This event that we took part in was organized by Herefordshire Traveller's Play Scheme. We counted 17 children altogether during the two day session. What worked especially well was having other activities available for the children to do when they were waiting for a turn at a particular piece of software or had got bored of the computers. There were plenty of things to choose from to get involved in, this event was the Easter event and they could paint eggs, hunt for treasure, make chocolate crispy cakes or decorate eggs and baskets. We took notice of the way their group works, they have three adults and two teenage helpers, in this way there are always enough people to help out if there is a problem to be sorted out. Also at lunchtime they make a meal together and all go off and eat it quietly outside or in another part of the building, this meant that we actually all got to have lunch together for a change!

Again to demonstrate how we can generate enough power for our own needs we parked the vehicles outside the doors and ran cables in through the windows. At the request of the Play Scheme workers we did a talk on the power sources to start with.

Our network came in very handy here as so many children were using Art packages and wanting to print their work.

This particular format we had never tried before as the people living there had always asked us onto sites. Here however, the Oxford Traveller Education Service invited us through a referral. Although this was at first a little strange it did seem a logical way of working, the Traveller Education Service in question had of course spent time in building a working relationship with the families and knew a lot more about what their needs were than we could possibly gather in a short time. We were directed to these families because the children were out of school, they were just beginning their summer tour and the children would have very little chance to catch up with their homework during the busy summer months.

We chose to provide one classroom vehicle with four laptops. Generator X provided these plus staff and renewable energy.

There was quite a lot of interest in this way of working from the local Teachers involved with this group. It is interesting to point out that in terms of cultural divides we had two 'types' of Travellers working together for the greater good and this is something we are proud of.

Generally it was noted that the children had very good concentration spans and were enthusiastic. These particular children have to use distance-learning packs to keep up with their schoolwork as they only attend 50% of the time. The 'special' teachers are responsible for making sure that this work schedule is adhered to. 8 children benefited altogether on this day that we attended.

The Corby site was about the same size as last year, nearly 100 vehicles including trailers. Many of the children recognised us from last year and were keen to get stuck in. We had a wonderful spot for wind and sun, the tech made such a stunning display we even had some kids from the local housing estate come round to check us out!

We discovered to our amazement, that there was another site in Corby on the other side of town and it's been there for two and a half years! We went round and made sure that everyone was fully aware of what we had to offer and how long we would be around for. Quite a few of the families came round for a day out and spent the whole day working on the computers. At the end of our stay in Corby we travelled to Peterborough at the request of the Multicultural Education Team to advise them on New Travellers' educational needs.

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We knew some people in Oxford who let us use their phone line to upload/download. We also had a meeting with the T.E.S. worker Kathy Turner. 11 years' experience has given her a comfortable outlook and full awareness of the great progress that has been made in accessing educational opportunities for Travellers. Kathy also teaches a lot of Fairground children during the summer months and was able to identify 2 particularly enthusiastic families who wanted to learn about using computers. (One of these families has already bought themselves a computer). There are also quite a few Irish travellers of mixed literacy levels in the area keen to start a process of IT  learning and so thankfully Kathy is now writing to the site owners permission for us to pull on for a day at each site to pave the way for the new Oxford County Council Computer bus. This has been funded through the Learning and Skills Council and will provide mobile computer facilities for all the Travellers in the Oxford Area. Two IT Teachers and a Project Leader will be appointed and the vacancies are being advertised now.

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There were two families parked up within a 5 mile radius of this lay-by and we couldn't gain access to either park up so we found a mutually convenient lay -by, set up the solar panels and opened up the classrooms. Both families attended with their 9 children in total and were very keen. All of the sessions were after school hours which meant cramped conditions at the end of the day! We extended our sessions until 7pm to give them maximum time using the software which they were so obviously getting so much out of. One family we had worked with the previous year and their literacy levels had risen appropriately even considering they had been living in lay -bys in cramped conditions.

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We arrived in the dark but managed to find somewhere to park out of everyone's way. They were expecting us so our 4 vehicle arrival wasn't too dramatic for them. There were about 4 children living permanently on the site although during the holiday up to 8 children were around. One boy had been moved on 3 times in the last school year and he had done the Tudor Project at each new school! His mother asked us to do some work on Egypt to help him catch up in his school year, of course we were happy to look out anything we could find and we printed history and architectural material from the World Guide and 3D Atlas. One lad spent a long time perfecting his CD music mix, he was one of the most confident computer users we have yet encountered. At his Dad's house where he spends some of his time there is a PC which illustrates exactly how regular use of IT equipment is relative to acquired skills.

The site was taken over 2 years ago so a lot of people were really settled and grass grew under some of the trailers!There was a big shed in the middle where people cut their wood out of the rain and a hefty gate to keep the kids off the road. We had worries that the famous rat population might chew some of our wires but everything was still in order when we left so we seemed to have been lucky!

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Called Beirut on account of the noise pollution. The site is in the vicinity of a military training base, a gliding club and clay pigeon shooting range. Helicopters fly overhead with Land Rovers on chains, cannons go off over the hedge just a hundred yards away, shooting goes on for hours and planes glide over the buses and trucks. The sky is filled with the noises of war and violence.

We only found out about this site after we had parked up at the picnic site and as we only had a few days to offer we transported the children by car from one site to the other (only a mile). The children (about 12) were very enthusiastic to come and use the equipment and we had to limit ourselves to four at a time to maximise the children's concentration potential and our teaching quality. As there were so many of them we had to be quite strict about how long they spent on each sitting and be on the ball for queue jumpers and under-agers!

We have more than one copy of some of our software and it was quite interesting to see how the students wanted to compete with each other. Our LAN (local area network) has so far meant that only two computers can share the same printer as we have had quite a lot of technical difficulties and little time to sort them out, however, as we have two vehicles and two printers, it is possible to assign groups of children to another task and thay can create away to their hearts' content as long as the ink and paper holds out (paint shop pro.). A very popular activity is to make birthday cards for people on site. One boy from this site was so keen to practise his MCing that we allowed him extra time to produce his mix, he spent about four and a half hours working on it using headphones so that he didn't disturb anyone else, he spent hours working on his lyrics and it was a shame to have to take him home. We wondered when his concentration would have run out!

Having to say goodbye is one of the hardest challenges to overcome on this project. It can be so rewarding making a difference to some young person's life and also quite heartbreaking having to move on and watch the dissapointment take it's toll.

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The Picnic Site, near Bovington Camp, Bere Regis 19th - 24th February.

A very cramped site, too muddy in the field for us to pull onto the grass. Just as well, as the rain came and we would never have got out again. We managed to pull onto the main drag, shuffle a few vehicles around and squeeze in end to end for an action packed four day slot! The children here were quick off the mark as many of them had used the computers last year on Phase 1 and knew to make the most of the precious time. The new software was very popular - mixing dance and hip-hop tunes and burning them onto CD's for take - home momentos. Luckily for them our visit coincided with the weekend so we were able to make full use of the sunny days.

Again on this site we found a lady with four children who would like to set up an after - school computer club for her site, so we did some training, - putting up a wind generator and a basic introduction to Windows and Word Processing. (Phase 2 aims and objectives )