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An appeal to extend the hand of friendship to a group of Travellers illegally camping in Dundee’s Camperdown Park met with mixed reactions from the public and politicians.

In an attempt to bridge the gap between the Travelling and settled communities, almost 100 people were invited to the event ‘Let’s Actually Welcome Some Travellers’ organised by an artist and writer.

Ana Hine, 24, said she came up with the idea in response to some of the negative attention the group were gaining after pitching up in the public park.

She said: “Some Travellers have been spotted around Dundee and the usual voices have sprung up calling for them to be ‘banned’ or ‘removed’ or just generally chased away with pitchforks.

“Nothing upsets me more than the way we, as a city, treat the Travelling community. This is our city and I’m sick of seeing people in it being treated like vermin.”

Her welcome baskets contained provisions including sanitary products, toilet paper, painkillers, tissues, bin bags, fresh fruit and vegetables as well as newspapers.

Jenni Kettles said: “Fantastic forward thinking, beautiful idea Ana. Taking positive action and not tapping into the fear and separation that the Government want to keep us in. Full power to you.”

While some offered messages of support, others, including Dundee City Council’s social work convener Ken Lynn, hit out at the gesture.

He said: “I think setting up in a park in playfields is just plain wrong. I won’t be contributing anything.”

Dundee City councillor Jimmy Black added his voice, pointing out: “I don’t agree with them taking over a park but I do think we have a duty to provide transit sites.

“Not sure whether they will want or need the things you are offering, Ana, but I’d be interested to hear how you get on.”

Others questioned whether the Traveller group actually needed the provisions but Ana responded to the criticism.

“I know they’re not starving, it’s the gesture,” she said. “Also, why doesn’t the council bring skips down if there’s so much concern about the mess?”

Afterwards Ana said: “They were reluctant to take the food, because they didn’t want to be accepting hand-outs or charity, but were particularly grateful for the newspapers and painkillers, first aid and sanitary products.

“I would definitely recommend going down and having a chat with them.”

Bethan Lloyd-Wiggins said the welcome party was a great idea and added: “We need to start being a bit more inclusive the way settled people treat Travelling folk has a lot to do with the way Travelling folk often react to settled people.”

The Traveller group have already been served with a notice to leave the park and have a minimum of 14 days to move on.

Ana said she wanted to welcome the Travellers as an “apology” for any hostility they may have faced from other park users.

She said: “They were reluctant to take the food produce because they didn’t want to be seen as needing charity.

“The toiletries I brought, such as paracetamol, toothpaste and sanitary products, were taken much more readily.

“There were around 40 caravans, containing roughly four separate family groups, and each group accepted a bag or two but only when I made it clear that it was a gesture of friendship rather than an act of charity.

“There were two major issues they wanted me to be aware of a need for skips and a need for literacy resources.

“Many of the adults I spoke to could not read.

“The Travellers explained that this was particularly problematic when dealing with Dundee City Council, because they often had to sign forms or deal with eviction orders and court processes that required a level of reading ability they didn’t possess.

“They were indignant to hear they’d been accused of leaving a mess at Riverside and explained they had left their rubbish in the bags provided by the council.”