I've always been someone comfortable talking about toilets (Fun fact: "toilet" was almost my nickname as a child but fortunately my brother saw the "door" first- I think you’d agree “Baby door” is a lot cuter). Part of my comfort with toilet chat comes from being the daughter of a Urologist, which meant that bodily functions were never treated as taboo. Also, when your favourite bear and beloved toy is called Pooh you can’t really get squeamish.

 

It is perplexing to me that so many people get awkward when talking about toilets, even avoiding using the word itself. After all, needing the loo is something that unites us all.

 

My fascination with toilets has increased since I joined Mencap due to our involvement with the Changing Places campaign. The campaign immediately struck a chord with me because I just couldn’t fathom how anyone wouldn’t get behind it.

 

 

We’ve all been in that situation when we need to go to the toilet urgently and needed to find our nearest loo. For those people who can use any toilet, this can be stressful enough. But imagine that there weren’t any toilets available to meet your needs? Sadly, thousands of people don’t need to imagine. For them, this is a daily reality, where the prospect of a day out requires careful planning.

 

This is because standard accessible (or “disabled”) toilets don’t meet the needs of over ¼ million people in the UK who need extra equipment and/or space to use the toilet in safety and comfort due to disability, illness and/or age. Changing Places toilets meet these needs by providing a bench, hoist and more space.

 

Without access to Changing Places toilets, people are faced with three choices:

 

 

I believe these are choices nobody should be faced with. This is not only because such experiences are deeply unfair and avoidable, but also undignified and unhygienic.

 

This is why I believe so passionately in the campaign and want more people to know about it. I have squatted in public, gone bare foot in a public loo and brandished a toilet brush all for the cause. I can't visit somewhere with a Changing Places without proudly taking selfies outside the toilet- this is often met with bemusement. People can chuckle at this behaviour all they like but I don’t care, because these toilets need celebrating.

 

Since I started at Mencap, I’ve seen the number of Changing Places toilets across the UK rise from around 300 to over 950. Whilst that is definitely a move in the right direction it still falls drastically short of meeting the demand for these life changing facilities.

 

Here are some numbers to make the point.

 

Changing Places toilets can be found at…

 

Trips to the cinema, meals out or popping to the shops becomes a source of anxiety due to the reality that so many venues do not provide adequate toilets and the alternatives mean social isolation or getting up close and personal with a toilet floor.  

 

For me, this is also personal. Growing up, my Granny had multiple sclerosis. As she got older and her health declined, she experienced increasing limitations on her mobility and needed to use a hoist at home when using the toilet. As a result, one of the biggest barriers she faced when going out was worries over access to toilet facilities. Standard accessible toilets were OK (provided they were even available) but it was far from ideal and the experience was often stressful for all involved and put a time limit on outings as a result. This all meant that trips out as a family became less and less frequent.

 

Looking back, I know that Changing Places toilets would have made a huge difference to my Granny’s life and preserved her independence that bit longer but it would also have meant we could have had the chance to build more memories together. I only wish we’d known such a thing was possible at the time.

 

 

So my ask to you is simple; start talking about toilets. Because, when you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go and everyone deserves the right to do so with dignity, wouldn’t you agree?