Fingal Pioneers – Interview with Karen and Geraldine from Changing Places Campaign

/ BCIL News / By BCIL

Naomi Fine, trainer of the “Raising the Voices of Fingal Women Pioneers“ initiative , recently conducted a noteworthy interview with Karen and Geraldine from BCIL, focusing on the impactful Changing Places Toilet Campaign. This initiative serves as an example of how dedicated individuals and organisations can influence the Local Authority and drive meaningful community change.

The Voices of Fingal Women Pioneers program aims to establish a supportive platform for women, empowering them to articulate their leadership, deepen community conections, and impact local elections. “The idea of this project is to bring up the issues raised by the women to get clear what are the issues they want to change and give them a guidance how the council can help with that” ,said Naomi Fein.

Karen was interviewed where she got involved in Changing Places, project for number of years to get wheelchair accessible toilets with changing beds and overhead hoists, low sinks for different buildings to make sure people with disabilities have the opportunity to live a normal life.

During the interview Geraldine stated: “We worked from two levels, BCIL would’ve been working on the community level and Karen was involved in the Changing Places, and they would’ve worked on the higher level which brought it down at the same time”

When Karen was asked by Naomi what was her experience engaging with the counsellor she declared: ” They listened because I had the lived experience of having to go home to the toilet and it was disgraceful.”

On 16th October 2022, Blanchardstown Centre officially opened a state-of-the-art Changing Places toilet facility. This facility is equipped with advanced features and equipment designed to enhance accessibility for individuals with disabilities and physical needs.
“We worked closely with Disability Advocates in the Community to understand their requirements and deliver a facility that is benefitting their needs” said Joe Gavin, General Manager of Blanchardstown Centre.

For those interested in learning more about the programme or the upcoming events, Naomi Fein is available for further information and inquiries. She can be reached at naomi@thinkvisual.ie

You can view the complete interview on Vimeo at the following link: https://vimeo.com/958341890

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