23 Jun 2026
The month of June is Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month, a month to celebrate, raise awareness and amplify the voices of Romani (Gypsy), Roma, Traveller, Showmen and Boater people.
The theme of this year’s history month is ‘Onwards with Hope,’ a theme that Friends, Families and Travellers – a national charity seeking to end racism and discrimination against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people and to protect the right to pursue a nomadic way of life – picked to ‘draw inspiration from the hope that young people hold for the future.’
At Agenda Alliance, we know how much inspiration girls and young women can draw from the formidable women who came before them. Trailblazing educators and activists have the potential to inspire a future generation of girls as musicians, scientists, teachers, campaigners, and artists.
Particularly in education settings, it’s important that girls see themselves represented in examples of pioneering women throughout history. There are so many Romani (Gypsy), Roma, Traveller, Showmen and Boater women who’ve achieved widespread recognition through their life and work – and we’re grateful to Friends, Families and Travellers and Candance G Thomas from ACERT for developing materials on inspiring Romani (Gypsy), Roma, Traveller, Showmen and Boater women, both in the past and the present day, which we’ve drawn on this month.
Margaret Barry
Margaret Barry, nicknamed 'Queen of the Gypsies or Tinkers', was an Irish Traveller and folk singer from Cork, born in 1917. At the age of 16, she set off on her own with only a bicycle and a banjo, and began performing as a street busker. After being talent-spotted, she went on to achieve widespread recognition, releasing albums including 'Songs of an Irish Tinker' and performing in world-renowned venues, including the Royal Albert Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York. A young David Attenborough helped bring her to television audiences for the first time, and Bob Dylan counted her among his favourite singers. She was famously outspoken, and captured her own spirit perfectly with the phrase: 'a mouth full of a million words.'
Ceija Stojka
Ceija Stojka was born in 1933, into a nomadic family of horse traders in Austria. In 1943, she was deported to Auschwitz alongside 200 extended family members, just two years after her father had been murdered by the Nazi regime. Ceija, her mother and four siblings were liberated from Bergen-Belsen in 1945, the only family members to survive. Returning to Austria, they made a living selling carpets. In later life, Ceija became a writer and activist, advocating for recognition of the Romani Genocide.
Lyubov and Natalya Pankova
Lyubov Pankova was a Russian Romani biologist, and her sister Natalya was a chemist. Natalya made significant contributions to her field, developing around 30 prospective designs for cyanine dyes - used in medical imaging - for which she was awarded an inventor's certificate. Beyond her scientific work, she was also a gifted singer and watercolour artist. Lyubov went on to earn a PhD in human biology, specialising in clinical physiology with a particular focus on the physiological development of children and teenagers. She authored and co-authored numerous textbooks on animal and human physiology, as well as more than 50 scientific papers.
Lois Brookes-Jones
Lois Brookes-Jones is a Jewish LGBTQ+ Romani Gypsy woman, and a passionate intersectionality activist. A student of international relations and politics, Lois serves as an ambassador for the European Roma Rights Centre and is a member of the Traveller Women's Network. She is also the founder of the Diklo Collective - named after the Romanes word for a neck scarf - a project that blends fashion with activism, enabling young Romani women to purchase traditional dress and celebrate their Romani heritage.
Find out more about inspiring Gypsy, Roma and Traveller women here and here.
Why is the focus on education so important during Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month?
Access to and experience of high-quality, inclusive education is essential to social equality, ending poverty, and establishing independence and security. Yet, we know that Romani (Gypsy), Roma, Traveller, Showmen and Boater girls are not being granted the same educational opportunities as their White British counterparts.
Data obtained through FOIs to the Department for Education as part of our girls’ school exclusions project show that more than 6 in 10 Romani (Gypsy), Roma and Traveller girls are persistently absent - meaning they are missing at least 10% of the school year. 1 in 10 are severely absent (missing at least 50% of school). This is more than triple the rate for White British girls. Romani (Gypsy), Roma and Traveller girls are also suspended and permanently excluded at more than double the rate of White British girls.
As research from the Traveller Movement shows, Romani (Gypsy), Roma, Traveller, Showmen and Boater students’ experience of education is shaped by discrimination, bullying and punitive punishments, where schools contribute to hostile environments that push them out of education.
This Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History month, and every day outside of that, we are advocating for renewed focus on improving educational access and outcomes for Romani (Gypsy), Roma, Traveller, Showmen and Boater girls. To achieve this, the Government, schools and Local Authorities must work with specialist organisations such as ACERT, the Traveller Movement and Friends, Families, Travellers – as well as local advocacy groups.
For this month’s theme, Onwards with Hope, we’re hopeful that sustained focus and collaboration with Romani (Gypsy), Roma, Traveller, Showmen and Boater girls - and the organisations that represent and support them - can facilitate real change in educational outcomes, and enable generational change, to ensure that no girl faces disadvantage and discrimination in the classroom because of who she is or where she comes from.