As World Toilet day comes around for another year I thought it might be useful to see what progress has been made with Changing Place toilets since my post last year. 

Lots of you have pointed us in the direction of Changing Place toilets and we’ve tried out as many as possible. We found one in a play park right next to the accessible roundabout and there was a new one in our local swimming pool which allowed us to go swimming together as a family.

They’ve helped us enjoy family time at museums, art galleries and even at safari parks and festivals. On our travels we’ve discovered that there are really advanced ways to flush toilets but we’ve also found adjustable height benches with manual systems! 

I was delighted to book a Mobiloo for a local fundraising event and loved seeing it parked right in the middle of my own community. Its presence raised a huge amount of awareness of the need for these specialised facilities. The fact that it was used a total of 11 times in the three hours it was there speaks volumes. 

Sadly in the past year there has only been one new Changing Place toilet in the whole of our local authority area. I wish that number had been higher but hopefully discussions about new ones are happening right now. I know that some thought has gone into the possibility of a Mobiloo for the area. 

£2 million of government funding has been awarded to 22 motorway service stations in England specifically for Changing Place toilets and details of which ones have now been released. For us that means when we travel, we will be able to stop at our favourite services and not just the one that happens to have the right facilities. 

Thanks to the strength of the national campaign there has been some legislative change. On the first of December it will become a legal requirement in Scotland for large developments to have a Changing Places toilet to gain planning consent. This is a major step forward to ensuring #incLOOsion happens.

Finally, Tesco is leading the way for supermarkets with its pledge of 35 new Changing Place toilets in stores countrywide. I’m sure the campaign will continue until all supermarkets, train stations, shopping centres, airports etc all have a Changing Place toilet. Something as simple as a Changing Place toilet really does make our everyday lives, even the most mundane of tasks like the weekly shop, that little bit easier.