| Description | Charles Parker talks to a group of social workers from Hampshire about their experiences and problems in working with the travelling community
Track 1: a man talks about the difficulty in gaining the confidence of the travelling community because of his association with official institutions. He gives the example of visiting a camp in the Hartney Witney area of Hampshire to speak to a man who had to appear in court and being threatened by him. He talks about his efforts to convince him that he was there to help him, to get his former employers to give him references, and to alleviate some of his problems in finding a permanent site to camp. He talks about the necessity of breaking down peoples' prejudices towards him as an official and the difficulty in balancing his sympathies for travellers with the reality of not often being able to provide practical help 5.19 mins
Track 2: a woman talks about her enjoyment in working with travellers and her interest in their different lifestyle. A man joins the conversation to emphasise his belief that the travellers will need to comply with the pattern of modern living in order to survive 2.51 mins
Track 3: the man talks about the restrictions involved in being officials of the county council, having to try to get nomadic travellers to settle in one place, and to improve their domestic standards and hygiene in order for housing authorities to allocate them council accommodation. He says that he envies the freedom of movement that the travellers have traditionally had, and talks about the reluctance of travellers to make any contribution to the state, including taking part in National Service, because they did not want anything from the state 2.59 mins
Track 4: he explains that many settled travellers have been made to pay income tax and National Insurance, and thinks that many people sympathise with the travellers' desire to be free, but also fear the sense of anarchy that comes with the travellers traditional lifestyle 2.35 mins
Track 5: he talks about the differences between working with 'problem families' and travellers, and the willingness of travellers to make their own money, by whatever means 1.52 mins
Track 6: a woman talks about the characteristics of traveller families she has worked with being similar to settled families, and the mixing of 'true gypsies' with other travellers who she calls 'caravan dwellers' 1.54 mins
Track 7: she talks about the hard work that many of the travellers do, particularly the women who have to gather wood, cook and clean, and look after the family, and the lack of organisation of other travellers. She points out the problems that many of the women have in giving birth to a child every year 2.06 mins
Total: 19.38 mins
Dubber's reference number: PLA AD335C0496174 |