Gipsies have lived among us for hundreds of years and yet we know little about them. Gipsy Roma Traveller History Month aims to explain their culture. We spoke to one proud gipsy woman about her life.

BORN on the roadside and brought up on the highways and byways of Lancashire, Betty Price - or Black as she is known - was raised in a gipsy wagon.

The 57-year-old was one of eight children who lived in, or indeed under, the wagon on any roadside where they could find shelter.

The children did not go to school but instead worked on farms and still today Black cannot read or write.

Smiling with pride as she recalls her belief in living a generous and selfless life, Black said: "We felt that it was time to let everybody know that gipsies are just normal people who simply live in a different way.

"People are suspicious of what they do not understand.

"We decided to break down some barriers, myths and legends about Roma (gipsy) life."

Black says gipsy culture revolves around the family unit.

Children are precious. Traditional food, cooked each day by Black, tends to be broth.

Hers is particularly famous and is available to all who come to her home. Gipsies have been called a vagabond race.

Fiction portrays them as having loose morals - thieves, lustful, and dishonest.

But Black says gipsy women are actually very faithful to one man.

Gipsy culture has high moral values. Girls are not allowed to have boyfriends until they are in their 20s and their curfews are often early until the same age.

Stealing is a serious sin and anyone caught doing so would be thrown off a site.

On her current site, near Whinney Hill Road, Huncoat, Black is like an aunt to her "family" who live there. They often come to her with their problems.

Since 1989 she has travelled to many poverty-stricken parts of the world to help gipsy families.

She said: "We raise money on the site and take it to those who need it.

"I have met children who I can relate to from my childhood but things haven't got any better for them, as they have in the UK.

"In Third World countries gipsies are still regarded badly.

Black, a Christian, added: "It is very sad. We are all God's children."

She has been to Romania and the slums of India and later this month she will go to Budapest.

An open day event to mark Gipsy Roma Traveller History Month is being held at Oswaldtwistle Youth and Community Centre on June 18, where traditional gipsy food will be served.

Throughout June, gipsies will be visiting primary schools to answer questions about traveller life.

Contact Gill Cookson, at Lancashire County Council for details on 01772 533239.