KIRKLEES mayor Clr Margaret Fearnley opened special allotments in Paddock.
The allotments have been set up to allow disabled people to garden.
They have been created off Branch Street in Paddock by the Paddock Pathways To Health group.
The funding has come from the Big Lottery Fund.
The allotments are easy to reach by car and have paths suitable for wheelchair users.
There are also raised growing beds, so that wheelchair users can easily do their gardening.
* The benefits of owning an allotment include growing your own fresh produce, healthy exercise and making new friends.
* Visit your local library for books on vegetable growing.
* Create your own compost heap, they're a boon to gardeners.
* It's National Allotment Week between August 14 and 20.
* Contact the National Society of Allotment and Leisure gardeners at www.nsalg.org.uk
* There are around 2,900 allotments in Kirklees on about 130 sites. Contact Kirklees Council on 01484 234026 for details.
n DIGGING IN Creating an allotment at Wooldale Junior School are (from left) school governor Robert Tyas, headteacher Sue Horsley and teacher Janet Winch
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150 volunteers transform school grounds
A GROUND Force- style project has helped transform part of school grounds into a vegetable garden.
Six months of planning and preparation culminated in a two-day allotment weekend at Wooldale Junior School.
A 150-strong team of willing volunteers, including pupils, parents, staff and governors took part in the "big dig" last weekend.
Over the next few months pupils will be deciding which fruit and vegetables to grow.
School governor Robert Tyas, who is also a member of the Royal Horticultural Society, said the project involved transforming an area of the school grounds from a grass field, complete with mudbath.
It will be converted to a specially designed series of raised beds, which will be easily accessible to the children.
He said: "The aim is to encourage children from an early age to engage in healthy outdoor activities as well helping them to realise the sense of achievement in growing their own produce."
