Monthly Update- January 2019

 

 

It’s a new year for the Changing Places campaign and 2019 is off to a great start so far!

 

Introducing Karen Hoe

This month we welcomed our new Development Officer, Karen. Karen has lots of experience of working with families of children with disabilities and has worked with many charities as well as campaigning herself (some of your may have met her at the Looathon last year!). We are really excited to have Karen joining the team. This is what Karen had to say about starting her new role:

“I’m delighted to be joining the team at Muscular Dystrophy working as the new Changing Places Development Officer. First and foremost I’m a parent of 2 children, my son is 19years old and has Muscular Dystrophy, my daughter is 8 years old and loves getting involved in fun runs and other sporting events with us.

I’ve worked with charities and organisations such as Contact A Family, Skybadger and Parent Carer Forums over the last 10 years helping support parents/carer’s and young people with additional needs and disabilities with their daily challenges. My work roles differed with these charities but include delivering training and workshops, supporting families with educational, health and social care issues, working with and challenging local authorities as well as liaising and reporting into Department of Education, NHS England and Parliament.

I'm passionate and committed about helping others and like to get involved with campaigns, and fundraising events in my spare time.”

Karen will be working 3 days a week, normally Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

 

Tesco news

Towards the end of the month we were delighted to share the news we’d been bursting to share with you for months; that Tesco has committed to building Changing Places toilets in more stores across the UK!

The retailer has been working with the Changing Places Consortium and OpeMed – which co-sponsors the campaign – to provide Changing Places toilets in target areas where there is the greatest need.

By March 2019, Tesco will have installed more than 30 new Changing Places toilets across the UK. Three new fully-accessible toilets are now open at Ryde Extra, Fareham Superstore and Aylesbury Superstore, joining existing facilities in Milton Keynes Kingston Extra, Slough Extra, Stourbridge Extra and Calne Superstore. Keep an eye on the map and Twitter for news of the latest installations from the retailer!

Of course, none of this would be possible without the dedication of Changing Places toilet campaigners, who have pushed tirelessly for facilities to be more widely available. All of your hard work is paying off. Particular thanks must go to Kerry Thompson who has played a key role in our work with Tesco, including presenting to their team about why Changing Places toilets are so important for her and thousands of other people across the UK.

Speaking about the news Kerry said:

“Sharing my story with Tesco and being part of this truly amazing project has been a privilege. By being involved from the start, I’ve seen how passionate everyone involved has been in bringing this scheme to life. For a company as big as Tesco to recognise the lack of Changing Places toilets available for disabled people just like me shows how much they care.”

We hope other large retailers will follow Tesco’s example- it’s already looking promising with two registrations from Sainsbury’s this month as well!

 

Paula Sherriff’s Bill

Sadly, the second reading of Paula Sherriff's Changing Places Bill didn’t go ahead as planned in January but has been given a new date in March. However, we still have the positive news that the Government will be conducting a consultation with the aim of making Changing Places toilets a mandatory requirement in all large new builds. The consultation will also help establish a new minimum standard for Changing Places. We will share more information about this process soon.

New registrations 

There are now 1,248 registered Changing Places toilets on our official map. There were 21 new registrations in January; They are listed below:

New registrations-

1.     IKEA Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales, CF11 0XR

2.     Belfast City Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT1 5GS

3.     Newquay Zoo, Newquay, England, TR7 2LZ

4.     Lochore Meadows Visitor Centre, Lochore, Scotland, KY5 8BA

5.     Ullapool Ferry Car Park, Ullapool, Scotland, IV26 2UJ

6.     Crawley Urgent Treatment Centre, Crawley, England, RH11 7DH

7.     QE2 Activity Centre, Southampton, England, SO31 1BH

8.     Sainsbury's Selly Oak, Birmingham, England, B29 6SJ

9.     Sainsbury's Herne Bay, Herne Bay, England, CT6 6GZ

10.  Bridgend Life Centre, Bridgend, Wales, CF31 4AH

11.  Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre, Edwinstowe, England, NG21 9RN

12.  Tesco Aylesbury, Aylesbury, England, HP20 1PQ

13.  Tesco Fareham, Fareham, England, PO16 0LE

14.  Tesco Ryde Extra, Ryde, England, PO33 1QS

15.  Bentley Bridge Shopping Park, Wolverhampton, England, WV11 1BP

16.  Little Roodee Café, Chester, England, CH1 1SL

17.  Brooks Building, Manchester Met, Manchester, England, M15 6GX

18.  Holly Hill Leisure Centre, Sarisbury Green, England, SO31 7BJ

19.  Winsford Lifestyle Centre, Winsford, England, CW7 1AD

20.  UNITY, Andover Bus Station, Andover, England, SP10 1QP

21.  Swanmore Parish Council Playing Field, Swanmore, England, SO32 2PF

As always, we’d like to say thank you to everyone who campaigns so hard for Changing Places toilets. We have no doubt that, with your support, 2019 will be a fantastic year for the campaign and see even more venues become incLOOsive for all.