STRICTLY EMBARGOED: Do not publish or print until 0001hours, Tuesday January 22, 2002
The first comprehensive record detailing the cultural traditions of Scottish Travelling People is to be researched, recorded and introduced to Scottish schoolchildren thanks to a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £90,000, which has been awarded today to the University of Aberdeen’s Elphinstone Institute.
As part of this major piece of oral history research, members of the Scottish Traveller community will be interviewed about their language, customs, occupations and family life. This will be documented, along with their songs, ballads and stories, to form a sound and video archive, a website and a printed publication. The research, in this neglected area of Scottish heritage, will be used to increase awareness and understanding of the life of travelling people and help break down barriers between Traveller children and schools.
Welcoming the grant, Director of the Elphinstone Institute, Ian Russell, said: “This will be a tremendous boost to the work of the Elphinstone Institute.
“We aim to build relations with schools, so that pupils become aware of the rich heritage of Scottish traditions among the Travellers. It will help counteract the negative images of the Travelling People that abound in Scottish society by demonstrating the creative contribution that Travellers have made, and continue to make, to our cultural identity.
“I am very pleased with the award of this funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and look forward to appointing a keyworker who will be able to promote the cultural traditions of Scottish Travellers among young people, including young Travellers.”
Commenting on the grant, Colin McLean, the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Manager for Scotland, said, “We are delighted to be able to help open up this very rich seam of Scottish heritage which, to date, has been more
or less ignored. It reflects our commitment to increasing access to Scotland’s past and, through education and raised awareness, helps address the issue of social inclusion at a time when there has been much publicity about Traveller children being bullied at school.”
As part of the associated education programme, a keyworker will visit primary and secondary schools to introduce children and young people to the cultural traditions of Travellers through interactive workshops of songs and story-telling. These will also make significant contributions to a variety of aspects of the 5-14 and standard grade curriculum. Young Travellers will be actively encouraged to focus on and record their own heritage, while teachers and student teachers will have access to this new heritage resource through in-service and training courses.