Welcome to Kerry Travellers Health and Community Development Project
Kerry Travellers Health and Community Development Project (KTHCDP) is a professional, Traveller-led organisation dedicated to advancing the rights and identity of the community throughout County Kerry. Formed in 1996, the Project acts as a vital bridge between the community and policy makers, combining expert advocacy with grassroots engagement to dismantle systemic inequalities.
“Our mission is to celebrate Traveller Ethnicity, Culture, History and Language, and to bring about significant social change that contributes to the eradication of racism, discrimination, and inequalities as experienced by the Traveller community in Kerry. Central to this will be the acknowledgement and valuing of our community assets to enable us collectively create change for our people. In the course of the next 10 years, KTHCDP will continue to contribute to i) the empowerment and ii) the representation of the needs of all Travellers across the County, particularly those who experience the greatest disadvantage within the Traveller community”
Today, the organisation operates with a dedicated team working across a range of areas—including health, education, social innovation, family support and community development. By working directly with Travellers across these areas, ensure our community is at the heart of the decision-making process—collectively driving the social change needed to achieve true justice and human rights for all.We work from an understanding that Travellers are an ethnic minority with a distinct culture and that this should be taken into account in the provision of services.
In May 2026 the Project launched a new 5 year Strategic Plan. This plan was developed following extensive consultation with Travellers across the county, with our partner agencies, and our own staff and management. The feedback from the consultations underlined the fact that we need to choose carefully where we put our energy. KTHCDP cannot be all things to all people. With this knowledge as the foundation for this strategic plan, we are moving into a period of refreshing and restating our role to our community and our funders. We will continue to roll out programmes that improve health, provide family support, increase education opportunities, raise the collective voice of Travellers and advocate for those with extreme needs. We will add a focus on creating pathways to employment through social enterprise and sole trader opportunities. We will also work to optimise the way in which our board, management and staff implement our programme of work to best serve our mission. This will include gathering data that will show the need for our work and evidence of our impact.
In 10 years, it is our goal that our programme of work will have the following priorities:
- Community Development
Travellers will have been empowered to represent and advocate on their own behalf with a collective voice. - Advocacy & Equality
KTHCDP will be advocating on behalf of Travellers and Traveller families with extreme needs and/or experiences of discrimination. - Gathering Evidence and Influencing Policy
Building an evidenced profile of Travellers throughout Kerry and using this evidence to campaign for policy and practice change locally and nationally. Gathering relevant data to show the need for and impact of KTHCDP’s work. - Programme Delivery and Interagency Working
Enhancing Travellers’ access to culturally aware State services by:
• Agreeing and implementing MOUs between KTHCDP and statutory agencies.
• Continuing to deliver community health programmes, family supports, education programmes, community development supports, social enterprise and employment opportunities.
A copy of the Strategic Plan can be found at this link KTHCDP Strategic Plan 2026-2029
- We work from an understanding that Travellers are an ethnic minority with a distinct culture and that this should be taken into account in the provision of services.
- We are guided by Community Development Principles in our work practice.
- We have a collective more than an individual focus to our work, working with and supporting groups of people to identify (if it is not already evident) a common need; developing the Community’s capacity and confidence to address the identified needs, all the time ensuring that the Community takes ownership of the solution or process to effectively address its needs.
We at Kerry Travellers Health and Community Development Project believe:
- Every person and community can play an active role in creating conditions for a just and equal society where human rights are promoted and all forms of discrimination are challenged.
- Our work is about the empowerment of individuals and communities, working with people to enable them to become active participants in taking more control of the direction of their lives.
- We view participation as a range of activity from information sharing through capacity building and empowerment to active engagement and meaningful participation in democratic processes.
