17 April 2008 [updated 28 April 2008]

Gypsy and Traveller Awareness Event

East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service recently organised a Gypsy and Traveller Awareness Event, which was held at the Service Training Centre on Wednesday 9th April 2008. The event was designed to help build a positive relationship with the Gypsy/Traveller population of East Sussex and the City of Brighton & Hove and provide communities, who, historically have been harder to reach, with free, life-saving smoke alarms and targeted fire safety advice.

As a Public Authority, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, have a duty to eliminate unlawful discrimination and promote good race relations. Travellers have one of the lowest health and educational outcomes of any minority group and are often the target of local hostility and misrepresentation. As a result, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service have been working with local agencies and partners in the area, to overcome racism and discrimination against local Gypsies and Travellers, regardless of their ethnicity, culture or background, or whether they’re settled or mobile. It is estimated that the national population of gypsies and travellers is 300,000 with 1000 of these in East Sussex. This figure is therefore quite significant when compared to the other ethnic groups in East Sussex.

The event was hugely successful and was well attended by many local gypsy families. It also provided an opportunity for staff at East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service to gain a better understanding of the gypsy and traveller communities and their needs. A lot of children attended the event and they had great fun, exploring the fire engines and keeping their strength up by eating plenty of cakes!

The Gypsy and Traveller Awareness event also included presentations from Gypsy speakers Greg Yates, the spokesperson for the Clearwater gypsies and Jake Bowers, Britain’s only Romani Journalist. Jake is a regular contributor to the Guardian, BBC Radio, television and minority rights publications and presents the first ever Romani radio station ‘Rokker Radio.’ He commented,

“Gypsies and Travellers are still highly disadvantaged and marginalised in Sussex. It’s great to see the depth of understanding that East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service have shown about our community and the willingness they have to work within our community to help prevent and reduce the risk of fire.”

The Equality & Diversity trainer for East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Michael Feather, highlighted the importance of working in partnership with gypsy and traveller communities across East Sussex and the City of Brighton & Hove. He said,

“East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service is proud to host an event of this nature and we are actively involved in engaging with gypsy and traveller communities in order to promote equality, fairness, dignity and respect. ”

For further information on fire safety please contact East Sussex Fire & rescue Service Community Safety Team on 0800 1777069.