A specially designed Changing Places facility in Aberfoyle has opened to improve accessibility for visitors to the area.
The state-of-the-art facility provides access to changing and toilet facilities for people with severe disabilities and needs, offering supports and space that are not available in standard toilets.
The project was delivered following a vote by residents in the local ward as part of Stirling Council’s participatory budgeting process. It was developed in partnership with PAMIS, a charity working with people with profound learning disabilities and their families, and the Stirling Area Access Panel to ensure best practice was captured in the design.
A growing network of Changing Place toilets across Scotland and the United Kingdom can be viewed on the official map which logs these specialised facilities.
Chair of the Stirling Area Access Panel, Robert Dick said: “We are pleased to have worked so collaboratively on the provision of a Changing Places Toilet for a second time, which the council has so generously funded for Aberfoyle.
“There is still a need for further Changing Places toilets in Stirlingshire and we do hope that there are more to follow.”
Stirling Council’s community wellbeing and housing convener Councillor Gerry McGarvey said: “This Changing Place facility is an important addition to Aberfoyle and responds to the needs and wishes of the local community and visitors.
“We want as many people as possible to be able to enjoy the stunning surroundings of the Stirling area. Providing facilities such as this will allow people with complex disabilities and those who care for them to visit Aberfoyle without anxieties about accessing appropriate toilet facilities.
“Stirling Council is committed to equality of opportunity in our communities, and I’d like to thank everybody involved in the installation of this facility that will be of significant benefit to local people and visitors alike.”
The facility, situated next to the VisitScotland iCentre on Main Street, is open from Monday to Friday 9am-6pm, and Saturday to Sunday 9am-4pm.
There is direct access through rear car parking/ disabled parking. It is a locked facility accessed through a RADAR key which can obtained for a small fee from here https://shop.disabilityrightsuk.org/products/radar-key.
Residents in and around Tyndrum meanwhile recently launched a ‘Spend a Penny Scotland’ campaign to raise awareness and funds to build a Changing Places Toilet facility.
Tyndrum Infrastructure Group’s (TIG) campaign is urging Scots to sign a petition which TIG has launched to prioritise calls on the Scottish Government to choose and support locations for CPTs in specific areas of Scotland and also to donate to the ‘Spend a Penny’ crowdfunding page to raise funds for the much-needed facility.
They say building a CPT in Tyndrum will open up the north end of Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park to day-trippers from the central belt, residents commuting from the west coast to the cities and thousands of tourists from further south of the border and further afield.
Currently, there’s a shortage of these crucial facilities in the west of Scotland in an area larger than the size of Wales.
