LISTEN: Ian Walker sits down with Ramsay Beattie to share how the changing places toilet funding is coming along
A changing places toilet gives way for people of all disabilities to use, with equipment such as harness support from the ceiling, a changing bay and space for a carer, the toilet has everything a disabled toilet needs for the modern-day.
Director Ian Walker says that this toilet will replace two existing ones built in the nineteen-eighties in place for a brand new modern one will all the space and necessitates needed.
Mr Walker said: “Last year it was our fiftieth anniversary so we had planned a series of events from last June to this June and then of course with the pandemic, something’s didn’t happen.
“But we decided that our fiftieth anniversary project was to construct a changing places toilet.”
He explained that a changing places toilet ‘is a large toilet, over twice the size of a normal disability access toilet’ with other features such as ‘a hoist so that people can be taken out of their wheelchair onto the toilet or a shower.’
Mr Walker added: “That’s what we’ve been doing this year to raise money to raise money to construct this, and all being well we will start this November.”
This has been a big project in the works for the Atholl Centre, starting last year and building into this year the project has been collecting funds from a broad spectrum of efforts.
Crowfunders, thrift shops and donations have all been part of the building blocks contributed by the community to build up the Atholl Centre to what it wants to be.
Mr Walker said: “We started slowly to begin to raise funds, we’ve had architect fees and structural engineers and asbestos and silicone and all that sort of thing carried out.
“So, we’ve been raising funds locally by having a crowdfunding campaign and that overall brought in £10,000, we’ve had big sums of money, two lots of £20,000 from different organisations and we’ve been having our own thrift shops and just recently that brought in £2,000.
“People then come and give us money, anywhere from £5 to £100, local people have come in and done that.
By having a changing places toilet in Pitlochry, PAMIS, the disability support organisation, will add the town to its map of toilets where people who need specialist facilitates can visit.
This will hopefully make Pitlochry a more inclusive space for guests of the town and help promote it as a destination spot for those who have to consider where they visit before going.
To support the centre, find it’s crowdfunding page in the following link: https://www.athollcentre.org.uk/crowdfunding/