Changing Places toilets include a hoist, an adult size changing bench and generous space for a disabled person and up to two Carers.
Spelthorne Borough Council applied for a funding grant for £40,000 from central Government which covered the cost of installing the new facility which is located on the first floor of the Elmsleigh Centre and accessed via the lift by Costa Coffee.
Thousands of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, as well other disabilities that severely limit mobility, cannot use standard accessible toilets. People may be limited in their own mobility so need equipment to help them or may need support from one or two carers.
Accessible toilets do not usually provide changing benches or hoists and are often too small to accommodate more than one person. Without Changing Places toilets, the person with disabilities is put at risk, and families are forced to risk their own health and safety by changing their loved one on a toilet floor.
It is now accepted and expected that everyone has a right to live in the community, to move around within it and access all its facilities, but for some people with disabilities the lack of a fully accessible toilet is denying them this right.
The Mayor of Spelthorne, Cllr Susan Doran opened the Changing Places facility on 23 February. She said: “We are pleased to have helped obtain the funding needed for this project. Changing Places toilets can make a dramatic difference to the lives of thousands of people who feel isolated in their homes because of the lack of appropriate facilities. It’s a very simple thing but will make a big difference to many.”
Gary Little, Centre Manager for the Elmsleigh Centre, said: “We believe this new facility will make the Elmsleigh Centre an even more welcoming and inclusive place to visit. Changing Places toilets have more room and specialised equipment which mean people with severe disabilities and their families can visit the town centre knowing their needs are catered for.”
Ken Saunders, Chair of Spelthorne Committee for Access Now which supports people with disabilities, said: “A lack of fully accessible toilets can severely restrict people’s ability to take part in everyday activities and robs them of their dignity. Just knowing these facilities are available can take away much of the worry and stress around going out.”
For more information about Changing Places, including a map of facilities, visit www.changing-places.org
Photo: Elmsleigh Centre Manager, Gary Little and the Mayor of Spelthorne, Cllr Susan Doran, at the Changing Places facility at the Elmsleigh Centre in Staines.
Message from SCAN’s Chairman - Do You Have Problems With Furniture Obstructing Pavements In Spelthorne? -
For further guidance please contact info@spelthorneaccess.org.uk
Did you know that the licensing of outdoor seating, tables, barriers, umbrellas, and other paraphernalia on pavements and footways is the responsibility of Spelthorne Council?
Were you aware that a ‘pavement licence’ may be required?
The licensing process for permitting furniture to be placed on pavements and pedestrianised areas was streamlined in 2020 to enable food and drink premises to obtain a ‘pavement licence’ within 7 days. A licence is approved unless public consultation raises concerns.
SCAN Has Raised Legitimate Concerns In Many Cases but has rarely been able to influence the Spelthorne Council’s licensing team to request changes to layouts. A significant amount of furniture is now placed on our footways and pedestrianised areas daily, creating obstruction and trip hazards, apparently without inspection or enforcement. Some furniture has been deemed by the Council not to require a licence.
For many people outdoor eating and drinking areas create an obstruction and, in some cases, trips and falls. Disabled people, particularly wheelchair users and those with visual impairment, may have to avoid areas cluttered with furniture.
This Is An Unacceptable Situation.
SCAN continues to monitor applications. Many licence applications are renewals and are exactly the same as the previous submissions made during the 2020 Pandemic restrictions. 3 However the Council approves all pavement license renewal applications since no complaints have been made on the numerous obstructions.
Why Hasn’t The Council Received Complaints?
If you do find outdoor pavement seating and associated street furniture to be an obstruction, hazard or even just a nuisance, please complain to Spelthorne Council Licensing team, using their contact information, below.
Unless You Complain The Situation Will Get Worse.
E-mail: licensing@spelthorne.gov.uk
Telephone: 01784 444295
Please send a copy of your complaint to SCAN. info@spelthorneaccess.org.uk
21 April 1926 - 8 September 2022
Those of us under the age of 70 have known no other Monarch. We have known no other images on our postage stamps, bank notes and coinage for most of those 70 years.
We have subconsciously known that there was a public persona as well as a completely different private persona, with the latter being one that only a selected few, outside of the family, close friends and staff, got to see. What was said and done ‘behind closed doors’ stayed there.
From Her sketch with Daniel Craig that preceded the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games to the most recent ‘Tea with Paddington’ during the Jubilee - both of which Her family knew nothing about until the sketches were actually broadcast, to the long list of ‘one liners’ that are slowly surfacing.
The now infamous meeting with the American tourists while she was out walking with an equerry on the Balmoral estate, and when asked if she had met the Queen, she replied ‘No but he has’ pointing to her equerry. In a more recent video clip when she appeared to be struggling to cut a large sponge cake with a sword/sabre, a voice off camera was heard to say ‘there is a knife’ to which the Queen replied ‘I know, but it’s more interesting doing it this way’
For 70 years she walked a fine line between the two personas. Her ‘duty’ was to maintain the ‘Mystique of the Monarchy’ but not become too remote. ‘I have to be seen to be believed’.
She had strong role models. Both Her parents and Grandparents were there for her through her early childhood and then later as Queen she continued to have the support and guidance of her mother for 50 years. We heard stories from ‘Her neighbours’ in Ballater, and the other villages surrounding the Balmoral estate, that Balmoral was a place where she could ‘hang Her crown on the gate post as she went through the gates’ and just be a wife, mother, grandmother and latterly great grandmother. Tales are also emerging from those invited to the regular ‘informal’ ‘picnics, all in a similar vein to that of Dickie Arbiter, a royal aide. After he‘d decided to start the washing up and on hearing footsteps behind him, expecting it to be the ‘lady in waiting’ he quipped, ‘I’ll wash, you dry’ But a very familiar voice replied ‘I’ll wash, YOU dry.’ Picking up a tea towel, he did as he was told.
On a ‘walk about’ in Windsor, Katherine, the new Princess of Wales revealed the words of her youngest son, Prince Louis. ‘'Mummy don't worry because she is now with great grandpa.’
Rest in Peace Your Late Majesty now that you are reunited with your ‘Strength and Stay’.