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TSC Archive ECO EXTREME KIDS CAMP Hope to hear from you soon
The Travellers' School Charities Annual Report 2004 is now avaliable on the web The Summer Newsletter is now on the web We have created a feed back form to help us make the website more usefull to users. We have started collecting data showing how much power comes in and out from the renewable energy system that powers the computer used to update this site. To view the data click here
WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY TRAINING DAY The Computer Classroom Report 2003 is now on the web click here |
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BNP WIN IN EPPING
We need urgent support to stop the BNP carry out its racist "ethnic-cleansing" of Travellers from Epping.
The BNP, having just won three seats on Epping Forest District Council, have vowed to "evict travellers/gypsies from private or council lands".
Under immediate threat are Harry and Linda and others holding out at Paynes Lane, Lower Nazeing - and families at the
Birch Field caravan park, near the M11/M25 junction.
Please contact Grattan Puxon at: ustiben.5@ntlworld.com
or phone 01206 523 528 - if you can help.
The Spring Newsletter is now on the web
MEADOWLANDS EVICTION UPDATE
We have just heard that 3 homes mysteriously went up in flames not 10. We also have the video of the eviction and will be doing an article about it in the next newsletter.
MEADOWLANDS EVICTION
Travellers dug in, with ditches and barricades, ready to resist eviction from their own caravan park - Meadowlands - on Monday morning (26 Jan), starting 8 am. This is an operation by Chelmsford Borough Council, WITHOUT a court order or Injunction.
Contractors had been hired to clear and bulldoze the entire caravan park - because it's on greenbelt land.
Following the eviction up to 10 homes that had been removed from the site and were being guarded by security mysteriously went up in flames. The owners of the homes had been placed in bed and breakfast accommodation by the authorities once they had been evicted from the site.
We haven't the full story yet but are trying to find out more if you have any information about this or the eviction please contact us. Our usual email address stigstrunk@aol.com is experiencing strange problems so please use this email address if it gets bounced back - news@travellersschool.plus.com.
The Winter newsletter has just been sent out and now available here.
Coming soon will be the Computer Classroom 2003 report. Hard copies are available now please contact us if you want one they cost £15
ROMA STOP EVICTION WITH HUMAN SHIELD
Seventy Roma formed a "human shield" outside their caravan park on Monday (12 Jan) preventing bailiffs, accompanied by police, carrying out an eviction.
Over the weekend, defences had been prepared using mechanical diggers. From early morning, barricades were set on fire, confronting the hired bailiffs with a wall of fire and smoke. Behind the front barricades, was a second defence line of trenches and heavy lorries. Roma from London, Bedford and Birmingham came to the Bulkington Fields Caravan Park, near Coventry, to support the non-violent resistance. They were also joined by members of the TERF Human Rights Monitory Group.
"If they had got passed the men and the ditches," said John Lee, of the National Travellers Action Group, "Our women and children were ready to get under the caravans and refuse to move."
At one point, the men advanced up the road towards the bailiffs. They halted at the police line behind a banner saying "STOP ETHNIC CLEANSING". There were chants of "We will not be moved."
After a seven-hour stand-off and tense negotiations led by TER secretary Grattan Puxon, Constant and Co (the compared hired to carry out the eviction) withdrew there men on the orders of Nuneaton and Bedworth Council. Some 50 police and a fire-engine left shortly afterwards.
In a debate in Parliament the same afternoon, Kevin McNamara, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Traveller Law Reform, said, "A fracas took place in Coventry today over issues that will - I hope - be resolved satisfactorily." McNamara said it was time the Government addressed the issue of Traveller accommodation and ended "the spiral of hatred in which the Traveller community exists."
The Bulkington Fields Caravan Park is owned by a group of 21 families. They have put in roads, hardstanding, water and electricity supplies. So far, Nuneaton council has refused planning permission claiming the greenbelt preservation area has priority over the needs of the families. However, John Lee and Aaran Smith with their legal representatives will apply on Thursday (15 Jan) at the High Court in London for an Injunction preventing Nuneaton Council attempting again to carry out an eviction by force.
