Two more Changing Places toilets could be coming to Preston

The Changing Places toilet in the Friargate/Fleet Street car park during Lancashire Encounter Festival in 2017

The government has awarded Preston City Council a grant of £60,000 from the Changing Places Fund, to assist with installing two changing places facilities that meet the needs of severely disabled people and their carers in the city.

The two venues chosen are the Harris Museum and Art Gallery and the Moor Park pavilion.

The new Changing Places Toilet (CPT) facility at the Harris forms part of the ‘Reimagining the Harris’ project.

The aims of the Changing Places programme are to boost the number of CPTs in existing buildings across England and to ensure that more disabled people can take part in everyday activities that have the greatest impact on their quality of life.

Daffodils in Preston city centre with the Harris and Cenotaph behind Pic: Tony Worrall

The grant towards the total cost of the (CPT) project in Preston is estimated at £100,000. This means match funding of £40,000 is still required, amounting to £20,000 for each venue.

The match for the CPT facility at the Harris is covered within the Council’s Heritage Fund allocation, as part of the Harris Your Places capital scheme

If the Council is successful with its Levelling Up funding bid and the scheme for more green spaces in urban areas goes ahead, the CPT facility would be delivered as part of a comprehensive build project for the Moor Park pavilion and it would serve as match funding.

One of the Changing Places facilities will be at the Moor Park pavilion Pic: Tony Worrall

If the Levelling Up bid is not successful, the match funding identified within the Levelling Up bid will be redirected for the CPT facility at Moor Park to be delivered as a standalone scheme.

The report to Cabinet on the Changing Places Project and Funding Award said: “The Changing Places initiative is already having a direct positive impact on the local community and visitors to Preston.

“There is already a Changing Places modular facility at the Preston Mobility Centre at Friargate and there are CPT facilities at Preston bus station and Preston railway station.

“A further one is proposed in the planned new Harris Quarter Cinema and Leisure Scheme – Animate.

“Developing more CPT facilities through this grant will make Preston more accessible for disabled people who live, work and visit the area.

The impact statement by service users said: “The grant will enable two new Changing Places facilities to be installed, which will make Preston more accessible to disabled people who live, work and visit the area.

“This will have a direct positive impact on the local community and visitors to Preston.”

Cabinet is now asked to accept the award of £60,000 from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

A meeting will take place on Wednesday 21 September to discuss what the next steps are for the project.

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