Changing Places toilets at supermarkets

 

Muscular Dystrophy UK have reviewed the Changing Places toilet registration data and found that six out of ten supermarket chains do not have a single Changing Places toilet. In fact, less than 0.1% of retailers in the UK have a Changing Places toilet. This is not good enough. 

 

Although some retailers like IKEA and Tesco have committed to installing Changing Places toilets at more of their stores, it is unacceptable that the majority of supermarkets still do not have a single registered Changing Places toilet to meet the needs of their customers. 

 

Kerry Thompson, from Milton Keynes, worked with Tesco on its project to install Changing Places toilets. She said:

I’ve been on days out where I’ve just had one or two sips of water all day because there haven’t been any Changing Places toilets. Standard accessible toilets just aren’t good enough. When you have a powerchair, or two carers with you, only a Changing Places will do.

Jo Elgarf’s five-year-old daughter Nora has a rare brain condition called polymicrogyria and needs Changing Places toilets. Jo, from Worcester Park, London, has two other children – Nora’s twin, Layla, and Youssef, seven – and said:

Changing Places toilets mean we can enjoy a day out as a family. If there are no Changing Places, it’s not just Nora who is affected – her brother and sister are, too.

Jo added:

Changing Places toilets in supermarkets and other large public venues should be the norm. They allow families to do things that other people may take for granted. For us, it means we’re able to make the 400-mile round trip to Cornwall to visit Nora’s grandmother, because there is now a Changing Places toilet in a Tesco store on the way.

Jo and Nora’s shared their story in a video by Tesco. You can watch this below.

 

What do we want to see happen?

We need retailers to commit to installing vital Changing Places toilets in their stores to help tackle the exclusion too many disabled people are facing on a daily basis. You can help us keep the pressure on by sharing our Supermarket table and asking retailers near you to install Changing Places toilets.