Traveller families are among the most excluded and castigated groups in British society. Henrietta Bond finds out what it's really like growing up on the road.

"We wanted to go to the steam rally, but this guy on the gate said, 'I'm watching you. You lot are all the same, you're here to cause trouble. I've been round all the stall holders and warned them you're here.'" Seventeen-year-old Romany Traveller Jimmy Hadfield is angry but resigned as he recalls the way he's all-too-frequently treated. "In some pubs and clubs they still have signs up saying, 'No Travellers'. It's awful when people think the worst of you but you've done nothing wrong. We get treated like dogs."

Prejudice against Travellers is alive and well, as was demonstrated in the media backlash against Travellers following the imprisonment of farmer Tony Martin for killing 16-year-old Traveller Fred Barras, who attempted to burgle Martin's farmhouse.

Treated with derision

It's no wonder that Traveller young people are the most disadvantaged group in society, suffering bullying at school, prejudice when seeking employment, and suspicion and abuse when they try to access facilities enjoyed by their peers.

The British Medical Association describes Travellers as "the most at-risk health group in the UK", and Ofsted reports show that educational attainment is poor for many Traveller children in secondary school.

Traditionally, many Travellers haven't attended school. And some parents, who recall the prejudices of their own schooldays, are still reluctant to expose their children to teachers and pupils who brand them as ne'er do-wells.

The Government recently launched guidance to help schools provide better support for children from Traveller communities. But education is only part of a young person's life: they also need other services to help them achieve their full potential.

Jackie Line is community development worker for Travellers in Northamptonshire, where the Hadfield family lives. She is based at the NSPCC, in a project funded by the Children's Fund. Line explains that her work focuses on children and young people who are classified as being likely to face disadvantage, because families are living on the roadside or in temporary sites with inadequate facilities. But as she points out, there are Travellers in all walks of life, including those who own expensive homes and cars, and overseas properties.

While stressing the importance of seeing every young person as an individual, Line says that in working with Traveller young people she finds it best to begin by creating relationships with the family. Over several years she has developed a strong relationship with Jimmy Hadfield's family (see panel). She's supported the young people around a variety of educational needs, as well as social and leisure issues such as access to facilities.

"Travellers tend to be very independent people and very protective of their children, which I believe comes out of their fear of rejection," she explains. "Among many of the English Romany and Irish Travellers I work with, morality is very important and boys and girls are still segregated after puberty."

Line says issues like underage sex, drugs and alcohol don't often come up in traditional Traveller families, but she does encounter these problems among second-generation Travellers living in houses. "It's probably the same as the rest of society," she says.

Normal needs

In the communities within which Line works, it's common for boys to work with their fathers and girls to help in the home from their early teens.

However, she says those who work with Travellers shouldn't make cultural assumptions about what the young people want. "Don't assume girls want you to organise activities where they can learn to sew," she says. "Instead, consider offering them events like theatre trips: something they probably haven't done before. And I've found that a lot of 16- and 17-year-olds want help with the theory part of their driving test. Some of their parents don't read, and the family probably doesn't have a computer, so giving them access to a machine and driving test CD-Rom can be very helpful."

Many Traveller young people have grown up accepting prejudice as a given, so helping them to learn about their rights and find their voice can be very powerful.

Karen Carrick works at Save the the Children in Scotland, doing legal and welfare rights work with Traveller families. She also organises youth activities that focus on issues raised by Traveller young people. "I have two youth groups in Fife and Lothian looking at issues like citizenship, which encourage young Gypsy Travellers aged 11 to 18 to get together and make their voices heard," she explains.

Young people are given opportunities to try out activities like skiing and horse-riding, as well as discussing issues that are important to them, and finding out how they can influence decision-making at local and national level. One group of young people recently presented a report to the Equal Opportunities Committee of the Scottish Parliament, representing the views of 150 young Travellers. Carrick explains that the project has also obtained a grant from the lottery so that Traveller young people can produce a range of publications and posters to explore their cultural heritage from a young person's perspective.

Positive participation

Carrick believes Traveller young people are becoming more open to challenging prejudice and injustice, in the way that young people in general are becoming more aware of their rights. "Save the Children in Scotland holds an annual conference on discrimination," she explains. "Last year, Gypsy Traveller young people simply showed a video they'd made to demonstrate the discrimination they face. But this year the young people are so enthused that they are presenting a workshop, called 'I'm me and I'm proud of who I am', themselves. It'll be open to politicians, decision-makers and young people."

Snap Theatre Company in Hertfordshire has worked with Traveller young people to put together a performance called The Trailer, a celebration of Traveller culture and storytelling traditions. The company has met many Traveller young people and their families in sites across the county to draw on their experiences. The resulting play will be performed in Traveller sites, in schools and outdoor public places.

Andy Graham, director of Snap, says: "Working with these young people we found that we couldn't differentiate them from other young people, except that they seemed very happy and open to talking about things we felt that maybe we shouldn't touch on.

"These young people recognise the prejudice they face far more than we do, and the discussion about it comes from them." Graham says that by doing it this way there isn't a fixed agenda, but it allows relationships to be built and the young people produce the ideas to work with. "Some of the families say that they can't believe we are doing something for them," says Graham. "But we don't see it like that. We see it as us working with them, to do something together."

TRAVELLER FACTS AND FIGURES

- The generic name "Traveller" includes English and Welsh Gypsies, Irish and Scottish Travellers, Showmen, Bargees and New Age Travellers

- Some feel the term Gypsy is insulting. "Roma" tends to be preferred for families from Eastern and Central Europe. It's often safest to use the term Traveller and ask what people prefer

- There are 100,000-200,000 Gypsy people in the UK (The Gypsy Council for Education, Culture, Welfare & Civil Rights)

- The decline in seasonal work has forced many Travellers off the road - up to 350,000 UK Travellers now live in houses. They are still considered Travellers by culture, even if they live in a house

- Family is important to many Travellers. Many parents from the community may be protective and reluctant to expose their children to what they see as immoral behaviour in wider society

- Some Traveller communities still segregate boys and girls at puberty. Be aware of this if planning group work with young people

- Travellers are as diverse as any other community. Never make assumptions. Build up relationships with families and find out what they and their young people want

YOUNG TRAVELLERS' VOICES

Fifteen-year-old Rosealina Hadfield wants to set up a mobile beauty business with her cousin when she leaves school.

"It's hard to get a job when you come from a site and have to give that as your address," she says. "For most Traveller women, the only job they can get is in factories. That's why I want my own business. Then I can show people I'm not different to them. I like things like tennis and swimming, and playing football. I love music, especially Kylie Minogue and Beyonce." Rosealina Hadfield, 15

Rosealina's brother Richard is 16. He recently left school and is enjoying his freedom. "We're Romany, we go back a long way. We're different from New Age Travellers, but that's OK," he explains tolerantly. "There is good and bad in every race, but whatever happens it always gets blamed on Travellers. I just want to talk to people and have a good time, without people watching and suspecting you all the time. Things like drugs are for losers. I don't hear of Travellers who do drugs." Richard Hadfield,16

"People say Travellers are thieves, but they should come and see how hard we work here," says Jimmy Hadfield, 17, indicating the huge piles of cast iron he's helping his father to load onto their truck. "If you put me in a cosy bungalow it would kill me. But even if I was in a bungalow people wouldn't accept me, because I'll never be like anyone else. I'm a nature boy." Jimmy Hadfield, 17.