New Chair elected for 2015-2016

JASMINE WILSON
Ceredigion County Council

This last year has seen a number of significant changes within the BTA and its program of works and these along with many other issues were discussed at the Members Annual General Meeting on Thursday 5th February in the Arden Hotel, Birmingham.

Following a lively discussion and review, a new management committee, to help and support the Director deliver these programs, was elected from within the membership.  I am delighted to report that Jasmine Wilson, Cleaning Services Manager with Ceredigion County Council, was unanimously voted in as the new Chairperson.

Jasmine has been a fantastic supporter of the BTA for many years, both through her council role and as a serving committee member. Her appointment was proposed by Simon Hollingbery, Reading BC, seconded by Ross Longbottom, Danfo (UK) ltd.

Throughout her career, Jasmine has achieved a number of National Awards:

• 2001 Charter Mark for Excellence in the Provision of Public Services. This was the first time this was awarded for any Cleaning Service. Subsequently Jasmine was invited to lecture on behalf of the governments Cabinet Office at various venues, to encourage participation in Charter Mark and the raising of standards in public service. The success of her approach was evidenced by the numbers seeking her advice, as her approach was inclusive and yet down to earth. The Charter Mark adjudicator stated “Ceredigion and its Cleaning Service Manager challenges nationally held perceptions on the cleaning industry & its personnel”.
• Loo of the Year Ceredigion is highly regarded by the toileting awards scheme as being a front runner in its approach to the provision of and the cleaning and hygiene of its toilets across the various categories. National Awards include Overall Winner in 2011, Changing Places Toilets, Public Toilet Entries, Toilets in Education, Local Authority Entries, Eco friendly Toilets & In House Cleaning Team.
• 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award awarded for the first time in recognition of her contribution to the cleaning industry in general and toilets in particular.

On behalf of Ceredigion County Council, BTA and British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc) and in conjunction with Mary Schramm of Merton College and BICSc, Jasmine developed an internationally recognised training scheme & qualifications for Public Toilet Cleaners. Subsequently, three staff members from Ceredigion were the first to achieve this standard.

She is also a member of the Employers Board of Asset Skills (Wales) and successfully piloted new apprenticeships and training schemes for Cleaning & FM teams, including one to empower women workers to achieve recognised qualifications in the cleaning industry.  She firmly believes that the interest & support shown for the training of the individual person transfers to the overall success of the person, Cleaning Section and the Authority.

Jasmine is well regarded nationally by her peers in the Cleaning Industry, with over 40 years’ experience of cleaning and catering in Ceredigion. She is regularly asked to contribute to media interest in cleaning and toilets.

In her spare time Jasmine enjoys a quiz and has appeared on The Weakest Link, The Chase and Bargain Hunt and as she is bilingual also some Welsh television quizzes.

In 2013 Jasmine appeared in a televised series of an historical re-enactment of an Edwardian country house estate set in Llanerchaeron a National Trust property in Ceredigion. For three weeks she lived and worked as the cook on the estate, using traditional cooking recipes & methods to feed upstairs and downstairs, preparing over 80 meals a day in the process. She also had to use the chamber pot under the bed & the staff privy. It’s fair to say that cleaning standards and toilets were never far from her mind.

New Honorary President 

Following the recent passing of our President, Sir William Lawrence, bt, OBE, MA   we are pleased to announce that Richard Chisnell, who was the founder and first Director, will assume this vacant office. The role of Vice President, which he previously held, will not be immediately continued.

The BTA Management Advisory Committee is constituted to meet at least twice each year.
The members will review current strategies and developments within the toilet industry and help to set goals for the director and the organisation to achieve going forward.

The current 2015/2016 Committee is:

Jasmine Wilson          Chair,  Ceredigion CC
Richard Chisnell          President
Roger Berry                Healthmatic Limited
Simon Hollingbery      Reading BC
Ross Longbottom       Danfo (UK) Limited
Trudi Osborne            Airdri Limited
Raymond Martin        Director of the British Toilet Association Limited

The BTA is sad to announce the death of its Honorary President
Sir William Fettiplace Lawrence, 5th Baronet, OBE
14^th July 1954 – 10 February 2015.

The son of Sir William Lawrence and his wife Pamela, Lady Lawrence. He was educated at King Edward VI School Stratford-upon-Avon. He succeeded to his father’s baronetcy in 1986. He contracted polio at the age of three, and used a wheelchair for the rest of his life. In February 2005 he married Tamara Bubashvili of Tbilisi, Georgia.

Sir William filled numerous roles in his political career, specialising in the promotion of tourism in the Midlands. He has twice been chairman of Stratford-on-Avon District Council and a member of the Council since 1982. He was on the South Warwickshire General Hospital NHS Trust, a member of the Heart of England Tourist Board from 1989 (and Chairman after 1991), a governor of King Edward VI School and of Stratford-on-Avon Girls Grammar School, and a Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. From 1998 he served as our Chairman and subsequently Honorary President of the British Toilet Association. In 2003 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to the tourist industry, and also an honorary MA of the University of Worcester.

I write as Vice-President of the BTA (British Toilet Association) to express our heartfelt sympathy to the citizens of Stratford-Upon-Avon, on the loss of a most impressive and supportive colleague, leader and friend. I established the BTA in 1998 and, since Stratford is a good, central location, we used to hold our annual meetings in the town.

Sir William was invited to be Chairman of the BTA, when he attended our annual Loo of the Year Awards, since good loos and tourism are natural bedfellows and the national Tourist Boards have supported these Awards since they were introduced in 1987. He remained BTA Chairman until we invited him to be our first President in 2008, a role he continued until his sad death. He accompanied my wife and I to the World Toilet Summit (WTS) in 2004, held in Beijing and he also attended the 2006 WTS, held in Moscow in 2006. He also played a key role when the BTA hosted the WTS in Belfast in 2005.

