“I’m from the north-west of England, a little town called Morecambe Bay, not far from the Lake District. My family are Showmen Travellers. My mam, she grew up around the Bolton area and her family all had fairgrounds and travelled around the whole of the UK. My dad, he actually came originally from a circus and fairground background. They met and hit it off – not initially, but they got there. And then they decided to have an amusement arcade, so they settled.”
I’m speaking to Xenna Kaser, a counsellor who is also part of the GRT (Gypsy, Roma, Traveller) community. GRT is an umbrella term for those who belong to minority ethnic groups such as Irish and Scottish Travellers, and Romany people, as well as New Travellers, Showpeople, and Boaters. It’s estimated that there are around 300,000 Travellers in the UK, and those in the GRT community share a distinct, diverse, and rich heritage.
“We all went through school still going to those fairgrounds, the big ones in particular, throughout the year to meet friends and socialise,” Xenna continues. “Neither I nor my two brothers have gone into the field. We’ve all gone on to do different things, but are still very much in touch with our background.”
Xenna’s vocation as a counsellor working with the GRT community is an incredibly valuable one. Alongside the everyday joy that comes with family and community, Travellers are one of the most persecuted and marginalised groups in our society. In fact, it was only in 2021 that ‘Roma’ was included as an ethnic group, and ‘Showman’ as an occupation and ethnicity, in the England and Wales Census. And while there is a severe lack of legal sites for Travellers, in 2022, the controversial Unauthorised Encampments: Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act made residing with a vehicle on land without permission a criminal – rather than a civil – offence, giving police the power to seize vehicles and, consequently, people’s homes and way of life. With all that in mind, it goes without saying that living in this environment can take its toll.
The suicide rate for Travellers is six times the general population
That’s according to a study by All-Ireland Traveller Health, and the figure rises to seven times the general population for men. Another survey found that 82% of the Travellers surveyed had been personally affected by suicide.
“I’ve known people who have taken their own lives, and it’s really devastating,” Xenna says. “I think there are a number of factors behind it. One, is that it’s a relatively closed community and it is very misunderstood – so I think people who are having problems, if they were to go to a doctor or a therapist who hasn’t been briefed on the community and how the community works, they could feel quite misunderstood and, therefore, that leads to a lot of shame.”
Xenna’s insight rings true. In January 2019, the Government published its first-ever cross-government Read more