Allotments in the Community

Some may wish to live behind the fence and ignore that which is outside, whilst some actively outreach, engage and respect that there are many communities outside and it’s community land at the end of the day.

“Why do we bother with this allotment at Canary Wharf?’ asks one of our older members as he collected his new plot keys.

A reasonable question I though and replied, ‘Well it is part of our program to engage with the community, show them what we do and besides, it involves some on the waiting list.’

‘The waiting list aren’t our members.’ he said with a glare in his eyes.

‘Not today I grant you, but tomorrow they will be and it gets them involved while they wait,’ I replied hoping that this conversation would end soon and I could return to handing out keys to others. 

However, at that time it was just the two of us in the pavilion and the words ‘bee and bonnet’ sprung to mind.

‘Don’t get me wrong but as we are a membership club, aren’t we?’ He now obviously was settling in for the full half hour Oxford debate. He moved to sit open legged with arm folded on one of the chairs opposite me. I had arranged the chairs in a snake around the room to aid social distancing so he had a lot to choose from..

I said, ‘Yes, we are a membership organization but we have such a huge waiting list, it was felt that we should help them feel part of us, get to know us and encourage them to volunteer to help on our projects such as the Canary Wharf Allotment.

He said, ‘You should get them clearing up that ivy on the back and sorting out that bank before it falls down.’

I said, ‘These are things we plan to do and yes they may be able to help when we get the funds to do those big jobs.’

He rose, turned, and walked towards the exit door. As he reached the door he turned again, ‘Don’t get me wrong, I just want us to look after the members first.’

Before I could open my mouth, he had gone, and he had delivered the final word and I felt momentarily down. It was as if I had not really had the time to explain and hopefully convince him of the benefits of the community outreach program we were trying to establish. I made a mental note to go and have a chat to him later in the week.

Sometimes you feel you have got everyone on board only to find you haven’t. It’s a wakeup call to not assume anything and also to listen to other’s views as they may be different. It also tells you that sometimes you have to communicate more than once and keep repeating the key messages.

Some believe that we own the land and because we have a lease that we are an island with our high fences protecting us from unwanted visitors. They forgot that we are in fact leasing community land, land that was purchased by the local authority for the sole purpose of supporting allotments within the community. Some allotment sites may be temporary and not statutory in their legal status, but they still are on community land. There are allotments that are private and where the land belongs to a non-public body such as an estate, the church, a company etc. Rarely does the ownership of the land belong outright with the allotments.

We are therefore part of the community, work community land, and should have relationships with the community far outside the local Parks department. Some would suggest we should have relationships with the local education system and communities and help them with their training and education on all aspects of horticulture at all levels. Some would suggest that we have relationships with the various local care and social services, disabled and charity communities, mental health groups etc. After all, growing even on a very small scale can provide health and wellbeing for many. Not all within the community are healthier enough to work a full plot. This can be down to individuals being referred by GPs to aid their recovery.

Remember the prisoners from Leyhill open prison in Gloucestershire, who in 2000 took up gardening and won at Chelsea Flower Show.

Then there is our own growing community. The National Allotment Society has an organisational structure of education, assistance and many benefits delivered through its regional and national network. There are other allotment groups, and some have formed Federations which operate at an authority level. There are wider growing groups such as Capital Growth in London who include volunteers and community gardening as well as allotments focused more on the healthy lifestyle and good food production and distribution. Thrive have therapeutic garden centres in London, Birmingham and Reading to help those less fortunate than ourselves. Also we now have bodies such and Lend and Tend whose vision may be novel but the execution may be more problematic as owners lend the garden to others to tens. There are obviously bodies such as the RHS, National Trust and those associated with the farming and agricultural sector. There are many more who are all passionate about growing and the community.

We should all help each other and raise the community bar and do that in our own ways. There is no simple solution on how we fit this jigsaw together - we have to work out what fits into what and works for us.

I would love to see awards that promote community outreach programmes, initiatives and engagement as we only have a finite amount of land, so doing more on it may be impossible in some areas, but helping others to do more on land we can use is a choice we all have. Recognising achievement and using it to inspire and educate others to follow is also important.

When I talk about the fences some believe I want to take them physically down, I don’t. What I see is allotments outreaching past the physical fence and not being restricted by it.