This week I have been to meet with the Changing Places Working group. It was an opportunity for me to see whether the Council was keeping good with it's promise to make Changing Places toilets compulsory in new public buildings and it's promise to look at existing public toilets to see which one's could be turned into Changing Places toilets. A Changing Place toilet does have to meet certain standards in terms of size, as well as having appropriate equipment such as changing benches and hoists, so it needs to be said that many existing public toilets will not be able to fit the criteria just on size alone. That said, the council have already commissioned feasibility studies into 20 public toilets spanning North Lincolnshire to see which ones can be converted. Not only that but plans for new developments across 7 sites are also being looked at to see if Changing Places toilets can be included, so very exciting news at the moment. I also heard that it's possible that the new football ground will also include one when it is built, so some potential good news for football supporters there. The new community wellbeing hubs are currently in the process of being updated to Changing Places toilets too and I will let you know when they become available as well as their times of opening. It was also discussed about what should be included if an existing toilet does not have the space dictated by Changing Places standards but was still roomy and it was said that everything possible would be done so that severely disabled users do not have to use the toilet floor in order to be changed. It was also agreed that signage to Changing Places toilets needs to be good and the suggestion was made that the location of the nearest Changing Places loo should be advertised in standard disabled loos. On the downside it does seem to be the case that some people are experiencing difficulties in using the Changing Places toilet in town at the Ironstone Centre. The group does plan to send a letter to senior managers asking for an improvement in accessibility but if anyone reading this has had issues then please message us and I will pass your comments on.