Changing Places Toilet (CPT) facilities are so important in enabling people with disabilities to live ‘gloriously ordinary lives’ and Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) has been working to help fulfil an ambition that people are never more than a 10-minute drive to a Changing Place in Central Bedfordshire.
Kick-started by UKSPF government funding and match funded by the council and host venues five Changing Places Toilet facilities have now been opened at Whipsnade Zoo, Woburn Safari Park, Dunstable Leisure Centre, The Forest Centre in Marston and most recently at Priory House our office in Shefford.
Changing Places Toilet located at Whipsnade Zoo
The location and delivery of these CPTs have been informed by individuals with lived experience and their families and here Tracy Jones, representative of Send Parent and Carer Forum, SNAP, and parent carer to her adult son shares her thoughts,
“I’m actually shocked and grateful when I find a toilet that can actually cater for Samuel; and although Samuel’s condition is very severe, people with much less severe needs or without wheelchairs still struggle. It stops us going out and it isolates us. This means that people like Sam will get the safety, relief and dignity they need, deserve and should have. I would like to say a personal thank you to all parties for supporting me to be part of the conversation and for implementing such a wonderful thing.”
More CPTs are in the pipeline at Marigold House (Leighton Buzzard), Red Kite Meadows (Flitwick) and planned for new leisure centres in Leighton Buzzard and Houghton Regis.
Leave A Comment