Rhiannon Jones began working with Gypsy and Traveller families in 2006, and during that time she came to the conclusion that there was a need to develop a Community Interest Company, allowing Experts by Experience to have a direct voice in matters which affect their lives. Rhiannon works closely with families to ensure they are representing themselves, as they were the only ethnic minority groups where this was not happening. There and Back Again CIC provides a safe, supportive place where families are valued, understood and protected.

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Our Voices is a group we were able to establish with support from The National Lottery Community Fund. The group has been set up in Cardiff with members from Caerphilly and Newport too. Our Voices are a diverse group, all with different and shared experiences. Our Voices has Romany, Gypsy and Irish Traveller members and they all support each other within the group. They are all Experts by Experience learning together, meeting with decision makers and having a direct voice, something which has been missing for too long. They are gathering positive feedback from everyone they have met with. We can expect great things from Our Voices, and they have already shown that they are unique in Wales and their value is already being recognised. ​If you would like to meet with Our Voices please do get in touch. 

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​Through our work we have identified the need to change the language we use, as we all know our families face the highest levels of discrimination in this country. 

We avoid overly using the words Gypsy and Traveller and instead we say families. We do this in the hope that our families are viewed as just that, families. Sadly having heard how they are spoken about, it is clear this is something we need to help people understand. It is sad, and we hope to work to change how our families are viewed by settled people.

Homes is the word we use when we speak about sites, mobiles, trailers etc. We are focused on our work with organisations in the housing sector, and we are having some really amazing conversations and the support we are getting is very encouraging. 

Learning Opportunities are what we provide to professionals. We no longer use the term 'training' as we do not feel this is suitable language to use. We do not 'train' people on families, we provide learning opportunities with our Experts by Experience. Our Learning Opportunities are always delivered with at least one member of Our Voices.

The language we use influences how people see our families, and simple changes can bring about meaningful change as language is very powerful. We need to be mindful we use our language in positive ways.