Changing Places in Northern Ireland

With so much going on in Northern Ireland at the moment regarding the Changing Places campaign we thought we should update all visitors to the website on some extraordinary successes over the past year.

On Friday 1 February 2013, Northern Ireland's health minister Edwin Poots stated in the Northern Ireland Assembly that the following health facilities in planning will provide Changing Places toilets:
Phase B Ulster Hospital; South Eastern Trust
Mid Ulster Hospital; Northern Trust
Ballymena Health and Care Centre; Northern Trust
Omagh Hospital; Western Trust
Banbridge Health and Care Centre; Southern Trust

He said:
“It is my intention that all future new major hospitals and healthcare developments will consider the inclusion of Changing Places Toilets, as appropriate. My Department is further giving consideration to the incorporation of Changing Places Toilets or suitable alternative amenities into existing Healthcare facilities; including at this time, Antrim Area Hospital and the South West Hospital, Enniskillen. My officials will continue to support MENCAP (who are leading on this issue), and whilst recognising this is not just an issue for the Health Service to address, we are contributing to the provision of an appropriate network of Changing Places Toilets across the province.”

This is great news and a testament to all the campaigners working in Northern Ireland to highlight the need for Changing Places in all large buildings. Over the past year we have seen new facilities at Strangford Bay Lodge which is a purpose built fully accessible B&B http://www.strangfordbaylodge.com and Divis and the Black Mountain for walking/hiking area just outside Belfast. Unusual that one of the first Changing Places in Northern Ireland was up a mountain! http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/divis-and-black-mountain/visitor-information/

A Changing Places toilet has just been opened at the brand new visitors centre at Giant’s Causeway, renowned for its polygonal columns of layered basalt, and is the only World Heritage Site in Northern Ireland. Resulting from a volcanic eruption 60 million years ago, this is the focal point of a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has attracted visitors for centuries. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/giants-causeway/

We would like to thank all the Changing Places campaigners for the continuing hard work and look forward to registering more Changing Places in Northern Ireland and across the UK in the coming year. The Changing Places campaign, sponsored by Total Hygiene, calls for more Changing Places toilets in public places, so that people with profound and multiple learning disabilities and others who need extra support can access the same opportunities as everyone else.