Call for more fully accessible toilets

• Over a quarter of a million people in the UK in need of such facilities
• More than 2,400 Changing Places toilets currently available in the UK including 289 across Scotland 
• Changing Places Awareness Day highlights the need for more fully accessible toilets

Friday (19 July) was Changing Places Awareness Day – the annual event highlights the importance of fully-accessible toilets needed by more than a quarter of a million people in the UK.

Muscular Dystrophy UK and PAMIS, co-chairs for the Changing Places Consortium, are calling for more Changing Places toilets to be made available on the awareness day.

Muscular Dystrophy UK supports more than 110,000 children and adults in the UK living with one of over 60 muscle wasting and weakening conditions.

The charity campaigns for people’s rights, better understanding, accessibility, and access to treatments, funds ground breaking research and supports people to live well now.

PAMIS, promoting a more inclusive society, is the only charity in Scotland that solely supports children, young people and adults with profound learning and multiple disabilities (PMLD) and their families to lead healthy, valued and included lives doing the things they want to do within their community, offering a range of projects and programmes.

Together they campaign for Changing Places toilets to be installed in all big public spaces, so that people can access their community.

A Changing Places toilet is different to a standard accessible toilet. With extra space (12 sqm) to help accommodate larger wheelchairs and the presence of carers to assist and support the users. It has specialist equipment such as an adult size changing bench, ceiling track and hoist, peninsular toilet, and height adjustable sink.

People with profound and multiple learning disabilities, hidden or physical disabilities such as spinal injuries, muscular dystrophy, and multiple sclerosis, often need extra equipment and space to allow them to use the toilets safely and comfortably.

Without enough Changing Places toilets, people with hidden and physical disabilities face the option of not leaving their homes, limiting fluid intake on days out, or having to be changed on dirty toilet floors.

Currently, there are more than 2,400 Changing Places facilities that have been installed and the Changing Places Consortium works with a range of companies, providers venues and government departments.

Changing Places Awareness Day is not only an opportunity to call for more toilets but a day to mark the official launch of the campaign, started back in July 2006. Enabling a celebration of all the achievements to date and thank the dedicated campaigners, who fight for change.

Rob Burley, Director of Care, Campaign and Support at Muscular Dystrophy UK said: “For some of the people we support, standard accessible toilets can’t meet their needs, which is why we are proud to be the co-chair of the Changing Places Consortium.

“A person living with a muscle wasting or weakening condition might be in a large powered wheelchair and so may need extra space to manoeuvre around the toilet. They may also need assistance from a family member or a carer and require some of the specialist equipment that is provided in a Changing Places toilet, such as a ceiling hoist and height adjustable sink.

“We hear from a lot of people saying that without a Changing Places toilet they have had to risk their health and safety and that their dignity has been impacted by having to be changed on a toilet floor, rather than having access to hoists and adult changing benches.

“Currently there are over 2,400 registered Changing Places toilets but there is a need for more. We’re calling to have them in all appropriate venues. Legislation calls for them to be mandatory in new buildings over a certain capacity, but given the difference these facilities make, we encourage all venues to install a Changing Places toilet, regardless of size, as it will make a huge difference.”

Scottish charity PAMIS has been campaigning for more Changing Places toilets for over twenty years since the majority of the families the organisation supports cannot use accessible toilets and require the additional space and equipment provided by a Changing Places toilet.

Fiona Souter, Inclusive Communities Director explains: “People with profound learning and multiple disabilities are isolated in their own communities due to the lack of appropriate toilets and this is fundamentally a human rights issue where we frequently hear from families who cannot access healthcare, education or enjoy days out with family and friends because there are no Changing Places toilets nearby.

“While there have been major steps forwards in Scotland most notably around changes to building standards and planning legislation making it mandatory to include a Changing Places toilet in certain sized new public buildings there are still huge geographical gaps in provision.

“We want Scotland to be a truly accessible and inclusive country to visit as well as to live and that is why Changing Places Awareness Day is so important – the more people are aware of these life changing facilities the better.”

Kerry Thompson, from Milton Keynes, was diagnosed with a form of muscular dystrophy (FHL1) and regularly uses Changing Places toilets. She explains why they are so important to her day-to-day life: “Taking a simple trip out can be a military operation. I have a check list of things to take, especially if it’s more than a few hours.

“The biggest problem I face when going anywhere is using a disabled toilet. I find some are simply too small to fit me, my wheelchair in, and it can sometimes feel very claustrophobic, manoeuvring can also be tricky or near impossible.

“My only option is sometimes having to wait until I get home. However, I suffer with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), so holding it can prove really challenging.

“When I found out about the Changing Places campaign, I wanted to get involved and help spread the word on how important these facilities are to so many people, like me, and their families and carers. It makes such a huge difference.”

In a reflection of the importance of Changing Places toilets, and the campaign, Changing Places has recently been shortlisted for Third Sector’s Big Impact award, which celebrates a project that has had a substantial impact on national life.