Nuneaton Council officials have agreed to meet representatives of the NTAG and TERF on Friday. John Lee and Aaron Smith will be accompanied by Cliff Condona, chair of the NTAG and by Travellers Chaplain Father Joe Brown.
| 13-09-2003
BBC Children In Need made a grant award to enable the TSC to carry on doing the Renewable Energy Training events. In Phase 2 there were five training events held between November 2002 and May 2003. Three of the training events concentrated on IT skills upgrading for Staff who either went on to do the Classroom Tour or assisted in training events.The other two were aimed at Travellers who are lined up to take on TSC Computer equipment and make it available to the young people in their area or on their site. Throughout the entire process a lot of adults have been inspired to take up computer training courses or get more involved with their children's IT progress.We believe that by training people to install and manage Renewable energy power systems to power computers we are doing the following;
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| The last Phase of the Computer Classroom Project has started with a Training event and official hand over of a complete mobile solar office. The recipient was Herefordshire Traveller's Playscheme. They collect youngsters at the weekends from local Traveller sites and take them to hired Village Halls. They spend most of the day doing various activities, cooking lunch together and generally having fun. We did a workshop and training event in one and provided teaching for children and adults for two days in August. The Playscheme also work with recently settled Travellers and Traditional Roma, all benefit immensely from their sessions and we considered them excellent candidates for a TSC Computer. |  |
21-07-2003
The latest newsletter is now on the web Summer
2003
The Computer Classroom report is being worked on this should be available soon. This years mission has only just finished. Having spent the past couple of months in Scotland and Sky.
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These pictures show the families and friends of a group of Argentinians who travelled around the UK this summer with their own puppet show.
The show depicted their situation in their own country and some of the solutions they have developed; like community living.
Their children have very little access to educational facilities or resources. They expressed an interest in the computer project as they do not have mains electricity.
The mobile Office bought one of the TSC Lap-tops and donated it to their community, the TSC provided the software. The Argentinians want to set up an exchange scheme where by young people go to Argentina to experience the culture enabling them to communicate the facts on their return to the UK, similar visits would be planned for Argentinians to come and learn about communities and co-operatives in this country.
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The Computer Classroom went to the HES FES (Home Education Seaside Festival) and worked with Psand.net http://wireless.psand.net. Psand.net have a satellite internet connection which the TSC classroom network connected to via a Wi-Fi link.The Classroom had 3 computers connected to the internet and was packed all week. |  |
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The charity
is looking at getting its own satellite connection
to take around sites as internet access is what people on sites
want the charity to provide, Psand gave us lots of
information on how to set up the system. At present
were doing a feasibility study and looking at other systems like
3G and GPRS to see if any of these systems would be
able to provide the same service as the satellite.
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| 30-04-2003 Heres 4 songs done by the kids made on Travellers sites during the Computer Classroom mission Song 1 by Dan Song 2 Joe's Hip Hop Song 3 by Rhiannon Song 4 by Rhiannon
The Spring 2003 newsletter is now on the web. |
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| The Computer Classroom has just finished the first stage of Phase 2 and has spent the last week being serviced. The computers had received quite a lot of use. All the computers still work, some have weird personalities which once you get use to them they do the job!!! |  |
In addition to gaining IT skills the community also benefited from 40 hours of Renewable Energy training, this is an average of 4.4 hours for each site visited, not surprisingly, many Travellers are more interested in Bio Diesel and waste oil conversion than solar and wind power!
One reason for this is that a lot of people already have a diesel generator and are attracted to making use of a waste product, whereas the outlay on wind and solar energy collection is much greater and the payback period is probably tenfold as a result.
Our efforts have kindled the interest of two Local Education Authorities, and now that a level of communication has been established we hope to develop a working relationship which gives Travellers a chance to be heard. Although we keep hearing of new computer buses from one source or another we still haven't actually come across one 'in the steel.' The LEA Computer Bus in the Oxford area is being provided for adults as the one thing the LEA doesn't want to do is tempt the children out of school.
