Several years ago a campaign was launched to campaign for a Changing Places toilet in Llanelli. The campaign was to have one built in Eastgate, and for it to be accessible to anyone who needs it, at any time of day – accommodating both shoppers and those that wanted to access the Theatre and night life that Llanelli has to offer.
Changing Places toilets are spacious public toilets that have a purposely fitted toilet, ceiling-track hoist and adult-sized changing bed. They are also equipped with showers. These specialist toilets are crucial to many disabled people being able to tend to their toileting needs when out in public.
Josh Rosenthal, a 25 year old wheelchair user from Llanelli, an original spokesperson of the campaign, highlights why they are essential for people like him; “I need to use the facilities of a Changing Places toilet if I need to do any Personal Care when I’m out in public.”
Josh then explained why he specifically needs access to a Changing Places toilet; “When meeting my personal care needs, I always need to hoist. I often also need to use an adult changing bed. Only Changing Places toilets have these particular facilities, standard disabled
toilets don’t. This makes it impossible for people like myself to access most places”
It is not just wheelchair users who need to use the facilities of Changing Places toilets. Claire Melville, Who is a local mum, explained why her family need access to Changing Places toilets; “Our family needs use of Changing Places facilities due to incontinence & reliance on incontinence pants. I need enough room to assist my sons in changing their incontinence pants, cleaning them up & redressing them.”
Ms Melville explained why normal disabled toilets cannot meet her sons’ need; “…Often, normal disabled toilets are not big enough for us all to fit in to do all this. Also Changing Places facilities usually have showers so I can clean them up & put clean clothes on.”
She also commented on how a lack of Changing Places toilets can get in the way of her sons living their lives; “…Without this facility my sons cannot leave the house for long. This can obviously make it difficult to plan activities as a family.”
Keith Thomas, a local disability campaigner, told us why Changing Places toilets are also important to people who have a variety of colostomy bags; “As an Ostomate, I often have to empty my bag. This requires privacy and space. While I may be able to get privacy in a regular disabled toilet, I may not be able to get enough space. And it is incredibly important that I am able to empty my bag regularly.”
So it is clear that one different people may have different reasons for needing to use a Changing Places toilet, without them, they cannot plan their lives the way they want to.
Josh once again articulates this; “If I do not have access to a Changing Places toilet, I often have to think about how long we can last without needing to use a Changing Places toilet. This means I have to cherry-pick what I want to do. This is so that I can try and do my personal care at home. This means that I can not stay out for as long as I may like.”
This was the foundation of the original campaign, to allow people the freedom to live their lives the way they want, and not be restricted due to their Personal Care needs.
After years of hard work, we now have a Changing Places toilet in Asda Llanelli. Even though this is definitely a step forward, it does not meet the needs identified by the original campaign group.
The Changing Places toilet is only open while Asda is open. This means that the toilet is inaccessible beyond the stores opening times of 8AM to 9PM and 4pm on a Sunday. This effectively means that anyone who needs to use a Changing Places toilet has to plan whatever they want or need to do during these hours. Needless to say, this is obviously very restrictive to those wanting to attend the Theatre or go out for food or a drink in the evening.
Josh then explained why having to plan so rigidly can get in the way of him enjoying himself; “A lack of a Changing Places toilet means that I often have to cut whatever I am doing short, before I am actually mentally ready to do so. In the past, it left me feeling a little isolated. This is because I can’t just say to my friends ‘Yeah, i’m up for whatever you are’ or even ‘I have no limit on how long I can stay out for, so let’s just have mindless fun’.”
Under a National trading hours law, all our local supermarkets have to close early every Sunday. Most large retailers, such as Tesco and Asda, close at 4pm, in order to comply with the law that says they can only open for six consecutive hours on a Sunday.
However, activities in East Gate, such as restaurants and the theatre are not affected by this law. This means that if someone who needs access to a Changing Places toilet wanted to see an evening show at the theatre, or even simply wanted to stay out to eat past 4pm, they may not be able to do that because of a lack of access to necessary facilities.
The campaigners specifically asked for Changing Places toilets to be independent of any shops to avoid this problem. While it is great that we now have access to one during the day, it’s location is limiting people’s access.
Josh explained the impact this can have on his social life; “Even when I do try and stay out longer, I’m often anxious about when I might need to do personal care next, with none of the appropriate facilities around. This means that I’m often somewhat distracted, and not able to fully enjoy or participate in whatever I am trying to do with friends.
Claire pointed out something else that further limits who can use the Changing Places toilet; “Unfortunately, unless you’re a customer or, are in the store during opening hours then it is of no use.”
Josh pointed out exactly why this is a problem; “We need a Changing Places toilet we can access everyday, anytime. If we don’t, then we cannot do whatever we want, whenever we want. Not having access to a Changing Places toilet 24/7, means we don’t have the simple freedom that so many people take for granted. This is unfair.”
It is clear that Changing Places toilets are used by different kinds of people for different reasons. Changing Places toilets give all these people basic peace of mind that so many people don’t even have to think about. It is also clear that these facilities give people so many possibilities, possibilities that they should already have.
As a community-focused organisation, we at CETMA are happy to support
local campaigns that benefit everyone within our local community. Josh Rosenthal is CEMTA’s Disability Champion and keen to highlight the challenges disabled people in Carmarthenshire face.
