When traveller caravans pitch up on open spaces in Kent, it usually sparks outrage among local residents and swift action from authorities to move them on.

But what does this mean for the community's traditional nomadic lifestyle? Davina Jethwa spoke to one woman about her fears for the future of her culture.

Maryann Eastwood is a 44-year-old Roma traveller who grew up in trailers, moving around with her family.

During summer, they would go to places where crops needed harvesting and would pick fruits and vegetables that needed to be gathered quickly.

Through winter months, they would sell clothes, blankets and handcrafted decorations as men offered labour for money.

"The lifestyle used to be about moving around for the work - they went from farm to farm with the seasons," she said

“Everything is easier to get a hold of now but back in the old days, they lived together, they hunted together, sold things together.”

The community moved as a unit and stayed together as a family, often spending evenings socialising around a fire.

“We had them in the summer, not just the winter - it wasn't just there to keep you warm.”

The fire was at the centre of the community and was lit to fertilise the ground, to cook, or as a sign of respect when someone had died.

Travellers have always adapted their lifestyles to move with the times, but with a recent change in the law, the community is facing a crisis.

“Once upon a time, the families all stuck together. Now there is a lot of separation,” said Maryann.

"The culture has got messed up through the system.

“We've lost the connection to nature, we've lost the connection to each other, we've lost value for each other.”

In the recent 2021 census, research showed a “recurrent theme among community member participants was a feeling of having limited choice and influence over their lives.”

Last year, legislation was introduced allowing local authorities to evict, fine or arrest travellers pitching on unauthorised encampments.

They must instead apply for a space on council-owned sites, but this has proved problematic for the community as it undermines the nomadic lifestyle they follow.

Maryann now lives in a house in Eastling, Faversham, but by conforming to the social norm, she feels distant from her culture and Roma heritage.

“I’m living in a house at the moment, I’m sitting in a square garden and I feel trapped, but at the same time, I don’t want to live on a traveller site because it’s no different to living in a house.

“To be stuck here like this, it depresses me – I have to go out, I have to be out,” she said.

Reflecting on her childhood, Maryann said: “We moved around from farm to farm and with my brothers and sisters, we used to roam in the field.

“I was used to being able to get up in the morning and the orchard was my garden. We could play and be as loud as we liked, and there was no one judging us.”

She believes that the changing attitudes and control of travellers are comparable to the Native American Reservations.

Nearly 200 years ago the indigenous people were forced off their ancestral lands and into U.S. federal government areas, making it near-impossible to maintain their culture in a confined space.

The tragedy resulted in isolation, poverty, and low standards of living for Native Americans, and similar themes are occurring in traveller communities today.

Current traveller sites are often overwhelmed and lacking in availability.

The recent census showed that those residing in them face various issues such as “fly-tipped rubbish, rat infestations, the site being located near busy roads” and insufficient facilities for the population.

The census also found that many community members faced “difficult trade-offs about where to live, for example, having to choose between better access to healthcare or proximity to family.”

Members are either marked as criminals by continuing their nomadic life illegally or, hide their identity and succumb to traditional lifestyles.

Studies show that travellers are the most discriminated against ethnic group, and overt prejudice and stereotypes drive wedges between the community and non-traveller residents.

Fears of discrimination have led many to hide their heritage.

“The way society has built up around us - we’re singled out of it, but at the same time, they want us to conform to it,” said Maryann.

Prejudices have recently led to illegal pitchers acting out by littering residential areas with rubbish and human waste.

These actions can result in the re-enforcement of existing stereotypes, which are often not representative of the whole traveller population.

Maryann said: “I get why they do it - because they’ve felt so disrespected that when it comes to it they sort of go ‘let them have it’.

“Some travellers bring it on themselves by giving non-travellers bad experiences

“They have to show respect - don't give people reasons to talk about you.”

Alternatively, she also thinks that more freedoms should be given to travellers who respectfully pitch up in what is currently, unauthorised land.

“I don’t agree with pulling on other people’s property and breaking chains to get on there but where are these people supposed to go?

“They [local authorities] build these nature reserves and there's nothing wrong with that, but they put barriers up so travellers can't go there.

“Some of these are places that travellers have been going to for years and years.”

Currently, there is no satisfactory solution for both the community and settled residents and as a result, one group is suffering.

Whether this culture can survive in modern times is unknown, but it seems that there will be no hope if there is no respect all around.

“We need to bring everyone together and all have more of an understanding of each other,” said Mary Ann.