Would you lay any of your children on the floor of a public toilet?

Shockingly - for many families up and down the country, this is a very real question, whenever they want to spend time out and about. For these families, with a child or adult family member with certain disabilities or long-term health conditions, using standard male, female or unisex accessible toilets, is simply not an option. This is because these facilities, no matter how well designed and laid out, just don’t provide enough space or necessary equipment for parents and carers to give the help that their loved ones need, to use the toilet, clean up and change clothing. When suitable facilities aren’t available, families describe having to endure such situations as changing their child “in the boot of a car” in view of other motorists on the A1; being forced “to give their child an enema behind a bush because there was nowhere else…;” changing their daughter on the tarmac at an airport…”

This means that these families either never go out together, or if they do, it will be for a very limited time, before having to head home again, or resort to the kind of drastic arrangements described above.

Changing Places Toilets(CPTs) are the response to this problem. CPTs are a bit larger than the standard unisex accessible WC, but in addition to this, they contain a number of extra features, which make all the difference for the people that require them. Enabling them to meet their sanitary needs with comfort, hygiene, and dignity. These features include:

When a CPT is available, people with disabilities and long-term health conditions and their families and friends can spend the day joining in with the everyday activities of their communities, whether it is shopping or visiting the local park, without having to cut it short and go home or worry where they or their loved ones can go to the toilet safely and with dignity.

It is important to Princes Risborough Town Council that we do whatever we can to make our town as welcoming as possible for everybody. So we would like to include a Changing Places Toilet as part of our planned refurbishment of the Wades Centre. But to do this, we will need to secure the funding to cover the costs of construction and CPT equipment. So we will be doing whatever we can to raise these funds, including applying for various charitable grants.

To enable them to decide what projects to support, funders want to hear how the project will help the community. So, to help us do this, we would love to hear from residents about what difference a Changing Places Toilet would make for them, a family member, or a friend. We are very committed to making this happen, and your stories will play a crucial part in securing the funding we need.

If you would like to tell us what a Changing Places Toilet in the Wades Centre would mean to you, please email us at: towncouncil@princesrisboroughtowncouncil.gov.uk

Here's a video link to Changing Places - The Need