Page 29 - ALG Issue 4 2024

regarding evictions.
But that would mean one person being
treated differently.A deviation from the terms and conditions. Did I think this was fair?
At this point I thought about mansplaining the difference between medical and social models of disability and the concept of protected characteristics, but I demurred. I was here to find solutions. It was then, however, that the clerk was called to a phone call. I sat for a moment with the remaining council officer attempting to pick up the thread of our discussion.After an
awkward five minutes, she too was called to take a call.The meeting was over.
I made the mercifully short walk to my car, where I sat thinking about the question again: what would it be like to garden an allotment as a disabled person? At that moment, I realised I had two choices: forget the question or make it my business to find an answer.
Over the coming months I will be scouring the country for examples of accessible allotments and asking the question: what does accessibility mean for allotment holders?
Editor’s Note – We know that many of our associations have raised money to improve access and build resources for disabled gardeners. Can you offer top tips to Tom that we can publish in future issues of the magazine?
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Allotment and Leisure Gardener | Issue 4 2024 | 29