New Name, New Site

Welcome to GRT Leeds

Site Recommended by the DCSF

This website is maintained by the Gypsy Roma Traveller Achievement Service (GRTAS) in Leeds. It's for the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, those that work with them and those that wish to find out more about these fascinating communities.

For all the latest see www.grthm.co.uk

Rokker Radio Threatened?

Rokker Radio, the two-hour radio programme established two years ago by BBC for the Gypsy and Traveller community is having its position reviewed toward the end of this year.

As the show prepares to celebrate two years of broadcasting across local BBC radio in the East of England and across the world on the internet, the BBC have not decided whether to let the programme continue into next year, and if it is to continue, in what form.

Find out more by clicking below

Gypsy United

Gypsy United FC are a group of under 13 lads who have formed a team from Leeds. They are all members of Leeds Gypsy and Traveller Exchange (GATE) and most of them live on the local site Cottingley Springs. They have taken part in 3 tournaments and won 3 trophies! The picture below is from Leeds Together For Peace football tournament organised by Republica Internationale FC. They played youth teams from The Children’s Society, The Kurdish Community, Somalian Youth team and Hunslett Moor to name but a few. Well done lads for getting the recognition of Gypsy and Travellers to a tournament which was representative of lots of different communities.

Gypsy United

Travellers Tales DVD

Travellers Tales DVD The hidden heritage of Surrey’s largest ethnic minority has been uncovered in a new film involving Gypsy and Traveller young people and elders across Surrey.

The Travellers Tales DVD has resulted in a series of 17 digital stories created by Gypsy and Traveller communities working in close collaboration with Romani journalist and broadcaster Jake Bowers. Part financed by Guildford Borough Council, Surrey County Council and the European Union, the project aims to educate, engage and entertain the wider public about the hidden contribution of Surrey’s 10,000 strong Gypsy and Traveller community.

View one of the tales "The Rapper's Tale"

For the past nine months, Romani journalist Jake Bowers has been visiting Gypsy and Traveller homes across the county encouraging older community volunteers to dust off their old photographs and share their precious memories before they are lost forever. But the film hasn’t just involved people from Surrey’s 26 Gypsy caravan sites. The film also actively challenges the popular notion of the Gypsy community as being transient and constantly on the move by working with Surrey’s largest settled Romany Gypsy population living in the town of Ash.

Project leader Jake Bowers says: “Like Romany communities across Europe, the Gypsy community in Surrey is sometimes regarded with suspicion and perceived to just be a source of criminality and anti-social behaviour. But there is a whole other story and history that has been forgotten. This project is a powerful act of remembering that hidden history specifically designed to shed light on a 500 year long active contribution to the county of Surrey.”

To purchase a copy (£15 including VAT and P&P) please contact:

Jake Bowers
Gypsy Media Company Ltd.
PO Box 313
Hastings
TN34 9EW

07966 786 242

jake.bowers@btinternet.com

Aiming to Improve the Education of Gypsy, Roma and Travellers

In a recent meeting with Lord Avebury, Andrew Adonis the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools and Learners, the National Association of Teachers of Travellers (NATT), and the Advisory Council for the Education of Romany and other Travellers (ACERT) discussed concerns about the education of Gypsy Roma and Traveller children and young people.

In a letter Andrew Adonis acknowledged that the government is committed to making a positive change. It is estimated that 12,000 GRT secondary-age children do not attend school. There are schemes to improve these figures.

In addition Andrew Adonis gave his support for the plan to hold a Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month in June 2008. The aim here is to explain the history and culture of the communities, to challenge myths and break down barriers.

Read Andrew Adonis' letter to Lord Avebury

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Around the site

Bienvenido a GRT (Gypsy Roma Traveller) Leeds

Our homepage has been translated into Spanish by Beatriz Monterde Lazaro a Spanish volunteer at GRT Achievement service.

Seeking a Career as an Actor?

Act-UP are running a FREE 3 day course that is worth it's weight in gold. It's happening at Yorkshire Dance and The Carriageworks Theatre in Leeds in April. Contact Gemma Lloyd or Gary Pillai for further information or call 020 7924 7701.

Visit here for more details

Flamenco Reflections

Mr. Mario Maya the Granada born Gitano and one of the greatest dancer-choreographers in flamenco history will be giving a conference at the Cervantes Institute (London) Wednesday 12th of March 2008
18:30 PM

There is also a screening of Camelamos Naquerar a documentary which portrays the long history of discrimination of the Gitanos in Spain. This film uses flamenco to express the repression of this ethnic group.

Instituto Cervantes
102 Eaton Square
London
SW1 W9AN

Telephone: +44 (0) 207 2350353
Fax: +44 (0) 207 2350329

Email: cenlon@cervantes.es

Gypsy after Beijing Olympic Gold

Billy Joe Saunders who lives on a Gypsy caravan site in Hertfordshire is being tipped for boxing stardom.

Travellers in Leeds

Travelling communities live across the city. Some families still live in caravans on the official site at Cottingley, on privately owned sites, or on the roadside.

The Play "Mobile"

A new play by the Traveller Wagon Wheel Theatre written and performed by Michael Collins and directed by Mick Rafferty was performed in November at the Otley Courthouse, Courthouse Street. The performance was part of the Irish Arts Festival ‘The Gathering’. Find out more and read reviews.

Open Roads, Open Minds

Resource Folder An invaluable Educational resource available from the Leeds TES a DVD, Wall Poster, Storyteller & Artist Portraits all wrapped in an attractive package.

See clips from the DVD, find out more about the resource and order copies.

Click here for more

Click here for a review

Williamson

Duncan Williamson RIP

The Scottish storyteller with an enormous repertoire of stories from his nomadic youth among the travelling families has died following a stroke on November 8th 2007 aged 79. He leaves his wife and ten children.

Read an obituary on the Times newspaper website.

Read it now