The Travelling community has a life expectancy of about 55 - the same as that achieved by the settled community in the 1940s. Clearly there is much distrust on each side. However, as the Citizen Traveller campaign itself exemplifies, more contact between the communities is being initiated by the Travelling community than by the settled. And while last year's campaign sought to improve the settled community's image of what the term Traveller meant the determined focus of this year's has been on the community's view of itself, emphasising its artistic culture and affirming this positive aspect of the Traveller way of life. She encourages them to talk about what being a Traveller means to them, stressing the value of the importance attached by Travellers to family and religious life.
Accommodation is a key issue however.
The other positive moves can't come, for the whole community, without it.