Community Journalism - Gypsy Traveller

I ran a Community Journalist programme in Doncaster with the legendary Violet Cannon (Director of the York Traveller Trust).

The project was commissioned by Doncaster CCG and funded by South Yorkshire Housing Association. We attended Lee Gap horse fair to recruit participants for the programme and ran a diary room, capturing stories about the barriers that Gypsy Travellers had to accessing healthcare. We then used these stories to inform the content of our Community Journalist programme.

Here are a few pics I took at the event.

The average life expectancy for someone like me (white, ‘Gorja’ -non-gypsy) was 81 and yet the life expectancy of Violet (GT) was just 50.

We created tee-shirts for Lee Gap and wandered around with placards, getting people’s views on this stat.

At the start of the project, I was ‘warned’ by people (including the police) not to get involved with this community, which obviously made me want to do it more.

By the end of the programme, I had two new friends - Violet and her now husband, Rodney - and I had the honour of being the photographer at their wedding.

Here’s just one of the videos they made in the programme that I would urge anyone who works in the health and social care sector to watch, as it gives a unique insight into the health issues that surround the Gypsy Traveller Community. 

Community Journalist Assignment - what can the settled community learn from Gypsy Romany Traveller Communities about social isolation and loneliness of older people?

Together we also collected some really valuable insights and data that could be used to increase engagement on health-related issues for Gypsy Traveller Communities on Facebook.

If you are a health professional, academic or student looking for valuable data and behavioural insights into this community to help improve their health outcomes, please get in touch. 

[Here are a few pics I took from Violet and Rodney’s wonderful wedding…xxx]