio includes Gypsy and Traveller Liaison.

 “All of us need to be reminded of our duties under the Equalities Act, 2010,” said Kelly Haggett, Dorset County Council’s Officer for Equality and Diversity.“Not only do we have a legal duty to protect our Gypsy and Traveller communities, more importantly we have a moral duty, not only to protect but to celebrate the contribution of Gypsy and Traveller communities in Dorset.”

Those present and agreeing to a multi-agency approach to tackling prejudice and negative stereotypes included (left to right)

Daniel Biggs, of Borough of Poole

Nathalie Sherring of Dorset Race Equality Council

Councillor Andrew Kerby of North Dorset District Council

Kelly Haggett of Dorset County Council and the Dorset Forum for Equality and Diversity

Revd Roger Redding of the Diocesan Support Group for the Gypsy and Traveller Chaplain

Betty Smith-Billington of GTR Media

Emma Scott of West Dorset District Council and the South West Multi-Cultural Network

Councillor Pauline Batstone of Dorset County Council and North Dorset District Council, also a member of the Chaplain’s Support Group

Kim Creswell of Kushti Bok

The photographer was Jenny Galuschka of Kushti Bok.

                                                ENDS

Note to editors:

Ø      The so-called “Battle of the Beanfield took place over several hours on 1^st June 1985, and was covered by journalists who were utterly shocked by the level of violence displayed by the Police.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHyDaAXw8Ck

Churches Network for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma: Annual Report 2014 - 2015

Churches Network for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma

Annual Report for March 2014 – May 2015

Introduction

The past year has seen some very positive changes, such as the very much appreciated opportunity to hold meetings in Church House, and the very valuable participation of Dr Elizabeth Henry of CMEAC and of Gary and Olby Brazil of the South East Romany Museum.

There have also been very welcome links with organisations who are effective and friendly allies in fighting injustice and promoting positive messages about the Gypsy Roma and Traveller communities.

Our own progress has included

Ø      opening a bank account

Ø      making a beginning on a business plan

Ø      agreeing a constitution

Ø      making representations in response to the consultation on Traveller sites policy

Ø      establishing a facebook group which now has 26 members, most of whom were previously not in contact with CNGTR.

Constitution

The constitution sets out the aims and management of the Network, and who is eligible to join. This probably needs regular review to ensure that it is sufficiently clear about objectives and enables us to approach possible funders.

Links with allied organisations

The Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Police Association held its inaugural AGM on 27^th March, 2014, and was welcomed by the Network on 31^st March. 

The Brazil family of the South East Romany Museum expressed their willingness to host a re-launch event for the Network, and this is still under consideration at the time of writing.  This contact led to further involvement with Kent Romanies Moses Smith, Pashey Smith, Gary, Esther and Olby Brazil, and their friend Miranda Thompson, who have since attended some meetings, and sought our help in establishing a non-exclusive non-sectarian Christian fellowship. This challenge has been taken up by Wesley and Clare Sargent of the Congregational Church, who feel led to proceed on the basis of growing relationships rather than structures.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Gypsies, Roma and Travellers  alerted us to the consultation document from the Department for Communities and Local Government, which proposed, in the words of the  APPG chairman to “re-define Travellers out of existence”.  In response to this, The Community Law Partnership published a discussion document and hosted an event in Birmingham to draw together ideas for responses.  This was attended by the Co-ordinator, and led to a response from the Network which now appears on the Community Law Partnership’s web site. (http://www.communitylawpartnership.co.uk/noticeboard/campaigns-and-consultations)

The Travellers Aid Trust held two national meetings which discussed this among other issues facing the GRT communities, and these were attended by the Chairman and the Co-ordinator, with Roger giving a presentation at the second.

The London Gypsy Traveller Unit  responded with an excellent video and with a postcard response campaign, “weSTILLcount”, which we supported by posting on facebook and distributing postcards.

The Irish Traveller Movement Launched “Operation Traveller Vote” to encourage Travellers to register to vote, and to use their vote.  This led to many people expressing the need to have the different parties explained to them, and members may feel that the empowerment and enabling of an informed voice and vote for all Roma and Travellers is something that the Network could support in future.

In the event, Eric Pickles’ proposed guidelines were blocked by David Laws, who has since lost his seat, so the future is uncertain.

Membership

The network had an e-mailing list of 63 members as at March last year, and this now stands at 56.  The leavers have said that they are no longer involved with Gypsy Traveller and Roma issues, or that they are too busy to participate in the Network.  Two of the e-mail addresses are not functional, and three are new contacts, one from the Evangelical Alliance, one from a pastor working with Roma, and one from an Anglican in the Exeter Diocese.

The facebook page has a membership of 26, of whom only two are on the e-mailing list.

We need to increase the size and representativeness of the active membership.

Bank account

The bank account was opened with £25 donated at a meeting, and augmented by an individual gift of £100 since then.  £30 is due to come out of that to pay for a Rail Card for the Co-ordinator.

Conclusion

The coming years will be very challenging for all  minority ethnic groups, as Human Rights legislation is potentially reduced, and the growth in number of Traveller sites probably further slowed.  It is foreseeable that both of these will be accompanied by public rhetoric tending to xenophobia. As an organisation whose active membership is very small, the Network needs to plan its aims and strategy carefully in order to be effective.