Implementation

In November 2004 two final-year undergraduates made initial contact with Traveller Services in Flintshire, North Wales. They worked on a weekly basis from February until May 2005 with a mixed-age group of Traveller children at St Anne’s Primary School in Wrexham. The project culminated in a Forum Theatre workshop with the young people. This pair of students also worked sporadically with a group of young Traveller women aged 12–17. This project culminated in a visit and workshop held at the university in May.

In April 2005, eight second-year students supported both projects by running workshops and contributing to the final visit.

In November 2005 another two final-year undergraduates made initial contact with Traveller Services in Cheshire. (Both of these students had worked with the Travellers in Wrexham in their second year.)

Between February and May 2006 they worked with a small group of disaffected young Travellers who had been excluded from formal education. Their parents were also involved to an extent. This project culminated in a visit to the university and a special workshop for them.

In North Wales, between February and May 2006, six second-year undergraduates worked with a class of children about to transfer to secondary school. Travellers constituted about 45% of the class. The school had been criticised in the previous year for separatism in offering the Forum Theatre experience only to Travellers. This project was supposed to culminate in a Forum Theatre event for parents, adults and other children, but on the day planned, most of the invited audience had gone out for the day – so the final session took the from of preparing a performance for the children to show to other classes in the school. This was disappointing, but it taught us how important it is to build stronger relationships with a potential outside audience.

All students involved were following either a double module at Level 3 (Independent Negotiated Study 15 ECTS) or a double module at Level 2 (Performance Practice 15 ECTS). They were assessed on the basis of practical work and academic essays analysing the experiences.