October 5, 2012 10.12 am This story is over 137 months old

Lincolnshire Traveller charity goes on the road with new learning bus

Traveller bus: A charity which offers training and educational courses to the county’s Traveller community can now travel further afield.
Paul Boucher and Sam Turner of the Lincolnshire Traveller Initiative with the new learning bus alongside Naomi (11), Leah (12) and Jude (14), who are using the service.

A charity based in Lincolnshire will be able to tour the county, thanks to a grant to buy a minibus.

The Lincolnshire Traveller Initiative helps Travellers in the county gain educational courses and training.

It received £15,000 in funding from national charity The Clothworkers’ Foundation, which paid for a mobile learning bus to visit traveller sites to offer learning opportunities.

Paul Boucher from Lincolnshire Traveller Initiative said: “You can imagine how pleased we were to receive the offer letter from The Clothworkers’ Foundation.

“We worked hard consulting with the Traveller community about their learning needs and now we can take to the road ensuring they get easier access to our services.

“There is no-one in Lincolnshire offering what we do and it is great that this has been acknowledged.”

Lincolnshire Traveller Initiative is supported by Lincolnshire County Council, which means travellers can get specialist advice, support and unique teaching techniques.

The bus is already travelling around Lincolnshire, and has visited a number of sites in the south of the county.

Traveller is a word used to describe a variety of cultural and ethnic groups, associated with Gypsy, Roma and Travellers of Irish Heritage, fairground families or Show People, circus families, New Travellers and Bargees or canal-boat families.

The most common groups in the UK are Gypsies and Travellers of Irish Heritage, and have protection under the Race Relations Act.

Source: Lincolnshire Traveller Initiative