A lack of understanding’, ‘a need to educate’, ‘avoid embarrassing situations’; these are just some of the reasons why a group of people living with a stoma have joined forces and are calling for changes to be made within society. Pelican, and our sister company Respond Healthcare, are helping the group get their message out.

Coming together from across South Wales, the action group has called for Wales to lead the way nationally and for Cardiff to become the capital of the UK for understanding the needs of people living with a stoma and more widely invisible illnesses. They also want Local Authorities across Wales to adjust waste collections in recognition of the issues people with a stoma face.

There is a lack of general understanding of the difficulties people living with a stoma face on a daily basis. With this in mind, the group are asking for changes to be made in daily society including, new signage to be used on all public toilets telling people that that not all chronic illnesses and health issues can be seen. The campaign is starting in Cardiff, and will hopefully spread across the UK.

We hope the new signage will replace the current use of a figure in a wheelchair and reflect the broad range of reasons why someone would need to use the larger, accessible toilet facilities.

We are supporting the action group and aiming to work with the Welsh Government and Cardiff Council to start addressing the issues being faced by people living with a stoma.

#BeTheChange campaign was launched at Senedd, Cardiff earlier this year. The launch was opened by the campaign’s sponsoring AM, Jenny Rathbone, followed by speeches from our Managing Director Mat Stratton, our panel members who make up the action group and Cardiff Metropolitan Product Design Students, who are designing the toilet signage.

If you would like to join or be kept up to date with the campaign, simply add in your contact details in the #BeTheChange panel and click on send.

#BeTheChange Insights Community Privacy Policy​