This afternoon I received telephone call from one of the Directors at Lands End.
Contact at long last is good and I am pleased that they responded but I still feel that there is a lack of true understanding. (that might just be me, after all, I do feel this deeply)
He did apologise that I felt that the response was inadequate. (It was. It was not just my feeling!)
He did agree that things should have happened differently and that working together is the way forward.
They did instigate a disability audit by Disability Cornwall and Isles of Scilly about a month before our visit and are awaiting information from them. They have also viewed the Space to Change toilet at Cornwall Services and are attending Access all Areas in October to learn more.
He was keen to stress that they can’t do anything to the current toilet (clearly not, it is way too small) couldn’t do anything over the summer and mentioned how they couldn’t respond to one person in a “knee-jerk reaction” and that it has to be done in a “planned manner”.
He did say that comments online should not have been deleted. Discussion should have happened and that there is a possibility that toilets in the restaurant could be adapted.
He did not say that they really want to do it though. That is what I hoped to hear.
I accept that they have old buildings and that there may be planning issues and structural changes which are likely to be needed.
None of those things are harder than being physically disabled and unable to access a toilet though. None of those things are more difficult than having to leave a local attraction without experiencing it. None of those things are impossible. Using the toilet at Lands End is, for many, impossible.
Maybe they are not good with emotional responses? Maybe they are just struggling to find a way? Maybe they really do mean it and they will pull out all the stops to ensure that nobody is excluded in the future?
So I am going to choose to hear his comments as ‘We are really sorry that your family had to leave and we are truly sorry at our awful response to your effort to tell us what could help. We are saddened to realise that so many people just cannot access our attraction and we truly want to change this. We have already started looking into the types of equipment available and are looking into how we can alter buildings to accommodate this. We want to get this right and we will aim to have things in place by next summer.’
Wouldn’t that have been simpler?
I will trust them to do better. After all, everybody deserves another chance to show that they care.
Thank you, Lands End, for agreeing to look into this. I realise that I probably seem like a nuisance to you, but this really does matter.
So how about a little advance notice of a plan to visit?
Next year I shall eagerly await the summer events and I shall be keen to come to Children’s Day 2017, WITH MY CHILD.
We will bring friends!
We have a lot of friends who also depend on toilet facilities with a hoist and bench. We also have a few friends who use powered wheelchairs and depend on adequate space to get their chair positioned beside the toilet in order to use it independently. Our friends also have friends…
They would all love to spend their pounds with you too, and they will, once they can “spend a penny”.
This is not a one person issue.
Equality matters.
Ordinary Hopes 
Equality matters!!!!!!
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Equality matters.
That and a proper response from Land’s End. I would expect better of such a major tourist attraction. The response of many other smaller facilities puts them to shame.
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My Child Matters, Equality Matters, Where there is a will there is a way…
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Equality matters for all human beings!
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I was hoping that after taking so long to respond, Land’s End would have had a more thought-out response than what sounds like a further fob-off.
No-one in my family uses any kind of wheelchair at present (although it sounds like my daughter would have struggled at Land’s End when her leg was broken, even in just the standard Red-Cross issue wheelchair). I know, though, that more than a quarter of a million people in the UK need a bench and hoist in order to be able to use a toilet.
No-one is asking for any kind of knee-jerk response, nor is this issue confined to one person. Far from it.
I’d like to see a response that shows genuine interest, a sense of feeling bad about not being able to provide what is needed, and a willingness to do better. You’ve been contacted by several other attractions, both large and small, who are showing that attitude. That gives me hope.
(I’m trying to imagine the difference in level of available resources between Land’s End and Wild Futures … why is the compassionate response so easy for one and not for the other?
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There are thousands of people unable to enjoy days out with friends and families when there aren’t suitable facilities. Those people AND their families and friends simply go elsewhere. They shouldn’t have to choose a day out based on basic needs like toilet facilities.
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Hmmm…. while it sound ok (I won’t say good) on the face of it, they have just spent huge amounts of money refurbishing and relaunching various areas of these terribly old buildings. Clearly commitment to equity was not a concern then.
Personally, I would be mortified to have made such an oversight. I would, if I were unaware enough of the actual issues, check my facts. Legal, moral and statistics. This would inform a course of action, even if I remained ignorant (in the true sense of the word).
I hope change is to come. Real change. This saga confirms that me and mine, representatives of so very many, are not only unwelcome but actively rejected. Because to take no action or to hide behind blatant ‘excusologies’ tells its own tale. And that is a tale in which me and mine are considered dispensible, unworthy, lesser individuals.
This is not an acceptable tale to be participating in. Not in the 21st century.
