“Disabled” camping
Check out our porch! |
It’s possible to pack a 3 friends, a wheelchair, 4 man tent and enough supplies for 4 days of camping into a vauxhall corsa! |
The members of staff working and volunteering on the campsite at T were fantastic and great fun to chat and spend time with! They also held the crucial traits of being open minded, thoughtful and one member of staff even held 14 years of experience under his belt, (Shout out to Ian, if you ever read this!) If you needed a hand with anything from arriving with no tent pegs and guy ropes (never borrow a tent off a family member!), to running and getting a towel out of your tent as you’re about to get into the shower, they helped out!
Pretty awesome shower! |
Yes, you read that right, the Disabled campsite at T had showers! 2 accessible, warm/hot showers to be precise that in all honesty were nicer than some hotels and hostel facilities I have used.
General campsite tips/info:
- If you have “routines” do them! Don’t make your body suffer because you’re worried that other people will be annoyed for waiting, they won’t. And if you take a while, do what i do and get up earlier. I assure you, there is a reason why you have these facilities and they are there for your use, so use them!
- Disabled Parking was right on the campsite, so it was quick and easy to go back and forth between the car to get extra supplies, when needed.
- There will be a wide range of different people with different disabilities. I found it really cool and interesting, some amazing stories to be shared!
- If you struggle with floor to chair/chair to floor transfers, take some strong, male,attractive friends…or, invest in a good sturdy foldable outdoor chair that you can use as a step and leaver to transfer independently.
- The Disabled campsite at T (and like most areas where “disabled” people commune, i know this descriptions sounds demeaning, but it’s the most accurate way of grouping such a large number of diverse people, if i referred to it as the “alternative” campsite, it’d sound like i was camping with Josh Widdecombe and Alt-J!) is a very liberal, free, open community which is very nice to retreat to at the end of the day, if you get tired during or need to have a few hours to rest up.
- Don’t be afraid to ask if you need anything! (Like Guy ropes…or tent pegs…!)
Kaleidoscope fields looking beautiful, the little hill was pretty nice to wheel down too! |
Weather/ground/freewheel!
To say we were luck with the weather is an insult to the term “understatement”, but we were lucky! The sun was beating down, the ground was rock hard and probably the best conditions a wheelchair user could ask for. However, there are ways to make getting round a lot easier and yet not feel “singled out” if you’re prepared to invest in a freewheel. I wrote about them a few months ago, so check them out!
How to adapt your wheels for the weather!
My freewheel allowed me to push around the entire site independently, yes my friends did push me occasionally but only because of the heat and fatigue. My lovely friend, Danielle, (who won’t mind me saying this!)doesn’t have a freewheel and had to be pushed around majority of the time. Which is totally fine, but sometimes and as most wheelchair users will agree, it’s nice to e abel to have the ability to do something yourself in case you get into a situation where you have to. I live for the outdoors anyway so pushing around a festival for four days is my idea of happiness. For those of you who are more accustomed to tarmac, just prepare yourself mentally and physically for some off-road pushing! (It’s totally worth it!)
If it had been raining and mud (like last years T) I would have struggled, but i’d have done it! Freehweels can withstand mud (to a certain extent), but so can mountain trikes…(see above link).
- Nearer the time to your festival, figure out/estimate what the weather is probably going to be like to assess what equipment would be best to take with you.
- There were ATM’s in the arena, however none of them were accessible and i had to get my friend to get my cash. That’s totally fine, but having a chair level ATM would be great for next year!
- (Someone else’s’ observation) Apparently all campsites had a first aid station, the disabled campsite however, didn’t. May also be a good idea to have one of those put in for next year!
Laura, what a lovely review. Thank you for your positive feedback. Me and my team really enjoyed meeting you look forward to seeing you again next year. Regarding your comment on First Aid, I am a qualified First Aider with support from the nearest team about 100 metres away, but I'll see if we can get some suitable signage for the future. Thanks again, Iain.