Gypsy and Traveller-led advocacy, research and change
We are not here simply to be consulted. We are here to lead.
Proud Gypsy Traveller CIC is an ethnic Gypsy and Traveller-led organisation delivering planning and welfare advocacy, community-led research, policy work, dialogue-led training and creative projects.
We combine lived experience, professional knowledge and evidence from our communities to challenge discrimination, influence decisions and create practical change.
Decisions about our lives should not be made without us
For generations, other people have spoken about Gypsy and Traveller communities, researched us, designed services for us and made decisions affecting our homes, health, education and families.
Too often, our involvement comes after the important decisions have already been made.
Policies do not become fair because somebody adds a consultation at the end. Research is not community-led when outsiders control the questions, the funding, the interpretation and the final report.
Proud Gypsy Traveller CIC was created to challenge that imbalance.
We centre the voices, knowledge and leadership of ethnic Gypsy and Traveller communities, including Romani Gypsies, Irish Travellers and Scottish Gypsy Travellers.
We speak for ourselves, on our own terms.
What we do
Planning advocacy and welfare reports
A planning application is never only about land.
The shortage of authorised Gypsy and Traveller sites leaves families facing overcrowding, insecure roadside living, repeated displacement or enforcement action after buying their own land.
Behind every case are real consequences for health, disability, children’s education, safeguarding, family life and mental wellbeing.
PGT produces culturally informed welfare evidence and supports families through planning processes. We make sure that decision-makers see the people, needs and rights behind the paperwork.
Community-led research and policy
Research should not extract people’s experiences and leave the systems causing the harm untouched.
We design and deliver research with communities, not on them. Our approach uses trusted conversations, oral evidence, peer and community researchers, lived experience and culturally appropriate ways of taking part.
We turn what communities tell us into clear evidence, practical recommendations and direct challenges to the organisations with the power to act.
Our work covers issues including health inequalities, mental health, suicide prevention, accommodation, planning, education, discrimination and access to services.
Dialogue-led training
A presentation can provide information. It cannot, by itself, change an organisation.
PGT delivers honest, dialogue-led sessions for public services, professionals and organisations working with Gypsy and Traveller people.
We create a structured space where people can ask difficult questions, examine assumptions and understand how policy and professional practice affect real families.
This is not a tick-box exercise in cultural awareness. The purpose is better decisions, safer services and measurable change.
Heritage, storytelling and creative work
Storytelling is power.
For generations, our histories have been misrepresented, romanticised or left out altogether. We support Gypsy and Traveller people to record, protect and share their own histories through oral testimony, writing, exhibitions, performance and creative projects.
Our culture is not something to be interpreted for us. It is living knowledge, carried by our families and communities.
Led by community. Grounded in evidence.
Proud Gypsy Traveller CIC was founded and is led by Gypsy and Traveller people.
We bring together lived experience and professional expertise. We understand the effects of discrimination personally, but we also know how policy, research, planning, commissioning and public services operate.
That combination matters.
It means we can build trust with communities while presenting strong, credible evidence to the organisations responsible for making decisions.
As an asset-locked Community Interest Company, our resources are used for community benefit. Earned income from research, reports, training and commissioned work helps protect our independence and enables us to say what needs to be said.
How we work
Community leadership
Gypsy and Traveller people are not an audience for our work. They help shape it, deliver it and decide where it should lead.
Cultural safety
We do not expect people to fit systems that were never designed with them in mind. We adapt how we communicate and work so that literacy, digital access or distrust created by previous experiences do not become barriers.
Independence
We accept work and funding where it aligns with our values. We will not soften community evidence to make it more comfortable for institutions.
Action
Listening matters, but listening without action changes nothing. Our work is designed to influence decisions, improve practice and create results communities can see.
Who we work with
We work directly with Gypsy and Traveller individuals, families and communities.
We also work with:
- Local authorities and planning professionals
- NHS organisations and health services
- Schools, colleges and universities
- Researchers and policy teams
- Charities and community organisations
- Funders and commissioners
- Police and criminal justice organisations
- Employers and other public-facing services
Our involvement should begin while decisions are still being shaped—not after the strategy has been written.
Need advice or support?
Tell us what is happening and what help you need.
We will be honest about whether PGT is the right organisation to help. Where we can assist, we will explain the next step clearly. Where another organisation is better placed, we will try to identify the most appropriate route.
Ready to work differently?
If your organisation only wants approval for a decision it has already made, PGT is unlikely to be the right partner.
If you are prepared to listen honestly, share power, confront discrimination, colonial thinking and act on evidence, we want to hear from you.
Talk to us about community-led research, planning and welfare evidence, policy development, training, engagement and creative projects.
Proud Gypsy Traveller CIC
Based in Yorkshire and working nationally
Company number: 16575026