Changing Places, changing lives
Monday, 21 July 2025
Changing Places Toilets (CPTs) are specially designed facilities that provide additional space and equipment for people with severe disabilities.
They include essential features such as a height-adjustable changing bench, a shower, a ceiling hoist, and enough room to accommodate a carer.
Over the past 5 years, we've been working to help fulfil an ambition that people are never more than a 10-minute drive to a Changing Place Toilet (CPT) in Central Bedfordshire.
With a contribution of £170,000 in government grant funding and matched funding from venue operators we have installed multiple Changing Places Toilets across our area, significantly improving accessibility for both residents and visitors. Of the 11 CPTs now sited in Central Bedfordshire, in addition to an installation at Priory House, our head office, 3 have been strategically located at key tourist destinations, Whipsnade Zoo, Marston Forest Centre, and Woburn Safari Park, to support accessible tourism.
For many families, access to Changing Places Toilets is a key consideration when planning days out with these facilities, making it much easier and supporting people’s independence. Visitors to Whipsnade Zoo have said the Changing Place Toilet has made their day much easier, allowed them to enjoy the zoo for the whole day, and was one of the main reasons they chose to visit.
Our Executive Member for Adult Social Care, Councillor Mark Smith said:
Changing Places Toilets are not just amenities, they are essential. They provide dignity, safety, and freedom, and open opportunities for people with disabilities to do everyday things most of us take for granted, like visiting a supermarket, a park, or attending an event.
For many people and their families, access to these facilities can be the deciding factor in whether they can leave the house at all. Without appropriate toilets, families are often faced with the heart breaking choice of staying home.
Kath Pearce, resident and grandparent to Sam who regularly visits the Forest of Marston Vale said:
Most people think of a disabled toilet as just a wider door and a red emergency cord but that doesn’t meet the needs of my 17-year-old grandson Sam. He isn’t in a wheelchair, is almost non-verbal, and has no sense of danger. Since he was three, we’ve had to change him on the floor or in the back of our car because the facilities available just weren’t suitable.
Changing Places Toilets have changed that. With over 2,600 across the UK, and those in Central Bedfordshire, they give Sam and others like him the dignity and equality they deserve.
We’re grateful to Central Bedfordshire Council for caring enough to install them, but more are urgently needed. Disabled people go out, enjoy the countryside, shop, swim, dine, celebrate. Why should they be denied the basic human right of using a toilet with dignity?
Find your nearest Changing Places Toilet on the Changing Places website.
Further Changing Places facilities are planned to open in a range of locations later in 2025 and during 2026.