“You can’t just think things and not do them.” That is the motto of 86-year-old Nan Meldrum, who is fighting for more dropped kerbs in Dundee.
Nan Meldrum, who lives in Craigie, wants to see Dundee become more accessible for all.
“I’m just one of the thousands of people in Dundee that use scooters and wheelchairs,” she says.
“The problem comes when you’re faced with no dropped kerbs.”
Nan uses a mobility scooter to get around the city and so does her son, Robert West. She says a lack of dropped kerbs makes this a challenge.
She wants to see action taken for more dropped kerbs around the city.
“It’s not a one-off problem,” Nan says, “it is [one] faced by thousands of people in Dundee alone.”
Harsh reality of getting about in Dundee
“It’s like everything else,” Nan tells me, “if you’re not disabled, you don’t have to look for the problem. When you are disabled, that’s when it hits you.”
Nan says she is often left housebound because of difficulties getting around.
Even heading to the shops is a struggle for some disabled people like Nan. The lack of dropped kerbs – and therefore getting stuck on pavements – just makes this harder.
The lowered sections link the pavement to the road and allow people using mobility scooters or wheelchairs to move between them.
“I will only go into town if I absolutely have to,” Nan says.
“I struggle to bring the scooter into town because you have to go to a certain point before there’s a dropped kerb.
“And sometimes that means travelling way up the road.
“These scooters run on a battery, the batteries only take [you] so many miles.
“Some of them get as little as six miles, and that’s it. That’s the reality of things.”
We’re not asking for anything special, we’re just asking to have some life outside our door.”
Nan Meldrum
Nan says her attempts to get in touch with Dundee City Council have so far been unsuccessful.
“There’s nobody talking to disabled people,” she says.
“We’re not asking for anything special, we’re just asking to have some life outside our door.”
‘Don’t underestimate my intelligence’
The fiery Nan is not speaking on behalf of herself alone, but for everyone with mobility issues or disabilities in Dundee.
Her son, 63-year-old Robert, also began a campaign for more dropped kerbs in Fife.
“I’m just one wee person,” she says, “but I’m a very strong-minded person. You’ve probably gathered that by now.”
So Nan is using this confidence to speak up for people “that don’t have that ability” and for the people that wonder “what is the point in asking when nobody’s listening?”
“But,” she adds, “they need to listen.”
When fighting to make change in Dundee, the 86-year-old said she is often underestimated. This makes her “livid” and she soon shows them what she can do.
“They talk to me in a very arrogant way,” Nan says.
“I tell them: Don’t underestimate my intelligence. I may not be university qualified, but what I do have is a fair degree of common sense.”
A Dundee City Council spokesperson says the council has installed dozens of new dropped kerbs in Dundee supported by the Scottish Government’s Cycling, Walking and Safer Routes budget.
“A number of dropped kerbs are also being installed through routine maintenance and capital works programmes.”
Conversation