Plumbing - A Varied View of Life

The families from Dale Farm are being evicted. There are rights and wrongs to their eviction. They broke the planning laws and they shouldn’t have done. It remains to be seen where they will relocate but part of me thinks it would have been easier for the council and the occupants of Dale Farm to have negotiated a compromise on the existing situation rather than completely overhaul it. But that is a whole different debate or blog.

I believe, strongly, that there is good and bad in ALL sections of society. This was evident this summer during the London riots which saw a mixture of hatred and lack of respect for people and buildings result in determination by other members of the affected communities to rise from the destruction and rebuild their shattered communities. It is a basic human instinct to protect our homes, families and livelihood when under threat.

This week one of the jobs we are doing is working on a ‘Park Home’ site. The families that live on this site are travelling show people; they spend the year travelling to Fun Fairs providing entertainment. The site is made up of a series of large static caravans and pre fabricated chalet bungalows. The families live in very close proximity to each other and it is difficult to tell who the children belong to as family units are so intermingled. They live in both the caravans and chalet bungalows and there living accommodation is pristine. Three or four generations of the same family live in close proximity to each and share the responsibility of caring for the children, organising works that need doing on the site and travelling the Fairs entertaining people.

I will not forget a phone call though that started with a quiet, unassuming voice asking me ‘Hello I need a new boiler, do you work on Park Home sites?’ Not ‘Hello I need a new boiler, can you come and give me a quote’. I felt an overwhelming sadness. I could not imagine having to live a life where you doubted constantly that people would carry out work for you just because of where you live and the lifestyle. I can’t say negotiating the logistics of this week’s job has been easy; it is not easy to discuss things with a customer who travels hundreds of miles every week going from town to town working until the small hours of the morning. On the positive side, Olly who is installing the new oil boiler has been plied with constant cups of tea and coffee.

I cannot change people’s prejudice against Gypsy’s, Travellers and Show People but I can hope that we can all learn to see a bigger picture, not a black and white picture but one painted with the bright and varied colours of our different heritages and lifestyle choices. It wouldn’t do for us all to be the same.