It is very exciting to know that soon there may be more mobile computer facilities available to Travellers, and hopefully the Travelling communities can learn to appreciate the real benefits of IT Communications within the context of their lifestyles. What still makes the TSC Computer Project stand out from all the rest is it's focus on Renewable Energy as a power source, this provides a sustainable solution to power consumption for education, and an ethical investment in our childrens' future.
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The next Next newsletter is
due out soon. It will be posted on the web about a week after
the postal version has been sent out, to subscribe click
here (were not sending it out by email yet)
1-02-2003
26-11-2002 8 new computers have been bought for the mission these upgrade the existing computers which were lacking sound cards. The new computers all have sound cards and USB ports, running windows 98. The computer
classroom report is now on the web click
here |
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The classroom is
undergoing maintenance readying it for the next mission which is hoped will
be to the Gypsy site in Bedfordshire. They have requested the computer classroom
to help women on the site with their driving theory test and provide Internet
access for teenagers. Using the computers to do this they will also receive
computer training.
The long awaited report of the first phase of the computer classroom is now available. This document is a detailed report of the mission carried out between January and March 2002. It includes details, findings, suggestions and ideas on all aspects of the tour from how to protect computer keyboards from sticky fingers to the complexities of living on the road. The document costs £10 if you are interested email us with your request. |
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A 2 day computer training workshop is to be given by Piet for all people working with the computers. The course will cover many aspects of computing and it is hoped that after the course people will be able to keep the equipment running. The course is also open to other Trustees and people involved with the charity who want to expand their computer knowledge. Get in touch if you want more information. TSC Contacts |
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The Travellers School Charity is the only source of education for some children living on sites. In order to continue this work we need funding. If you can contribute in any way we would love to hear from you. Letters of support are a real moral booster to the staff and volunteers who sometimes feel that they’re trying to climb a mountain in the dark! Any donations will help as the Trustees have to keep it running out of their own money and this will soon run out! |
Not you! The council. They want to evict us.
Come November 1st, Mid Beds Council intends to chuck us out on the road. "Go and live on a lay-by", they said in the High Court. All 200 of us.
No matter our kids are going to school. And we bought this place ourselves, to settle down. We'd like to get them under the Race Relations Act and Human Rights!
We're Romanies see, and SUPPOSED to have rights. But they still deny us a place to live. It's coming down now to a sort of ethnic-cleansing - right in the middle of England's green and pleasant land.
We bought l7 acres of it, because the government said we should set up our own caravan parks (The councils don't have to any more, since they brought in the Criminal Justice Act).
WOODSIDE is our home. Lovely spot in Hatch, near Sandy, off the A1 in Bedfordshire. Only someone in Hatch wants to build a row of posh detached houses here. So we must go.
BUT WE THINK WE CAN STOP THEM. WE ARE GOING TO STICK - AND MAKE OUR STAND HERE. NOT JUST FOR OURSELVES BUT FOR THE HOMELESS AND NEEDY EVERYWHERE.
WILL YOU JOIN US?
Tents and campfires, and cups of tea, is all we can provide you. But you will be lining up (we say) on the right side of our barricades against injustice, intolerance and racism.
A hundred good people have already added their names to the RED ALERT "Cascade", willing to come to Woodside on getting a phone call to say the eviction attempt is starting (or coming up to stop with in the Tent City the night before).
SEND IN YOUR NUMBER and PLEASE PUT THIS MESSAGE OUT FOR US!
Phone: 01206 523528
Or: 01767 689736
Posted on behalf of Janey Codona
National Travellers Action Group, Woodside
Travellers School Charity Meetings
A Next Trustees meeting is to be arranged.
The TSC Annual
General Meeting was held at the Rainbow Circle Family Fun Camp, near Ludlow,
at 11am. on Sunday 2nd June.
The last Trustees, and committee meetings were held on the weekend 9th. 10th. March 2002. At the Kebele Cafe, Bristol, and on site near the M5. Jct. 17.
The previous Trustees meetings were held on Thursday 13th, A Strategy Review with Mikyla Robinson of the Civic Trust on Friday 14th, and 12 hour Trustees meeting on Saturday 15th. of September 2001, at The Townhead Collective.
The TSC has published the Annual Report for year ended March 2002. For Sale. Approx. Price £10.00 inc. p&p.
