Mayors commend hotel’s new facilities

Mayor Cllr David Kelsey and former mayor Cllr Susan Phillips

Bournemouth’s incoming and outgoing mayors have heaped praise on a host of new accessible facilities installed by the Marsham Court Hotel.

In a project costing £160k, the familyowned Marsham Court has become the first UK hotel to install a fully-equipped Changing Places toilet.

The hotel, on Bournemouth’s East Cliff, also has a new sensory room, wheelchair lift into the hotel, laundry facilities, swimming pool hoist and two new accessible guest rooms with wet rooms, specialist beds and ceiling hoists.

According to the national Changing Places Consortium, which campaigns for more Changing Places toilets, an estimated 250,000 children and adults in the UK would benefit from the use of a Changing Places toilet, which include a hoist, an adult size changing bench and generous space for a disabled person and up to two carers.

Yet, as of 2020, there were just 1,500 in the UK – and just 16 in the whole of Dorset. The Marsham Court Hotel secured a £70,000 grant from Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council’s post-covid Bounce Back Fund which it more than doubled to create its raft of accessible facilities.

Cutting the ribbon on the new wheelchair lift at the front of the hotel, new Bournemouth mayor Cllr Bob Lawton called the provisions “market-leading”.

He said: “I would like to thank the family and staff at the Marsham Court who have worked tirelessly, both through the pandemic and afterwards, to provide such wonderful facilities, which have been received so well, both locally and nationally.

“I would also like to thank Cllr Philip Broadhead and his team at BCP Council who have worked to ensure that grants such as this have been distributed to businesses within the BCP area to aid them in their recovery from the pandemic.”

Rosie Radwell, whose family have owned the Marsham Court Hotel for over 30 years, said: “We are incredibly proud of our new facilities, which are already proving very popular with our guests and also the many local people who regularly enjoy the hotel as a place to meet work colleagues, attend events and spend time with friends and family.

“Accessibility and the way in which we cater for all our guests – including those who need carers for their personal needs – is vital and was made painfully clear to us when our mother Jennie Deavin was in the final stages of her battle with cancer.

“We want to make sure people can come to Bournemouth knowing their comfort and needs have been considered, from the toilets they use, to the bed they sleep in, to specialist laundry services they might require and even the chance to join their families in the pool.”

Cllr Philip Broadhead, deputy leader and cabinet member for Development, Growth and Regeneration at BCP Council, said: “Over the course of the pandemic we issued over £250m of support to businesses across the BCP region – and our focus was always to try and ensure that we all bounced back better than before, and not just survived. The work that the team at the Marsham Court have done, helped by some of our Bounce Back Challenge funding, is the very epitome of what we were aiming for: coming back stronger than ever and now offering one of the most accessible hotels in the whole country. It really is incredible to see, and they deserve all the success they are now having.”

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Closing the gender PPE gap

Why is finding PPE that fits a major challenge for women? Because PPE is an area of workwear that is traditionally male dominated, and despite more women than ever joining industries where providing suitable PPE is mandatory, 71 per cent of PPE is still designed for men. What is the current state of female PPE? Some brands have approached the problem by simply rebranding workwear to ‘unisex’ and offering different size groups for men and women. The clothing itself does not change, it’s still the original design which has always catered for men.

Unfortunately, the lack of change is mainly down to lack of demand. There has always been fewer women in these sectors and industries. But times are changing rapidly, and we are seeing more and more tradeswomen and female engineers acting as role models for the next generation. Why is most PPE not suitable for women? Many people don’t realise that the physical differences between men and women don’t just make unisex clothing uncomfortable, it is also unsafe. For instance, women generally have shorter arms than men, and having excessive fabric around the end of arms can increase risk of injury.

This isn’t about women’s PPE not ‘looking right’ or ‘feeling feminine’. Women don’t want pink PPE! It’s about form, function, and women feeling properly represented when it comes to their workwear. Every business has a duty to supply suitable, comfortable, and safe workwear.

For more on the Gender PPE gap, follow Tower Supplies on LinkedIn. We would like you to join the conversation to help support fit-forpurpose women’s PPE workwear.

Mark Dowling, Divisional

Managing Director mark.dowling@towersupplies.com 01202 3055818 www.wearetower.com