Disability campaigner heads to Downing Street as she advocates for more Changing Places facilities

Changing Places are toilets specially designed for people with complex needs and disabilities, with facilities including a changing bench, hoist, and extra space for carers.

However, Gina Patel from Wednesbury wants to raise awareness of the benefits of Changing Places for people with a range of different disabilities, highlighting that they're not just for people with severe disabilities.

Her #ToiletsForAll campaign comes as more than 250,000 severely disabled people across the UK do not have access to public toilet facilities that meet their needs.

Currently, there are 278 Changing Places across the West Midlands with 1997 across the UK. However, there are none in Wednesbury, where Gina lives.

The disability advocate, who has Cerebral Palsy, told the Express & Star that although she is not severely disabled, she still benefits from using Changing Places.

The Sandwell campaigner said: "I believe until now, the focus on Changing Places has been on people with severe needs who need hoists or changing beds.

"But people like me, who are disabled but not seriously disabled, do need these toilets. Previously, I didn’t want to accept I needed help and carried on as normal. However, having to use regular toilets can make it harder for people to go out.

"It's all about inclusion - sometimes people might want a bigger space because of their disability, or just prefer these facilities.

"Some people have to resort to being changed on the back of car boot, so it really does bring all kinds of challenges. Unless you have a disability or care for someone who does, you don't realise this."

Gina visited West Bromwich Albion's home ground, The Hawthorns, this week, to view their Changing Places facility.

She said: "I'm really glad Albion have these facilities. I don't get enough hours to go out a lot, but football means a lot to me, so when I go out, and not having these facilities makes it harder.

"But it’s not enough and other clubs should follow suit as sometimes people with disabilities are only able to go out for that period of time so being there can mean everything to those people."

Now, Gina is hoping to raise further awareness for her campaign and is going to Downing Street next week.

Gina has conducted a national survey around people's perceptions of Changing Places and where they would like them to be located.

She will be presenting her findings at Number 10 on Wednesday, July 19, alongside Harry Mahmood who was a candidate on the 2022 series of The Apprentice.

Gina said: "I wanted to get an understanding from the disabled and non-disabled communities about whether they've heard of Changing Places, whether they use them, and where they would like them to be built.

"Harry is helping me get the campaign out there and is coming with me to Downing Street next week."

She concluded: "I really want this campaign to stand out, to people in the non-disabled as well as disabled community, to show people just how important Changing Places are."