Changing Places Welcomes New Faces

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19 May 2016 | Updated 01 January 1970

JD Wetherspoon believes it is setting new standards by becoming the first major national pub chain to open a Changing Places.

The ‘all-singing, all-dancing’ assisted accessible toilet supplied and installed by Clos-o-Mat is in Wetherspoon’s new The Velvet Coaster pub on Blackpool Promenade.

The £6.5 million pub has been built as a showcase for the brand which has already won national awards for its conventional and accessible toilets.

A Changing Places toilet is now ‘desirable’ under Building Regulations Approved Document M and BS 8300:2009 for all new build and refurbishment projects involving buildings to which numbers of the public have access. So far, over 700 Changing Places have been opened at venues across the country. Without Changing Places facilities, carers of children or adults with severe disability face either having to curtail their outing, or change their loved on the toilet floor.

The Changing Places toilet in Blackpool is located on the ground and being integrated into the build at the drawing stage, the facility delivers continuity of design for Wetherspoon toilets, while having the room (12m2) and layout for the hoist, height-adjustable changing bench and privacy screen that form integral equipment within Changing Places. Anyone who needs help to toilet, or be cleaned after toileting, can be catered for in an appropriate environment.

“Wetherspoon’s has a reputation for setting the standard for toilets in the hospitality sector and last year we won the UK Trophy for Accessible Toilets and almost 450 of our pubs won at least a gold rating, at the Loo of the Year Awards,” explained Daniel Warner, Development Support Manager, Wetherspoon. “It was at the Awards we saw Changing Places.”

As Clos-o-Mat is heavily involved with the Changing Places campaign and Loo of the Year Awards, it was seen as a logical choice for the supply and installation. “Where appropriate, we will endeavour to include Changing Places in future Wetherspoon’s developments,” concluded Mr Warner.

Picture: The new Wetherspoon’s pub in Blackpool has a Changes Places facility with assisted accessible toilet supplied and installed by Clos-o-Mat

Article written by Mike Gannon | Published 19 May 2016

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