Monthly Update- November 2019

2019 is coming to a close soon but the Changing Places toilet campaign is still going strong! Below we have captured some of main activity over the last month including a list of all the new registrations. Thank you to everyone who continues to do such a fantastic job at raising awareness of the campaign.

World Toilet Day

As always, the 19th November marked World Toilet Day. We used the day to talk about Changing Places toilets (of course!). Many of you joined in the conversation online and offline, helping to raise greater awareness about the campaign.

Consortium meeting

On the 20th November the Consortium came together in York. There was a lot of ground covered in the meeting including:

Updating on the latest installations and upcoming projects we are aware of across the UK.
Giving an update on the latest situation with the funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) and Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC). The second round of DfT funding is open for applications until end of January 2020 and now includes A-roads as well! We encourage people to mention the funding to any services they visit over the festive period. Meanwhile we are eagerly awaiting news from the DHSC about the first batch of successful hospitals who have applied for funding. Watch this space…
Celebrating the positive news from Scotland that the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 will mean that regulations are amended to require certain large developments in Scotland to install Changing Places toilets. Congratulations to our co-chairs, PAMIS, and all the campaigners who have helped make this a reality for people in Scotland. We will keep pushing for similar regulations in the rest of the UK, including following up with the Government after the upcoming General Election.
Reviewing how the Changing Places Awareness Day went and discussing potential plans for 2020. If you have suggestions of a theme for 2020 then do let us know!
Discussing planned upgrades to the Changing Places toilet map and website to improve your user experience. We are hoping these changes will be made in 2020.
Talking about the future of the Consortium and the eagerness to get four country coverage.

Supermarkets

Towards the end of the month we did a push around the availability of Changing Places toilets at big supermarkets. Our registration data revealed that six out of ten large supermarkets didn’t have a single registered Changing Paces toilet. We published a league table to show how the different supermarkets were performing. There was some strong media coverage of the story including on BBC Breakfast, ITV and Sky News. A few supermarkets have since been in touch to confirm they have Changing Places toilets which had not been registered with us- we look forward to getting these added to the map. In the meantime, you can still use the league table to put the pressure on your local supermarket.

Inclusive Companies Awards

We were delighted to have been both nominated and shortlisted for the best Marketing Campaign category in the Inclusive Company Awards. Karen and campaigner Alison Beevers were invited to attend the ceremony on behalf of Changing Places, along with hundreds of other Inclusive companies recognised for their efforts. Whilst we didn’t win, we were delighted to be up there alongside big names such as Man United and Channel 4. Of course, Karen and Alison took full advantage of talking toilets to a captive audience of 1000 people to raise awareness of the campaign.

New registrations

We registered 18 new Changing Places toilets on the map in November including two venues registering two each! Below is a list of all the newly registered toilets:

John Lewis, Cheltenham
University of Birmingham Library
DMS Watson library, London
Tesco Extra Wisbeach
Tesco Superstore March Hostmoor
Brent Civic Centre
Odeon Cinema Leeds
Cardiff City Stadium
Charter Walk Shopping Centre in Burnley
Tesco Superstore Rossendale Haslingden
Tesco Superstore Berwick-upon-Tweed Superstore
Two at the University of Birmingham Sport & Fitness Centre
Houldsworth Health Centre in Wishaw
Castle Quay Shopping Centre in Banbury
Two at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London (bringing their grand total to four!)
CHI Community Café in East Runcorn

Thank you, as always, to everyone who supports the campaign for Changing Places toilets. Keep up the fantastic work!