Tommy Collins

Tommy was born in Ireland sixty two years ago. He is a member of the Irish Traveller community and was born in a Bowtop wagon, the traditional horse drawn transport that Travellers used in those days. His father used to buy and sell horses. Tommy remembers that his father was quite old but his father did not know his age as like with many Travellers in those days he was not registered at birth.

Tommy didn't go to school as schools did not like to open their doors to Travellers. Tommy remembers that on those days many people called the Travellers 'tinkers'. As a child Tommy learnt to look after horses and harness them and he would go around the houses looking for scrap metal or horse hair that was used to make things.

Life in Ireland was tough then especially for Travellers and many went over to England where they were told life was easier. Tommy first went to Britain in 1958. He was 13 and he and his brother were recruited to pick potatoes in Scotland. The work was hard and the pay was low, the cost of their fare from Ireland and cost of accommodation was calculated at a high rate and deducted from their low wages. The accommodation was terrible they slept in old army huts. At the end they had little money and decided to go to London to find their sisters who were living there. Tommy and his brother arrived at Kings Cross station and did not have a clue about how they could find their sisters. They were tired and hungry and their clothing was ragged. They were picked up by the police and sent back to Ireland, they got off the boat in Dublin and had to walk home spending nights sleeping in barns and begging for scraps of food along the way.

Tommy and his brother arrived home but things were still tough in Ireland and their father decided to go to England himself and try his luck, while the family remained in Ireland. The months flew by and they heard little of their father but one day he suddenly arrived and announced that the whole family were to come to England with him. Within a matter of hours he had sold the family's Bowtop wagons and horses and the family were on the road to Dublin to catch the ferry.

In London it was difficult to find accommodation, landlords often did not want children to stay in the accommodation and to make things harder for Tommy's family many landlords put up signs saying 'No Irish, No Jews, No Blacks, No animals'. The family were separated up in different rented rooms around London and Tommy's mother and younger brothers and sisters even had to stay in a homeless hostel at first.

Tommy got work on building sites, the work was very tough and the money was not that good. Later Tommy worked for British Rail and one ofhis jobs was loadling and unloading mailbags, sometimes it was difficult because he could not read and write but he found ways around. Many of the new immigrants to Britain from Africa and India worked on the railways and Tommy made friends with them but was upset to see they were often treated as badly as Travellers. For example, in the canteen Tommy was one of the few white workers who would sit with them. Tommy became more interested in campaigns for equality, he heard Martin Luther King the famous American Black rights campaigner speak on the radio and was greatly inspired by him. Tommy joined a trade union and became active in union issues and then got a job as a school caretaker. Through his work as an activist and caretaker Tommy met many people such as teachers and other campaigners who over the years helped him to learn to read.

In 1996 Tommy went to live in Leeds there he met the great Traveller campaigner Tommy Docherty who set up the first Traveller group in the UK and he was a great inspiration to Tommy. Tommy got involved with the local Race Equality Committee that worked to helped ethnic minorities across Leeds and set up Leeds Justice for Travellers. Travellers have lived in Leeds for hundreds of years but they still have big problems today, some people are still prejudiced towards them and there are not enough Traveller sites. Tommy does his best to help other Travellers.

Tommy on Education

"Travellers will only have a future if we get more education, the worst thing in my life was not having an education, education and understanding the arguments and putting forward good ones is even more powerful than marches and protests".

Tommy on How Things Can Improve

"What Travellers need are more and better sites, if they have a place to live then the kids can go to school. Travellers have something to offer there are already teachers and policemen who are Travellers. The problem is Travellers are too scared to tell people because of all the prejudice. Making more sites and cutting out all the prejudice will allow people to really see what Travellers are and what they can do".