A radio show item about the misery thousands of disabled people face if they need a WC away from home has inspired Ullapool Harbour Trust to prove that where there’s a will, there’s a way to improve accessibility.
As a result, disabled people in the local community and visitors can head to the port, knowing it has appropriate toilets: a Changing Places assisted accessible facility, designed to the highest level set out in British Standards has been installed. The free-to-use Changing Places toilet facility features, in addition to the typical equipment found within such a facility, a Closomat Palma Vita wash and dry (smart) toilet, all supplied via Able Care and installed by W Munro.
Explained Chief Executive/Harbour Master Kevin Peach,
I listened with heavy heart to a radio show highlighting the daily misery that parents and carers have to face trying to find suitable toilets. We had to do what we could to improve the lot of people with profound disabilities. We wanted the best and highest specification we could provide for these very special people- hence why we chose to install a Closomat Palma Vita instead of the basic, conventional WC usually provided.
The Changing Places is located, alongside a community workshop, in the ground floor of a Highland Council-owned building in the heart of the Harbour. Ullapool Harbour Trust approached the Council and arranged to rent the building so it could provide the Changing Places, assisted by funding from an accessibility grant from Transport Scotland.
