When Gypsies and Travellers are listened to, change is possible
Gypsies and Travellers, health professionals and community organisations came together at Buckfast Abbey in Devon on 8 September for Barriers to Health — a conference looking at one of the biggest challenges facing our communities, says TravellerSpace.
The Barriers to Health conference brought together members of the Gypsy and Traveller communities alongside healthcare specialists, researchers, community organisations and frontline staff, with one simple aim: to listen to the experiences of Travellers and work together to co‑produce appropriate, effective health services.
“Today’s expertise is in this room. It comes from lived experience, community knowledge, research, and examples of good practice,” said TravellerSpace’s Angie Whitehead — herself a Traveller.
The day provided an opportunity for Travellers to talk openly about the difficulties they can face when seeking healthcare, while giving health professionals and delivery staff the chance to listen directly to those experiences.
A rolling PowerPoint presentation throughout the conference brought the voices of community members into the room, with quotes describing real experiences — and these personal experiences were at the heart of the day.
The conference also highlighted that while there are significant barriers, there are services and partnerships that are getting it right.
Three speakers shared examples of successful work developed through partnerships between TravellerSpace, community members and specialist health services. These projects showed what can happen when time is taken to build relationships with communities, listen to what people actually need and develop services alongside them, rather than simply expecting Travellers to fit into existing systems.
Speakers included guest keynote Betty Billington Smith from Kushti Bok, who spoke powerfully about her own experiences and highlighted the disturbingly poor health outcomes faced by community members.
Gareth Walsh from Public Health Cornwall introduced the Smarter Smiles project, a groundbreaking piece of research into dental health within Gypsy and Traveller communities.
Adam Morgan from Real Life Psychology outlined a distinctive approach to mental health support in Devon.
Sarah Pedlar presented the flagship Porth Midwives project in Cornwall, demonstrating how tailored maternity care can make a measurable difference.
Together, these projects showed a clear lesson: engagement works when trust is built.
For Traveller communities who have often experienced discrimination, misunderstanding or services that have failed to recognise their particular circumstances, trust cannot simply be assumed — it has to be earned.
The conference therefore wasn’t about finding a single solution or expecting everyone to agree; it was about creating a safe space where people could share both positive and negative experiences and consider what needs to change.
Delegates were encouraged to listen respectfully, recognise that everyone’s experience is different and, most importantly, think about how change can be made together.
Central to the conference were the workshops, giving everyone the opportunity to identify priorities, explore what works and what does not, and consider what practical changes could make the greatest difference to people’s access to healthcare — changes which, in some cases, could save lives.
For those who shared personal experiences during the day, there was recognition that speaking openly about difficult or painful experiences takes courage. Their stories matter, the knowledge of community members matters, and, crucially, their ideas should help shape what happens next.
The closing message was particularly powerful: “We don’t want today’s ideas to sit in a report. We want to see them become reality.”
Crucially, the conference wasn’t intended to end with people simply returning to their workplaces and forgetting what they had heard. NHS Devon has set aside substantial funding to develop co‑designed projects based on suggestions made by community members during the day, creating the conditions for real and meaningful change.
For Gypsies and Travellers, the hope is that Barriers to Health will be more than another conference where concerns are raised and reports are written. The challenge now is to turn listening into action — and to show that when health services genuinely listen to Gypsies and Travellers, build trust and work alongside communities, substantially improving health outcomes is possible.
TravellerSpace press release/TT News
(Photograph: Angie Whitehead at the Barriers to Health conference)
TravellerSpace is a charity supporting Gypsies, Travellers and Van Dwellers across Devon and Cornwall. It works to break down the barriers that prevent Travelling people from having equal access to health, education and welfare services, participating in the wider community and having a voice in decisions that affect them.