Parks and memories and why public toilets are an equality issue
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Zibiah Loakthar, our Cuimhne Coordinator writes:
This summer, I took our children on the train to play in the park in the town of my childhood. The town has seen quite a few changes. We only make occasional visits and there are always new surprises each time. Still, whilst cafes have changed names and new restaurants and bars have sprung up over the years, some of the old shops remain the same.
There is something lovely about returning to a familiar place where, unlike in so much of London, the landmarks along the skyline remain pretty much the same over the years. It was wonderful to rediscover the stepping stones from my childhood over the little stream and old trees, ones I climbed when I was small, middle–aged now with trunks filled out, and old–aged and gnarled but still standing, branches with familiar twists and knots reaching unmistakably back into my childhood.
Revisiting familiar places can awaken memories deep inside us, stirring up memories we have forgotten we ever had! Inquisitive children curious to learn about the sorts of things their parents and grand–parents, aunties and uncles did when they were little, can understand something from listening to stories. But visiting together can be a great opportunity to share and co–create experiences across generations and enable children to understand first–hand.
In her novel “The Lido” (2018), Libby Page writes about the value of familiar physical spaces that hold memories of a community’s past. When we are young, we tend to take it for–granted that the places we grow up amongst will always be around. We may feel assured that there will always be people and things to remind us of the things we wish to remember even where we ourselves may begin to forget. It is often the notion that we can always return that liberates us to go off into the world and explore.
Tree in park
Many things come with age, including the dawning realisation that the world is not as permanent as we might wish, people around us, landscapes, buildings, parks are all potentially subject to change. Urban development changes cities, villages turn into towns over time, whilst vibrant towns can empty of people and become ghost towns. Timeless buildings are not timeless. Trees fall down in storms. Even in the countryside, landscapes that seem eternal cannot be taken for granted. Changes in agricultural practices, development, the effects of climate change may all have an impact upon the nature of rural landscapes too.
Change is no bad thing, indeed change can often be for the better; returning into the past is not always a rosy experience. Still, in the context of dementia, there is something to be valued about the possibility of physical return and reconnection with places, sights, sounds and smells.
Physical return can help restore memories that we may have difficulty in connecting with simply by sitting in a chair, closing our eyes and fishing in our minds. To get a feel for how helpful physical objects and places can be in supporting reminiscence activities with people living with dementia, why not join our Cuimhne group’s travel through a Time Tunnel from the Victorian era until today at the Museum of Brands this month?
As we left the park, we found the nearby public toilets that have been there “for ever” are suddenly no longer public toilets. I was completely astonished: perhaps I have not grown old quite yet! Googling closure of public toilets, leads to whole strings of campaigns about these particular toilets closing as well as comments from protesting communities across Britain highlighting the difficulties lack of community toilet provision can create.
Councils across the country have been closing public toilets on the grounds that they are too expensive to maintain. Instead, in various places, councils pay a lesser amount to local businesses, shops and restaurants to open their toilets to the public. These however are not always so conveniently located and can disproportionate disadvantage people with disabilities, including dementia.
The website, Rightsinfo, suggests that according to the BBC, between 2010 and 2018, councils across the UK stopped maintaining and closed down over 13 percent of all public toilets – at least 673 facilities.
The Equality Act protects the rights of all disabled people. Sanitary facilities offered by councils should provide equal access to toilets for disabled customers/visitors and employees, to the same standard as non–disabled people.
The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) have argued that the closure of toilets is a “threat” to social mobility, health, and equality.
And yet it is not a legal requirement for councils to run public toilets at all.
It is not that long ago that women were campaigning for access to public toilets. As Alwynn Collinson, writing about the Museum of London “Are you Sitting Comfortably” exhibition puts it, “lack of access to toilets effectively tied women to their homes, putting them on a leash as long as their bladder capacity”
Forget the social taboo about talking about toilets. This is something worth talking about in our communities as it affects and disadvantages so many groups of people. It is certainly something to discuss as we look at how we can make communities more dementia friendly and accessible and inclusive to all.