Buddhafield from 17th. to 21st.
July. near the Wellington Monument, in Devon.
The TSC was invited to this event, and mentioned in the Programme. Attended
by Mike. It was really nice. The Theme was: Are you vacant or engaged? There
were Lots of workshops, like Dance and Qi Gung. Discussions, eg. NVDA. Relationships.
Also Buddhist rituals, with enjoyable participation in the opening and closing
ceremonies.
Solstice Stonehenge -event 2003
The TSC is setting up a Land Fund - and applying for grants to provide sites in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, for temporary educational use.
The TSC continues to offer support to home educating Travellers, as well as providing a forum, giving Travellers a chance to take part in discussions about education and helping to create stronger links with the wider community.
More Travellers are getting involved creating new energy for new ideas. The Research Report 2000 is available. Some children have been able to gain experience in IT use, through the computer project. See report. The computer hardware, and solar-power system were funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.
We continue to Support the school on site at El Morreon, Spain. Providing educational facilities for multi-cultural Traveller children. A lot of individuals and organisations are showing an interest in what is being done. EAT have been frequently donating teaching resources. TSC Advisor, and Teacher Ed, has been to help out at El Morreon.
If you have a project that you would like to accomplish, please send a brief description. We may be able to help locate funding or provide support.
The TSC is keen to recruit budding journalists and other volunteers to help with writing and producing the newsletter. We want more input from Travellers, especially children, in future issues. So if you have any news send an email,
The following article is Reproduced from the Groundswell Newsletter October 2001
A profile of a grant application,
made last year by Ed, who is a teacher, and TSC project worker:
We are group of travellers who wanted to set up a mobile classroom for
travelling children. The project has gone really well when it has been running.
It has looked after between 15 and 20 children and for them it has been brilliant.
There has been a huge range of children using our facilities. Some of them are
home educated and we are just lending some support to their parents. We also
support children who are at school full time by giving them a bit of space away
from their parents where it can get quite claustrophobic. Those kids can get
the chance to develop creatively - drawing, painting. The hardest bit is that
we support kids who are getting no other forms of education. They are really
behind other children and are desperate to catch up. It is hard for me to teach
them without more help and some parents treat the classroom like a crèche.
But when parents support us it runs really well.
I think that the Caravan Classroom has benefited everyone involved. The teaching has obviously been great for the ' kids but the classroom has also raised the confidence of adults who have come and helped. It has also helped the families who are living in such small spaces. We are giving their children a space of their own.
Ed Sibcy, Caravan Classroom.
The following article is Reproduced from The Land Is Ours Newsletter September 2001
The twelve year old Travellers' School Charity is currently relaunching after an especially quiet transition phase, during which some long standing members have moved on to other projects. The T.S.C is now re-emerging as an active user-led organisation. The T.S.C provides educational advice and support to the dynamic and diverse "new" traveller community. This involves researching what is already available in terms of resources and services; collating then networking this information; and by identifying and responding to need, initiating and/or assisting relevant projects, eg: new publications, mobile I.T unit, caravan classrooms, and the compilation of a skillshare database.
The most urgent priority facing the T.S.C is lack of funding . As a result, the charitys' finance committee has undertaken a programme of grant applications, but until these come to fruition, we continue to rely on donations and subscriptions to our newsletter (new edition available), and welcome contributions of any kind..
All enquiries to Travellers' School Charity,
3 Bryn Terrace, Rosebush, Clunderwen, Pembs. SA66 7QU.
E-mail
Web-site
Meetings in May 2001, facilitated
by Mikyla Robinson, of the Civic Trust, and Sam Field, made the following analysis
of the the TSC's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats:
Strengths and Weaknesses
Aims
A framework for the future was planned, and tasks identified.
New Policy Documents have been issued. Including: Child Protection also Volunteer Guidelines
Just found this from 1997 The Travellers’ School Charity (TSC) compiled by Alan Dearling, December 1997.
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The Travellers' School Charity,
P.O. Box 2, Goodwick,Pembrokeshire. SA64 0ZQ
UK Registered Charity No. 327731