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Equality Matters
Astounding that dignity is not afforded to everyone and access is not possible due to lack of awareness, foresight, thought or care!
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Equality matters. Human rights matter. We all need to go to the toilet.
This will not only help local families with disabilities, it will attract tourists with disabilities. With the disabled community spending £212bn a year, surely it also makes good business sense.
But mostly, it just makes sense. It’s fair.
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Nobody in my immediate family is a wheelchair user, but I have friends that are. I would now not visit this attraction as clearly equality does not matter. I am astounded that a huge attraction such as Lands End could be so ignorant to a persons dignity. I was hoping to organise a trip for our a youth Group this year, but have decided to take them to an attraction where everybody matters
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It’s sad. Equality does matter, very much.
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Reblogged this on Upside Mum and commented:
Such an important issue. If anyone can lend their support for this, I would really appreciate it. Everyone should have access to the facilities they need and should be afforded dignity in things many of us take for granted.
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Equality matters!
I’m so sorry you had to go through that. Ignorant people like that shouldn’t be dealing with the public. I really hope they take note of this and sort it out in time for next year
Debbie
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Equality Matters!
It’s 2016 for goodness sake.
There is enough ugliness in the world, let’s make it brighter by valuing disabled people and their right to proper access and facilities. Each small action is a giant leap to creating a better world. Let’s hope that Lands End chose to be a part of that.
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Considering you are a well publicised national landmark it is clearly long overdue that businesses like yours invested in efficient modern toilet spaces that demonstrate when you say ‘all welcome’ to the world you mean ALL welcome!
Don’t get stuck in the dark ages LANDS
END, put your money where your mouth is & prove that EQUALITY MATTERS.
(Good time to develop your public relations too!)
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Equality Matters
I’m due to go to Cornwall this weekend and this has put me off going to Lands End.
Not only because I will probably have to change my son in the back of our car… but because of their whole attitude. Families like mine don’t feel very welcome.
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Equality DOES matter. Very much. It makes me so angry to find out that such a famous land mark, does not appear to know this. I wonder what Visit England think of the behaviour of the country’s crowning jewel locations?
I will be watching their response with interest.
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I think it sounds like they are listening Rachel. Keep shining your positive message the every person matters.
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Glad they finally responded but sad to hear they don’t really want to make a change. And this isn’t just ‘one persons problem’ , this equality. I hope they listen.
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Equality matters.
I really hope that Land’s End attitude continue to change…..
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I suppose that’s a step in the right direction, but it’s frustrating to hear them endlessly going on about lack of space when they have an entire empty building (the massive white house just before the car park), as well as an enormous car park that they could easily carve a corner off for a Space to Change toilet. I don’t see them going on about how remote they are when they’re trying to attract visitors, and the difficult, inaccessible landscape hasn’t stopped them building a 4D cinema and all the other “attractions”. If equality actually mattered to them this is a problem that could be solved overnight.
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I did not know about the empty building. Unfortunately we were not able to stay long enough to explore! Clearly there are other options!
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Equality really does matter.
Whilst it seems Lands End have finally had to take there fingers out of their ears and listen to this issue, they don’t appear to have made a definite commitment.
I would hope they will take a real look at what is needed to provide an accessible facility rather than a disabling one. I await their decision as we can no longer visit Lands End as our daughter requires these facilities and at almost 15, she is too big to change in the back of our car!
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You are being astonishingly patient with them! Well done for keeping up the pressure.
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Everyone should have the right to be able to go to the toilet, wherever they are. All attractions, cafes etc should make sure that all the people, who they quite happily take money from, can easily access their public conveniences.
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Equality matters, and so does dignity. A good quality disabled toilet is much more than the facility it offers. It shows that there is a real willingness to include everyone, to welcome everyone and to make everyone feel comfortable and valued. Organisations that don’t understand that, despite having had it explained four times over, are actually conveying a very clear message about how they perceive families like ours and it’s not inspiring much confidence in how they regard their customers generally.
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Damn well right that equality matters!
One would think that disabled people had only just been invented. FFS.
This offhand, after-the-event sort of response really gets my goat. When will service providers acknowledge access is not some “nice to have” customer service issue, it’s a legal – and moral – imperative
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Equality matters. This is not a one person issue, this affects more than a quarter of a million people in the UK. It could affect any of our own families, or ourselves, at any time; then we would not see this as an irrelevant issue, we would care deeply. Having looked into the costs (assuming wrongly that they must be huge) I was amazed at how affordable such facilities are! Come on all of you in positions of power who can make this happen; refuse to allow so many (and their families) to exist like ghosts in our society! We will celebrate your efforts!
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