The country's Gypsy spokesman Billy Welch believes his community faces 'the last acceptable racism'. Joanna Morris finds out more

THE country’s leading Gypsy spokesman sits in a gatehouse by the barriers of a site in Darlington, where he monitors those coming and going, answering the door to a string of friends and relatives as he shares snippets of his family’s fascinating history, one embedded in a culture few outsiders understand.

Billy Welch is surrounded by vintage photographs and objects suffused in memory and tradition – his grandfather’s bowler hat, ancient tinker papers and the colourful flag of his people among treasured artefacts that represent hundreds of years of Darlington’s Gypsies.

Mr Welch’s family have long been rooted in the town, where their heritage can be traced back at least 200 years and where they work to balance ancient customs with modern responsibilities such as work, taxes and the trials and tribulations of social media.

A common thread linking his ancestors to his children and theirs is that of persecution – even today they continue to face, Mr Welch says, “the last acceptable form of racism”.

So used to the way in which the Gypsies are perceived and treated, his wife Rachel seems almost unmoved as she sits a while and recounts myriad incidents that seem more suited to history books than today’s Britain.

“We get labelled, treated differently even in cafes and restaurants – recently four young Gypsy girls tried to go into one Darlington business and were told their kind was not welcome there, my sister and I were told a restaurant was closed when we went for a meal, it wasn’t.

"We own a lot of companies, employ hundreds of people but you'd never know because to tell someone you're a Gypsy could mean losing business.

“Primary school’s ok for our children but the bullying starts in secondary, it’s terrible and we are sometimes forced to pull them out and educate them privately.

“It’s extremely hurtful - when you have Gypsies or Travellers in one place, that’s treated by some almost as a crime in itself.”

Mr Welch joins his wife in speaking passionately about the devastating impact of anti-Gypsy sentiment, of the rise in abuse that follows media mentions of the travelling community and of endless cruel social media comments that pain his people.

A nationwide feud resulting in serious criminal activity in and around Darlington has escalated the abuse that Gypsies face – despite, Mr Welch says, the problems being linked to Travellers (considered a separate ethnic group) and not their community. It is the negative press that lingers in the minds of many when they think of Gypsies or Travellers, the crimes that have hit the headlines, the shocking incidents that have inspired fear and concern at the heart of the communities they are part of.

But there is “no perfect race”, Mr Welch says, insisting such crimes leave the majority of Gypsies and Travellers devastated: “There are thousands of Gypsies in Darlington, paying our taxes, running businesses and contributing to our community in the same way as the settled community does. You never see or hear of most of us – you wouldn’t know Gypsies were living next door yet when one of us does something bad we’re all tarred with the same brush.

“When they say Gypsies have done something, it makes us sound like we’ve all done it and when people see us, they’re frightened.”

It is that fear that combines with widespread misunderstanding to inspire prejudice and hatred, Mr Welch believes.

Styling himself as the bridge between his people and the settled, he is using that role to combat misconceptions and “break down barriers”, visiting schools and bringing children onto his site, teaching them about life in what he calls the most persecuted community in the UK - "we have to start with the children", he says.

His efforts, he hopes, will not only boost understanding of his people among the settled, but will encourage young Gypsies to build a better relationship with the wider community for the benefit of future generations.

Because, he says: “We are an ethnic minority, same as the black man, and we have been persecuted but are still here.

“The Nazis tried to murder us and others tried to drive us out for centuries but we have never given up, our language and our culture and our traditions are still here and we're proud of that. But we are also Darlington people and we are very, very proud of that, too.”