**Interviewer:** And on the program, we were talking about the fact that this month is UK Disability History Month. Now, for many of us, getting about and going to work is something we take for granted. But what if you have to give up a job that you love simply because the place you work is unable or unwilling to meet your health needs? Alexandra Boyd was a Wilton town councillor for four years, but resigned last month due to the lack of accessibility at the council chambers. Alexandra joins us on the line now. Alexandra, good afternoon to you. Can you give us a bit more detail about what actually led to your resignation?
**Alexandra Boyd:** Yes, so our town council chambers, they are beautiful. They are all old-worldly. They’ve got the antique chairs, and it looks just the part. The problem is they are upstairs in a Grade II listed building. We have a stair lift, but I’m not quite sure whether it is accessible for a wheelchair. I’ve got a power chair with a seat specially made for me to support my hips and my back. So I have been campaigning over the last nearly four years. I would have come up for election in May, I joined the council to advocate for inclusiveness and disability rights.
When my condition worsened, and I needed to use my wheelchair more regularly, there wasn’t really any positive movement towards either changing the venue or making any adjustments in the council to enable me to partake in the meetings.
**Interviewer:** So you use an electric wheelchair at the moment. Did the town council make any adjustments to make things easier for you? What was the communication like with them?
**Alexandra Boyd:** Well, one of my fellow councillors, who also resigned, and I am the 14th councillor in the four-year period to have resigned from the council, did an accessibility audit with me of Wilton streets. We also asked if the council would be happy to do a disability awareness course, which they did, and it was absolutely brilliant. I think a few councillors then understood that there are many different disabilities. I thought that would give them better knowledge about how disabled people live and how they struggle at times.
When my condition worsened, I asked for a change of venue because we used to use the Wilton Community Centre just after COVID due to the COVID regulations. It’s a fully accessible building with fully accessible toilets, which our council chambers do not have. This is one of the big problems if someone in a wheelchair needs the toilet.
Basically, I was told no, because there is a lot going on at the council. The clerk is very busy, and it would cost a lot of money to investigate. Then there would be hiring fees for the hall.
**Interviewer:** You loved your job and your time being a councillor. How did it make you feel at the end of the day to actually try to go to a meeting?
**Alexandra Boyd:** I was very upset. I was sitting at home crying my eyes out. My husband just said, “Look, this is enough now. You’ve given so much, you’re mentally making yourself ill, and I want you to leave.” And that’s what I did. I had even inquired about the community centre, whether they had evenings free. I had spoken to residents in Wilton who entrusted me in confidence about their problems with getting to council meetings because they are either elderly or also disabled in scooters or wheelchairs, but the council wanted to know their names. I said I couldn’t do that because these people spoke to me in confidence.
**Interviewer:** Thank you, Alexandra, for sharing your story with us here on BBC Radio.
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