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I am a member of a Romany Gypsy family and have travelled around England for most of my life. I have therefore attended various schools and never really fitted in always being the "New Girl".

I often used to walk around the playground by myself, playing imaginary games instead of playing Tag or some such game with the rest of the children as when it came to teams I was always one of the last to be picked.

Whenever I started a new school I felt pressured when any of the children even asked me where I lived. When I told them I lived in a caravan they’d ask why, so I’d tell them it was because I was a Gypsy and they’d go on asking questions like 'were my family witches?' and other such daft things, like 'did I kill and eat hedgehogs?'

I see now that a lot of it wasn’t really bullying but just childish curiosity and ignorance. Anyhow one time it got so bad, having all the other children circling around me, asking these questions, one asked if my family put curses on people - I said yes they did and I could as well if they didn’t leave me alone.

Outside the front door

Of course I couldn’t, but they didn’t seem to know that and they left me alone for the rest of the day.

However the next day after they’d gone home to their parents, and no doubt found out that I’d been lying, things got a lot worse. At one school the bullying got so bad that I used to make myself physically sick just to go home early.

So, at the age of 11, I left school completely.

At that age I never considered my lack of education, as almost everyone I knew had left school at about the same age. After that I spent my days in the winter helping my Mother clean up and learning how to cook, well I say helping, I think for a long while I was more of a hindrance than a help!

I’d usually make out I’d done something, or do a quick or bad job on it just to get outside and play with the kids on the Gypsy site.

Up on the roof
In the summer, as I got older, I’d go to work with my father. In traveller families this would usually be the job of the son but in the absence of one (my parents had three girls of which I’m the eldest.) I went instead.

I enjoyed it a lot. My dad would paint barn roofs on farms and I’d help top up the paint and hold the ladders. A lot of the time though I got to sit down and read my books whilst my dad was on the roof.

The strange thing is that when I was at school I hated reading, as usually everyone else in the class would finish the book while I was still on the first half so I’d give up without finishing it.

I do love books now but until this day I’m still a slow reader, much to the despair of my mam and my youngest sister - when they’re waiting to start the book I’m reading.

Louise and Christina

All of my family are very close but I think this is because when it was summer and we’d move around, we’d usually stop by ourselves not on the big gypsy sites so we had no one else for company - and if you’ve got five people living in a space 23ft x 8ft you haven’t got a lot of choice but to get on!

At the age of 18 my family decided to settle down, so I unquestioningly moved with them to Devon to live on a field they owned near Cullompton. (Traveller girls don’t usually leave home until they’re married.)

After a while there I got a job in a local factory and whilst working there gained a NVQ level 2.
I was so chuffed with it as it was my first qualification. I told all my family, Granny, aunts, uncles, everyone.

Also whilst working there, I realised I no longer had a phobia of socialising with Non Gypsies - Gorgies as we call them - something I had carried with me from my school days.

When I told them I was a gypsy they didn’t make an issue of it.

Until then I’d always thought they’d start asking me awkward questions, which is strange as now I’m more than happy to answer people's questions if it will give them a better understanding.

After a couple of years working there I’d saved enough money to get a car and could then drive to Exeter where there are more jobs available.

I soon got a job in an office doing work I enjoyed and I stayed there for over a year, which is quite long considering I was only a "Temporary Worker."

During my time there I found my knowledge of computers was somewhat lacking, so I started attending evening classes on computers and a Mathematics course with the intention of gaining a GCSE and I found that I actually enjoyed learning so much that after I finished my CLAIT computer course I enrolled on a English course.

With the help of these courses and the experience I’d gained working in the office environment as a "temp." I’ve recently gained a permanent job with another company.

At 23yrs old, as I look into the future, I hope that within the next two years I shall have my Maths and English GCSEs and, who knows, university is even a possibility as almost anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

But who's to say what any of us might want in two or three years time, as we are all constantly changing and moving in one way or another and we can only see things from where we stand now.