Sar shan? (How are you?) This is Atchin Tan in English Romani: English with Romani words, the way many families talk. We do our best with the translation, using words from lists made with Romanichal speakers. Families say and spell words differently, and legal and safety words stay in English so nothing is misunderstood. Can you help us get it right? Get in touch.
About Atchin Tan
A free app to help Travelling families find authorised places to stop, built with the community it is for.
The name
Atchin tan is a Romani phrase for a stopping place. You will also see it written atching tan. We chose it because the app is about exactly that: a place to stop, on your own terms, where you are welcome.
Who is behind it
Atchin Tan is being built by Jamie Smith, from Wales. His dad's side are Romani Gypsy Travellers. Jamie grew up spending weekends at his grandparents' varda on the site, and the rest of the week in a house, because his dad moved into a house after marrying his mum.
He is building the app on his own to start with. As it grows, we want community advisers and moderators from Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller families to share the work, so that it belongs to the people who use it.
Why it matters
Finding a place that will accept you can mean phone calls, dead ends and long drives with a family in tow. Kushti information is out there, but it is scattered across council websites, word of mouth and out-of-date lists. We want to put it in one place that people can trust, and that works on a phone with a weak signal.
Our promises
- Authorised places only. We never list or encourage stopping on land without permission.
- Accuracy over size. A smaller map you can trust is better than a bigger one full of mistakes.
- Privacy first. We do not sell data, track your location or show ads.
- Respect. We describe people in the words they use for themselves, and we keep the tone practical and friendly.
- Honesty about limits. We cannot promise a pitch, and we are not a source of legal advice.
How it will be paid for
We plan to run Atchin Tan as a not-for-profit. We hope grants from community and equality funders will pay for it to begin with, and over time we would like it to pay for itself, with any surplus going back to the community. We are still working out the right legal structure, and we will say what it is once it is decided.
Be part of it
We are at an early stage, and what families tell us now will shape what we build.