Holiday company/Gay Mens Community and Wheelchair Accessible Venues

I have been a member of the Edward Carpenter Community for over 30 years and in 2017 I became a part time wheelchair user. I need to be in my chair the majority of the time to manage spinal and neurological symptoms.

The Edward Carpenter Community is a ltd company, that puts on retreats for gay men. We pay to attend and once you have atteneded, you become a member and have a liabilty of £1 if the company gets into debt or is closed down.

For a number of years none of their venues, including their Annual Meeting, were not accessable, isolating me from the community I have had so much support from over the years. The reason being given, that it was too hard to find accessable venues.

After several years of lobbying, they began to use an accessable venue for the Annual meeting - called 'The Autumn Gathering'.

At the first meeting I attended, I asked the community to consider the issue and to stop using non accessable venues. We make decisions by consensus and the consensus was to stop using non accessable venues over a 2 year period.

The next two years, I and some other put on a retreat in an accessable venue and other accessable venues were found, without much effort or hullabaloo.

Last year, some people pushed back and wanted the decision reversed. The community who gathered didn't agree but made a consession on one venue which has partial access.

This year, I am aware of a large number of people coming to the Autumn Gathering who I have been told, have organised to get the original decision overturned - they say that as long as some (no actual number) retreats are accessable, then that is ok.

The orginisation is 40 years old. Started by people who lived with or supported people living and dying from HIV. It has provision in its founding documents to be accessable to disabled people.

I think having some or one week that is accessable and others that are not, is direct discrimination and I am wondering how to challange this. It feels like a David and Goliath situation. But we make decisions by consensus, so in theory, consensus can never be reached if even one person cannot live with the outcome.

I would like any advice on how to challange this and if there are any orginidations who could also get involved.

Edward Carpenter Community Ltd is the Ltd company behind the events.

I have not been the only disabled person, using a wheelchair, attending events over the years - but that was at a previous venue, the venue which Edward Carpernter Community began using in the very begnning. Unfortunately it has closed now.