Page 56 - ALG Issue 2 2017

East Midlands
Welcome to our new members...
Farns eld Allotment Assoc
Inspire Community Garden
St Augustines Allot Society Barrowden Parish Council
Billinghay Parish Council
Clarborough & Welham Parish Council Gedling Borough Council
Syston Town Council 7 individual members
Washbrook
Allotments Support
for New Plot
Holders Initiative
The last few years have seen a renewed interest in renting allotment space and growing your own. This upturn in the status of allotments after so many ‘lost’ years is welcome. However, we should not rest on our laurels and presume we can stay as we always were. Attitudes to gardening and how people choose to spend what spare time they have is changing. If allotments are to remain relevant, usable and accessible then allotment societies must make changes that re ect the needs of the next generation of gardeners.
The Allocations Of cer at Washbrook noted with alarm our high yearly attrition rate. Allotments have become too used to people coming, putting in a large amount of effort, that effort then dropping away, then disappearing for good. This cycle of failure puts pressure on any allotment site as plots become neglected and then more dif cult to rent out. The management committee agreed we could not accept this anymore without trying to do something about it. Therefore, Washbrook have put into place a number of changes. All newcomers are given a welcome pack containing useful information regarding time allocation, when to sow and harvest and how to ask for help. If possible, newcomers are walked around the site and introduced. A mentoring scheme is still being talked about and at the moment it’s at the ‘buddy’ stage where, if requested, a new gardener can be put in touch with a more experienced allotmenteer.
We are also offering newcomers a welcome coffee morning
where they can meet each other and talk over any problems they think they might encounter. Washbrook offers whole plots only to those newcomers who have ‘proved’ themselves on a half plot rst. However, we now recognise that even half plots have proved too much for some, so this year we are trialling quarter plots. These plots are being offered pre dug, with a compost bin on each one and access to a shared shed. Half plots are still being offered to those who can show they can handle a plot of that size. This is still a trial but we hope it will prove a useful one.
More women and young families are applying for plots and, therefore, their needs must be taken into consideration when allocating plots. If children are not made to feel welcome on sites, we lose their parents and the next generation of gardeners. Washbrook also offers an equipment hire scheme, a seed scheme and a shop. We also made changes to the inspection process which means plots in dif culty can be recognised early and help offered. It also means that if a plot fails, it can be offered to someone else early in the next season before it becomes overgrown.
The idea of growing food and the reality of doing it, becomes increasingly dif cult to reconcile in a world where physical toil is something you do in a gym and food is something you buy wrapped in cellophane in a supermarket. Our job as allotmenteers is to help people make the idea and the reality come together.
Sharon Maher, part of the inspections team at the Washbrook Allotment Society in Leicester.
Working with the NAS
to provide training for
members
Sometimes it’s useful to take time out and focus on what it means to run a busy allotment site for both the members and the management committee. Whether you are a trustee member of an association or the chairman of a self-managed site, it’s helpful and reassuring to know we’re doing things right. Well, today, Monday 6th March 2017 I think we achieved that. Paul Howgill, our East Midlands representative from the NAS, kindly agreed to come along and provide a training session and workshop about the extremely important roles our allotment volunteers play.
Paul has a wealth of experience of managing allotments and we were very interested and grateful to him for sharing his knowledge with the volunteer management committee members and trustees of Gedling Borough’s Allotment Associations. In attendance were representatives from ve of the association managed sites in the Borough, including Chandos Street, Stoke Lane, Gedling Grove, Leapool and Robin Hood.
Paul also brought along some useful publications relating to the management of allotments and running an allotment plot, most of which are downloadable from the NAS website, but nonetheless useful in printed format. It was good to hear about the bene ts of the NAS and the assistance they provide to all members including local authority members such as ourselves.
Discussion around the key roles, such as the secretary and chairperson of the associations, provided all attendees with practical examples of good practice and con dence that we’re doing things correctly.
On behalf of Gedling Borough Council and members of
the management committees, I would like to extend our grateful thanks to Paul for delivering a very informative training workshop.
Jane Richardson, Parks Development Of cer, Gedling Borough Council
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