Morrisons’ Changing Places facility praised

Supermarket chain Morrisons has received high praise for its Changing Places assisted accessible toilet. We reported back in May that Arsenal’s Emirates stadium had installed a Changing Places facility, and now the Lawley, Telford branch of the supermarket has followed suit and is reported to be the first of any other Midlands supermarket to install such an accessible facility.

Telford’s disabled and mobility restricted community has applauded the new Changing Places facility as the first to be installed in any Morrisons branch, where it will make shopping easier and more comfortable for the elderly and those with mobility difficulties. The grab rails and other features will be more akin to that of mobility aids in the home, where curved stair lifts and other such aids make life more accessible.

Nothing but praise

The facility is said to have received nothing but praise and positive comments according to store manager Frank Cromie in this article, where customers can now carry out the basic act of going to the bathroom with ease and comfort. The facility is said to be larger than that of a typical wheelchair accessible toilet, ensuring that there is plenty of room to make the whole experience hygienic and comfortable.

Changing Places specialist Kelvin Grimes said of the facility, “We are supposed to be an inclusive society; that includes providing appropriate public toilets”. With a range of accessible bathrooms with walk in baths and showers and other such facilities for public spaces available across the country, many more public spaces have the potential to offer facilities that the elderly and mobility restricted are used to within their own home.

Under the latest Building Regulations Approved Document M 2013, a Changing Places toilet is now considered ‘desirable’, which puts forward the thinking that more public spaces such as Morrisons will be installing such facilities to make more places better accessible to the wider public.

Image Credit: Elliott Brown (flickr.com)

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