New Changing Places toilet at TRCH Nottm ‘available to all’ thanks to National Lottery

NEW CHANGING PLACES TOILET AT THEATRE ROYAL & ROYAL CONCERT HALL ‘AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE’ THANKS TO NATIONAL LOTTERY FUNDING

The Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham are able to go ahead with a major improvement to their accessible toilet facilities thanks to almost £10,000 awarded to them by the National Lottery.

An example of a Changing Places facility. Photo credit: www.changing-places.org

In addition to the venue’s existing accessible toilet facilities, the new Changing Places toilet will meet the needs of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal and brain injuries, cerebral palsy, as well as older people. To use the toilet in safety and comfort, the Changing Places toilet will have more space and equipment, including a height adjustable changing bench and a hoist.

Due to be installed on the ground floor of the Royal Concert Hall early next year, the Changing Places toilet will be available to everyone – to theatre audiences and members of the public – at all times that the venue is open.

Emily Malen, the Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall’s Front of House and Access Development Manager, said: “Everyone has a right to enjoy a night at the theatre or a trip into town without the additional worry of finding an appropriate toilet facility to meet their needs. Access for everyone is at the heart of what we do, so we are delighted to be able to offer the use of this Changing Places facility to anyone who needs to use it, not just to our customers. Thanks to this vital funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, we are able to go ahead and start installation in the New Year.”

The new funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, which distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes and is the largest community funder in the UK, will provide almost £10,000 to cover the cost of all fittings, furnishings, sanitary appliances and floor finishes within the project.

Beth Foden, who is looking forward to visiting the venue with her daughter Lowri, played a key role in highlighting the need for a Changing Places toilet at the venue. She said: “We feel really excited that we can visit a venue like everybody else and stay there and not have to pop out to the nearest public toilet elsewhere. We feel really pleased about that. The nearest public toilet happens to be a Changing Places toilet on Greyhound Street, but I don’t want to go there at night.”

Martin Jackaman, from the Changing Places Consortium, said: “No-one should have to leave the theatre to access a toilet. That treated people as different, and it should be accessible to all. This is a major venue and it needed a Changing Places toilet that is accessible for both the Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall. This brings it in line with other leisure venues across the UK. This is a building that has already been built, so they’ve had to find ways and have a ‘can do’ attitude. It means that Bethan and other families like hers no longer have to stop at home. They can come here for an evening out which is not only beneficial to the person in the wheelchair but to their parents and carers.”