What Happens When a City Listens?

Reflections from Coventry’s Need The Loo World Toilet Day Gathering

On World Toilet Day, November 19th 2025, more than 30 people gathered at Central Methodist Hall to do something that rarely happens in public spaces: talk openly, honestly and creatively about toilets for the Need The Loo campaign's first ever gathering.

“We need to talk about toilets as part of inclusion — not just for one group, but for everyone.”

From Toilet Bingo to lived-experience storytelling to idea-sharing, the afternoon showed what’s possible when local people lead and when an issue often dismissed is treated as what it really is: a matter of dignity, health and belonging.

The room was buzzing from the moment people arrived. Attendees were welcomed with “I support the Need The Loo campaign” cards and a Toilet Bingo card, because if we’re going to talk about toilets, we can do it with warmth, humour and humanity!

The gathering was also featured on BBC Midlands TV, BBC CWR and Hits Radio!

“We all need the loo. But some of us need it more urgently, more often, or with more care.”

Grounding the day: toilets as a global and local issue

Need The Loo campaigner Margaret opened the event by sharing why the United Nations’ World Toilet Day frames toilets as a global human rights issue, helping us see everyday toilet access as part of a much bigger story.

Community organisers from Connecting For Good then helped ground the day in the bigger picture: why toilets matter for dignity, health and inclusion and how the steady decline of public toilets is connected to loneliness, ageing, gender inequality and disability rights.

“Coventry can lead the way by treating toilets as community infrastructure — like benches or buses.”

Listening first: what people in Coventry are telling us

The Listening & Lived Experience session lifted up voices that often go unheard, simply because talking about toilets is still uncomfortable even when the consequences are serious. The campaign has created space for voices that are too often silenced by stigma and embarrassment to be heard clearly and collectively.

• People avoiding trips out because they don’t know where the nearest toilet is

• Stoma users with nowhere safe or private to change bags

• The constant fear of “not making it”

• Carers struggling without suitable facilities

Core team member, Anne thanked community partners, including stroke support groups, Central Methodist Hall and others, whose voices and insights have shaped the campaign from the start.

Then Ruth took the stage. Ruth is a core team member and a volunteer at Colostomy UK. Her story about living with a stoma and what it means to need a toilet you can actually trust grounded the entire room. It made clear that this work isn’t optional or abstract. It’s essential.

“Holding your urine isn’t just uncomfortable — it causes health issues. Public toilets are a public health matter.”

From listening to action: change feels possible

We also heard updates from James Glenn, Coventry City Council Street Services, who shared commitments around improved signage and lighting city centre landmarks for World Toilet Day. Cllr Christine Thomas updated attendees on progress with Changing Places toilets and highlighted how local voices can influence wider decisions.

What stood out wasn’t just the information — it was the collaboration. Through the Need The Loo campaign, Coventry residents have built strong connections with council teams, ensuring that lived experience directly informs city planning. Local action didn’t feel distant or bureaucratic; it felt possible.

"For me, the best toilets have level access, space for a buggy, a toilet for Mum, child-friendly sinks and the ability to control the noise, eg. paper towels instead of dryer."

At the break, people added their suggestions to the Sticky Note Ideas Board, sharing what they want to see change locally. These weren’t abstract demands. They were practical, thoughtful ideas rooted in everyday experience. Do you have any ideas to add to this? See below for how YOU can get involved with the campaign.

Connecting Coventry to the national picture

Anne then shared the national picture, alongside an interview with Raymond Martin from the British Toilet Association. Raymond spoke about how the long-term decline of public toilets across the UK isn’t accidental; it’s the result of toilets being treated as optional rather than essential civic infrastructure.

He highlighted how this failure hits the same groups again and again: disabled people, older residents, carers, people with long-term health conditions, and anyone managing hidden needs. His message reinforced what many in the room already knew — that when toilets are overlooked, people are quietly excluded from public life.

Connecting Coventry’s experience to the wider national context helped show that local action matters. While the system is broken at scale, change can begin in cities and communities willing to listen, organise and act together.

“When toilets aren’t planned, funded and protected, people are quietly excluded from public life.”

We closed the gathering with reflections from Scott from Age UK Coventry & Warwickshire and Joanna, a resident of Earlsdon Park Village, both members of the Need The Loo core team. They spoke about the links between toilets, ageing, mental health, and loneliness and why access to toilets is fundamental to independence and participation in public life.

Joanna highlighted the stigma and very real barriers people face:

“Toilets are still a taboo topic, yet when we start talking about them, so many people share how important they are — for themselves, their parents, or their friends. Many older residents avoid going out because they can’t be sure there’s a decent, accessible toilet nearby. For people of all ages, the lack of suitably adapted toilets isn’t just inconvenient, it’s a barrier to independence, inclusion, and dignity.”

More than an event: a shift in the system

As people left, they signed pledges, swapped contact details, visited information stalls and joined early conversations about forming the Coventry & Warwickshire Loo Alliance.

This gathering wasn’t a one-off celebration. It was a launchpad. It marked a shift away from the system we started with:

• Public toilets are treated as a low priority rather than essential civic infrastructure

• Fragmented responsibility across councils, businesses and services

• Outdated or missing information about where toilets actually are

• Lived experience excluded from decisions

And towards the system we’re building together:

• Toilets reframed as a public dignity issue

• From toilets that exist but can’t be trusted to toilets people can actually find and use

• New civic leaders stepping forward

• Growing confidence to speak out and act

• From quiet exclusion to visible collective power

• From siloed responsibility to shared accountability

• Stronger, more joined-up working

• New people stepping forward to join the campaign

• Strengthened relationships with Coventry City Council

• Councillors encouraging Need The Loo to petition and write to MPs

What happens next?

If you want to be part of what comes next: the Loo Alliance, more Loo Crawls, mapping, storytelling or supporting community-led change, we’d love to hear from you.

Email Melissa mvsmith@grapevinecovandwarks.org

Together, we can build a city where everyone feels confident going out, because the facilities people need are visible, usable and trusted.

With Thanks...

• Need The Loo partners — Central Methodist Hall, Colostomy UK, British Toilet Association, Age UK, DEAP, Grapevine Cov & Warwickshire, Bowel & Bladder Org, Prostate UK.

• Coventry City Council — councillors and officers for sharing updates, supporting a local initiative and engaging with Need The Loo's ideas.

• Raymond Martin and the British Toilet Association — for connecting Coventry to the national picture and reminding us why toilets matter everywhere.

• All attendees — for bringing your voices, stories, ideas, and sticky notes to the table. Your lived experience is what drives real change.

• Local businesses - The Village Hotel

• Paul Chokran for the artwork