Sir William will be sorely missed by the many members of the BTA and we will always be most grateful for the roles that he played within our organisation.

Yours in sadness
Richard Chisnell, Vice-President, BTA

The loss of our President has caused great sadness amongst his colleagues and friends on the BTA Management Committee. Sir William was a tireless supporter of the organisation and its campaigns and we enjoyed his strength, humour and tenacity in helping us all in the fight for greater provision. Our kindest thoughts are with his wife, Lady Tamara, the family circle and his many colleagues and friends. We will always cherish the memories and the legacy he left us with.

With fondest regards
Raymond Boyd Martin, Managing Director, BTA

Sir William had his portrait painted by the artwork and arts practice of Tanya Raabe visual artist
please find below the link to her site which contains a short video of the work in progress.

https://revealingcultureheadon.wordpress.com/sir-william-lawrence/

Sir William Lawrence

Sir William Lawrence Bt. OBE MA (Hons)

Conservative Councillor and Campaigner for Accessibility

Oil on canvas, 30″ x 36″, 2011

There is a new tab above headed Buyers Guide. This enables site visitors to select a members name and view their products or services available and it contains a direct link to the member’s website.

BTA Commercial Company Members benefit from repeated exposure of their product/service offered to site visitors.
Non Commercial Company Members that require products or services will also benefit from being able to contact these
BTA member companies directly.

Take a look at the guide by clicking on the BUYERS GUIDE TAB on the header above.

If you are not yet a member and you would like to benefit from adding your products or services to the Buyer’s Guide, please visit our Membership page to find out how to join the BTA and support the campaign for better publicly accessible toilets.

Draft Public Health Law for Wales

Toilet users in Wales could soon find help is at hand, from councils.

A new draft law is being put forward by the the Welsh government will aim to put the responsibility on local authorities to make sure there are enough public toilets. Councils throughout Wales would be required to develop a TOILET STRATEGY which would assess, regularly review, and meet the local demand for the conveniences. The new duty will be in a draft law setting out measures aimed at improving public health. If passed, it is thought it could be the first duty of its type to be introduced in the UK. It would apply to all toilets owned by local authorities, including those in libraries and sports halls.

 “In an age of austerity the answer simply cannot be find more money for it. what we have to do is be more imaginative” Mark Drakeford Health Minister

Last year the British Toilet Association estimated that there has been a 50% drop in the number of public toilets across the UK in the last 12 years. Older people’s charities have long argued that cuts to public toilet provision have had an increasing impact, especially on older and disabled people who they claim can be left afraid of venturing out of their homes. In March 2012 the assembly’s health and social care committee published a report which claimed there was a “strong public health case for better public toilet provision”.

Welsh Assembly Members heard evidence that often public toilets were difficult to find or not open when needed, and that facilities did not meet their needs and were unclean and unsafe. Health minister Mark Drakeford told the BBC’s Sunday Politics Wales: “We know that if people are not confident that they will have the facilities they need then it has a distorting effect on their lives. “They stay at home when they would like to go out. They don’t take tablets that they need to take in order to be able to go out. “And for older people, people with some mental health conditions, people with young families and children, the fact that they need to be confident that there are proper facilities that they can use if they want to be out in our society is a genuine public health issue.”

The white paper sets out the Welsh government’s proposals for legislation which will be consulted on.
The BTA has made two responses to the department regarding this bill and  is currently revising the amendment proposals that are being circulated before the bill goes forward.
We will try to keep you all updated as further information is made available including any announcements as they arise

The BTA is also actively working with The Commissioner for Older Persons in Wales, Sarah Rochira and her well-being policy advisor’s to bring about a significant change in the thinking and provision of publicly accessible toilets  across Wales and throughout the whole of the United kingdom. Sarah commented ” public conveniences are assets we need to preserve.”

BCC Grant to support our UK Toilet Map Project

The British Cleaning Council is delighted to announce that it has awarded a £10,000 grant to the British Toilet Association to support the development of a UK toilet map app for iPhone and Android platforms. The BCC awards funding to projects undertaken by its members every year which contribute towards the advancement of the cleaning industry.

The UK Toilet Map is a response to the constantly changing demographic of public toilet provision. Interactive and constantly updated, the app with allow users to identify all publicly accessible toilets across the country. Initially created in partnership with Mencap and the Changing Places Consortium, the app will also cater to those who require more than a standard accessible toilet – including facilities that cater to those with profound and multiple learning disabilities and their carers.

Raymond Martin, British Toilet Association Director, said: “Known as Changing Places toilets, there are currently just under 600 specialized units around the country. The toilet map will not just identify the sites, but also hopefully identify where new facilities are needed.”

The UK Toilet Map will show the location and opening times of the toilet plus a profile sheet which will highlight all the facilities contained within that unit. Additionally individuals and/or organisations who need to plan their journeys will be able to use the inbuilt trip-planner to locate and store toilets on a selected route.

He continued: “The British Toilet Association is absolutely delighted to have secured the funding for this important project. The end result will be a tool which gives disabled people and their carers a greater sense of freedom and dignity, enhancing their lives greatly. I am proud of the association and funders for putting British public toilet users first.”

Douglas Cooke, British Cleaning Council Chairman, commented: “The British Cleaning Council are thrilled to have opportunity to contribute to The UK Toilet Map. This is exactly the type of project that the grants system was set up for – ventures that enhance the cleaning industry’s ability to positively affect people’s lives.”

Working closely with many other charities and organisations as well as FM and cleaning companies, the BTA is hoping to maintain and potentially increase the levels and standards of overall provision of all away-from-home toilets, whilst giving us all a modern day solution to this age old problem of “Where can I go, when I need to go?”