WITH half term finally here, Fabulous spoke to gypsy girl Chantelle Devonshire, to get the lowdown on what really happens on caravan estates during the holidays.
Chantelle, a 22-year-old gypsy wife from Cambridge, explained that the kids are “wild” and will often be running around with dogs and horses, playing with nerf guns, having water balloon fights, or making fires.
As well as this, she claimed that caravan sites are often extremely loud during the school holidays, with little ones staying up playing outside and in fields, sometimes until midnight.
Chantelle opened up to Fabulous about what half term is like on a caravan park during May half term, as she explained: “When the children are off school, it’s mayhem.
“They will be riding their bikes up and down, there will be big groups of them everywhere.
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“The young girls will do their cleaning first and then go out. The young boys will be out walking their dogs or on the horse and cart with their dads.
“They’ll play with nerf guns and boys will probably have a catapult in their hand. They’ll set up targets behind the trailers and they’ll constantly keep shooting it with the catapults.
“The little girls will be on their bikes, driving around in their battery cars, or you’ll see them pushing a Silvercross pram with their dolls in it.
“There will be loads of kids - around 30, if not more. It’s because traveller families are big - most of the time you’re looking at four or five children per family, some have six.”
YOUNGSTERS GATHER
Chantelle explained that many gypsy children will be taken out of school around the age of 11, and so it’s mainly the younger kids who are off school during half term, causing havoc.
She added: “Gypsy children get taken out of school, normally when they go to secondary school.
“The boys will start learning to go out to work, the girls will have to do more cleaning and learn the way of becoming a wife.
“So it’s mainly the younger kids that are out and about in half term. They’ll be out on their bikes or motorbikes, out with their dogs. It’s just mayhem.
“The children will run around, they’ll be walking up and down the road. Or if a site is near a field, they’ll go in the fields and make dens and have water balloon fights.
“The kids are wild. I think non-traveller children have a stricter routine compared to gypsy children - traveller kids have a lot more freedom than non-travellers.
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When the children are off school, it’s mayhem
Chantelle Devonshire
“They are allowed to go out and play on their motorbikes and have fires.
“Travellers have lots of animals - chickens, horses, dogs, everything. As the kids are growing up, they’ll be taught to look after the animals, and when half term is there, it’ll be their responsibility to look after their animals.
“You’ll see little girls putting their dogs in their prams and pretending it's their baby.”
ALL DAY PLAY
Chantelle shared that the kids will come out to play once they’ve eaten their breakfast and can be out and about until very late in the evening.
She shared: “The kids will come out on the sites after they’ve had their breakfast. It depends on the parents, but when the weather is good, a lot of the travellers will sit together, play music and sometimes the kids won’t go to bed until 11pm or 12pm.
“It’s always mayhem, there’s always something going on and people chatting.”
Some traveller children will joke around and put their middle fingers up - it’s their way of being funny
Chantelle Devonshire
She also claimed that traveller sites are safe places for the young children to play, and the older kids will keep a look out for their younger siblings.
Chantelle continued: “When the children are outside, the older kids will keep an eye on their brothers and sisters.
“But with sites, normally there’s just one road, so you can see who’s coming in and out, so the children are safe to play.
It’s not as strict as it used to be years ago. I think some families let their kids get away with too much
Chantelle Devonshire
“Everyone will watch out for everyone’s children. And other parents will tell off other people’s children if they were being too loud or doing something wrong.”
PARENTS JOIN IN TOO
But half term isn’t just kids playing - as according to Chantelle, sometimes the parents will get involved too.
Chantelle explained: “The adults will get involved too. There will always be music on, on a speaker, it’s quite loud, and there are barbeques.
“Traveller people are so close - when you live so close to people, it’s like family. If you live in a house, everyone is under one roof, but when you’re on a site, you can undo your window and there can be a trailer not too far from you.
“The traveller community is so close, everyone knows everyone.”
CHEEKY KIDS
But according to Chantelle, with gypsy parents, whilst they can be strict, sometimes they are very relaxed with parenting too.
She shared: “Gypsy people are very strict. The kids have their freedom but to a certain extent.
“There’s no vaping or anything like that - if kids were caught with a vape, their phone would be taken off of them, that’s how strict they can be.
“But it’s not as strict as it used to be years ago. I think some families let their kids get away with too much.
“Some traveller children will joke around and put their middle fingers up - it’s their way of being funny.
“Most traveller children can be cheeky. Obviously they’re children, they don’t mean any harm, they see it as a joke. They’re just trying to make you laugh.”
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