AccessoLoo was delighted to escort two brand new modular Changing Places units from our premises in Northern Ireland to two venues in England to deliver brand new modular Changing Places to sites in Devon and Gloucestershire. They proved to be exciting projects for our team and we were thrilled to have worked on them with our respective clients. Working with our design team, the individual changing places were designed to meet the needs of each client and built to suit their environments, where they will remain to provide incloosive access for all visitors alike.
The project did not come without its complexities though, with the management of transport in conjunction with Highways and local police constabularies for the movement of wide loads across Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Wales, and England. Factored into this was the learning of the impact that the Northern Ireland Protocol had on permanently exporting the Changing Places from Northern Ireland to Great Britain. However, all of the agencies involved had been extremely helpful in assisting with the completion of paperwork and processing the export/import certification.
Everyone was nervous about the big day, but thankfully the entire process was carried out without a hitch. Our first destination was Devon, where a welcoming crowd of several dozen people met us cheers as we came around the corner into view. With the site already planned and waiting for us as a result of working partnerships developed as the project progressed, the first Changing Places was lowered into place and connected to utilities within a couple of hours.
Nicki Palmer, who was the lead campaigner for the Changing Places for the site fought to hold back the tears as she watched her years of hard work coming to fruition.
With the first of the two units now delivered, it was time to say goodbye, wish everyone well and many happy years using the AccessoLoo, and move on to Gloucestershire for delivery number two.
The second site was a forest location and the route for this delivery was carefully planned to ensure there was no damage to the environment, trees, etc. in order to get this AccessoLoo to its final destination. The site was once again pre-prepared and ready for delivery. Situated to allow for use by visitors who were regular patrons of the forest for planned activities. Caroline – who was the fundraising coordinator for this project said, “The whole ethos of AccessoLoo is what attracted us to work with you on our Changing Places. Having the user knowledge and leading us in what would and would not work was absolutely invaluable.”
Having returned home from a successful voyage, the team was straight back to work, to ensure the completion of other projects that are currently being prepared and ready for delivery across the island of Ireland.