Good sanitary facilities are utterly important when visiting the beach or nature, especially for our target group(s)! Unfortunately, there are many uncertainties about accessible toilets, and good standards are missing. While many people just need a grab rail in order to make a toilet accessible, this simply isn’t enough for people with more serious and/or multiple disabilities. For example, they need more space for guidance and to be able to maneuver their wheelchair, a lift for transfers, a height-adjustable changing table, and many more facilities that are missing in a standard (accessible) toilets.
In short: the current accessible toilet offer is absolutely insufficient for them, which in practice means that they often simply refrain from visiting the beach or nature… A movement emerging from the UK thant aims at changing this is Changing Places. It strives for high-quality sanitary units that can also be used by people with serious and/or multiple disabilities. It provides guidelines for such toiltets in terms of dimensions, design and implementation.
We wholeheartedly support this wonderful initiative, and are currently working with partners on its practical application on beaches and in nature reserves. Our dream is that eventually every coastal municipality and every nature reserve will have at least one changing place, embedded in a good “chain of accessibility“.
Feel free to contact us for more information!