On Friday 26 January I attended the Migloo event at Wychavon Civic Centre.
The Migloo is a unique set of portable changing suites for people with profound and multiple disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, that makes it difficult for them to use traditional disabled toilets.
Pershore inventor John Robinson came up with the idea after growing increasingly frustrated at the lack of facilities available to those with specialist needs. There are 250,000 people with complex disabilities across the UK but only about 1,000 toilets fitted with equipment like a hoist and adjustable changing bench.
Together with his friend Pinvin based John Morgan, he created a company to help achieve their vision of increasing the number of venues, events and festivals which catered for people with complex disabilities.
There are several versions of the Migloo including a lightweight changing unit for individuals that can be easily transported by car and set-up in minutes by a single person. There is also a larger tented version that comes complete with a toilet and a wash basin suitable for use at festivals or events.
The pair’s latest innovation, the Naked Migloo, is capable of being installed in any disused space such as offices or empty shops making it ideal for businesses wanting to cater for more of their customers’ needs. With a price tag of just £6,000 it is a fraction of the £50,000 to £130,000 cost of installing a permanent facility. Cost is the main reason businesses refuse to install specialist facilities by claiming it is not a ‘reasonable adjustment’ under the Equality Act.
I was delighted to have attended such an informative session and it was great to be able to support local innovation. This product has the power to change lives and I will support it any way I can. We do need to look at tightening up the legislation but at a cost of just £6,000 it’s becoming harder for major companies making huge profits to argue against.