Campaigning in Whitstable

A campaign has been launched by a Whitstable mum for Changing Places. Six-year-old Thomas Mumford has cerebral palsy and cannot go to the toilet without the help of his mother, Caroline. Mrs. Mumford has already met with representatives from Canterbury City Council to discuss the situation, and now she is calling on developers to consider adding Changing Places to their buildings.
Mrs Mumford said: "People think disabled toilets can be used by anyone but it's not the case. When Thomas was a baby I could change him, but now he's six years old, he can't use the changing tables as they are too small. Currently my only option in Whitstable is to change him on the floor of a disabled toilet, which isn't nice."
She added: "I know if we go to Bluewater there's a changing place there, whereas in Whitstable we have to struggle on the beach. It's just not good enough. It's not just about children, my mum had MS, and used a wheelchair."
Caroline met with representatives from Canterbury City Council recently. Video here:
http://www.whitstablepeople.co.uk/Whitstable-mum-launches-campaign-changing-place/story-20112385-detail/story.html
She said: "It would be a good thing for the town, Whitstable would be featured on the Changing Places directory and knowing it has a changing place would encourage more people to visit. Whitstable has this reputation of welcoming everyone, so this would be a positive addition."
Her campaign has already been gathering momentum through the social media site Twitter and she has received backing from Snaap, an east Kent-based charity which helps disabled children and their families. http://www.snaap.org.uk/
The charity has already provided a wheelchair-accessible beach hut in Whitstable. Vice-chair of Snaap Vanessa Oakes said: "This campaign would help the families we see in Snaap. We see so many people, we get to know them and we want to support them."
If you want to join the campaign, follow Caroline on Twitter @carolinemumfor1 or search Whitstable Changing Place on Facebook.
The official sponsor of the Changing Places campaign is Aveso Ltd. Aveso hope that its support for the campaign will help it achieve its target of 1000 registered Changing Places toilets within the next three years.