In 2001, when I joined Nottingham City Council, Martin Jackaman was my boss. From the very beginning, it was clear that he brought a wealth of experience in learning disabilities. Martin qualified as a social worker in 1974, and after taking on roles in mental health and learning disabilities social work elsewhere, joined Nottingham as the Team Manager of the Learning Disability Team. The role also encompassed community work. Martin knew everyone locally and was not frightened of bending the rules and knocking on people’s doors to get what he needed for staff, children and adults with learning disabilities, and their families. He was trusted, respected and connected to the community.
In 2002, Martin moved into a new role transforming Day Centre Services. Through conversations with families and staff, he recognised a significant but often overlooked problem: the lack of suitable toilet facilities for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities and other complex needs.
This was not a minor inconvenience, and as medical advances were made and people with profound disabilities lived longer in the community, it was a major barrier to living ordinary lives for this group of adults, children and their families. The absence of appropriate facilities restricted families and staff from going out for extended periods. Parents and staff were often placed in impossible situations, forced to change people on the floors of standard disabled toilets, in the back of cars, struggling with limited space, staying at home, or just leaving the activity to come home or back to the day service. The dignity of the person was compromised often sitting in wet soiled clothing or having to use a urine bottle in the full view of the public, or being laid on often dirty floors in a so-called accessible toilet to have their continence pads changed.
Martin was determined to find a solution. His vision was clear: a new type of accessible toilet, properly designed for people with profound disabilities, should be incorporated into the new public toilets that were being built in Nottingham, which opened in July 2006.
Using a powerful video created by PAMIS (Promoting a More Inclusive Society), he along with some forward-thinking professionals with a range of skills from Nottingham City Council and NHS, supported by a couple of local councillors and a very helpful architect he successfully persuaded Nottingham City Council to adopt the design. This was a ground breaking step forward.
Changing Places Toilets
Image Changing Places Toilet -Tate Modern
Nottingham City Hospital Changing Places toilet
Changing Places toilets are specialised, larger accessible toilets designed for people with profound disabilities who need assistance from carers. They include equipment such as ceiling hoists, height-adjustable adult-sized changing benches, adequate space for carers, a privacy screen and safe, hygienic facilities.
At the same time, the Department of Health’s Valuing People team, established in 2001 to improve services for people with learning disabilities, was also exploring how to address this issue nationally. In 2005, they recommended bringing together a consortium of people which included Martin to address this issue and made sure that parent-led voluntary organisations were represented as well as families directly affected by the lack of appropriate facilities.
With support from Mencap’s media, design and campaign teams, the Consortium developed a strategy, logo and website. The Changing Places campaign was officially launched at Tate Modern in July 2006, with the support of Alison Lapper MBE, the artist and disability campaigner.
Image Tate Modern 2006
This strong partnership enabled PAMIS and Mencap to work closely with both the UK and Scottish Parliaments, helping to drive national awareness and change.
What began as one social worker recognising a practical problem and creating a multi-disciplinary team to design a solution, this then grew into a national movement that transformed dignity, independence and inclusion for thousands of disabled people and their families. Profoundly disabled people are often invisible in society and this innovation has been life changing, enabling children and adults with complex care needs and their families to do the things we all take for granted.
Martin went on to be recognised for his achievements which include:
- Loo of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award in Jan 2025
- Opening of the Martin Jackaman Day Centre in Nottingham in Nov 2014
- Guardian Public Servant of the Year 2007
- Finalist Council Worker of the Year 2007
Martin didn’t just help design a toilet. He helped revolutionise toilets provision for profoundly disabled people.
Martin retired in 2009 from Nottingham City Council, but he has continued to be part of the consortium and they managed to secure government funding of £30 million in March 2020 to include this provision in existing buildings.
At 76, Martin is still involved in persuading organisations and individuals to support a Changing Places toilet. Although Changing Places toilets are now part of the Building Regulations in the UK (established in 2021) for certain size buildings, there is still a battle to be won, and this small group of people keep the fight going.
Today, there are 2,631 Changing Places toilets across the UK, from public places such as shopping centres, supermarkets, cinemas and tourist attractions, transport hubs and we have quite a few in Nottingham where it all began. The network of Changing Places toilets is growing across the world too from Australia, New Zealand, Europe and many more.
Martin has said he may have to retire at some point, but the individual stories of gratitude from people who have benefited from the Changing Places toilets keep him going. There have been many tough times along the way, and in some places he never thought it would happen — yet it did.
This is a remarkable legacy from one person’s determination to ensure that dignity and accessibility is never an afterthought. You can never underestimate the power of a social worker, the community, co-production and the importance of toilets.
For further information around Changing Places toilets in UK and around the world please see the following
https://www.changing-places.org/pages/view/who-are-the-consortium
Lowri and Bethan enjoy a day out in Nottingham thanks to the Changing Place toilet
Changing Places toilet op het stallenplein | Paleis Het Loo
Changing Places Long Version HD HD
Championing Inclusion: A Conversation with Martin Jackaman
https://disabilityunit.blog.gov.uk/2021/02/25/why-we-need-changing-places-toilets/
Blog written by Dawn Sentance and Beena Patel.
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