Youth advocate for Luton's Gypsy and Traveller community aims to tackle discrimination

Alanna Witney helps to reduce discrimination against the Gypsy, Roma and (Irish) Traveller community, drawing on her own experience of it.

“Most of the issues our community faces stem from years of discrimination and neglect,” she explained. “Travellers and Gypsies don’t live as long as the rest of the general population, which I think has something to do with inequality in healthcare.”

On her responsibilities, she said: “One week I was in the Forum car park riding a horse, which was visiting our baby and toddler group.

“Then I met the President of Ireland Catherine Connolly when I went to Dublin to speak at the Global Irish Civic Forum about Irish minorities and Irish people living in different countries. I’m half Irish Traveller, an indigenous Irish group.”

Regarding their education, Alanna acknowledged: “The assumption is that Travellers want to be uneducated and don’t want to conform to the system.

“But there’s a history with the community and education, with the discrimination there for so long.We’ve a Traveller youth group within the Forum, where we help them develop skills for when they leave school.

“I offer cultural awareness training to all organisations, especially schools and GP practices, so they can learn more about the community and ways of working better with them.”

Asked what alternative support is available, she replied: “That’s something we’re working hard for at the Forum.

“Such organisations are often small and there’s a lack of funding to help deal with the problems the community faces. Much of it’s about activism and trying to speak up for our rights because other organisations and professionals really don’t.

“Even though people work in areas around discrimination and culture, nobody really speaks up for the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community. Working with Travellers is definitely known for being tough because it’s a hard to reach cohort, or the hidden community as it’s referred to sometimes.

“That’s not because they don’t want help, rather it’s difficult to raise problems or they don’t know how to. There’s a massive lack of trust between the community and other organisations, including charity groups and even the NHS.

“This stems from discrimination and neglect, so it’s about building trust and doing that outreach which gives the community the help it definitely needs. It’s in the way you approach the community to build that relationship.

“If that’s done right, it can be easy. If you just leaflet drop or put little notes in their letterboxes, you aren’t helping them.

“Many Travellers don’t necessarily have a good education. Some of them cannot read and write. But, if you knock on the trailer door and introduce yourself, you’re starting that conversation and building that trust.”

On their public perception, she added: “I feel like there’s a spotlight on the Travelling community, especially when something’s done improperly.

“This links to that hidden community. The only way outsiders see in is through media outlets. When they attract newspaper coverage, it’s painted badly.

“It centres on what are they doing differently, rather than the reasons why. People never look underneath the surface.

“As Travellers, we don’t get enough opportunities. So just having the chance to work at the Forum as the youth advocate, it’s massive.

“If the walls come down for the Travelling and settled communities, and they learned to trust and discover more about each other, there’d be so much less negativity and far less discrimination.”