Set up by community members, Eastbourne Designed for All (EDA) aims to support local businesses to enhance their services to people of all ages and abilities, it has a core principle of inclusive design to enable consumers to live in a more inclusive Eastbourne, meeting their needs and to encourage independent living for longer.
One current project - The Community Toilet - is supported by a small grant from Eastbourne Borough Council, to increase the availability of accessible toilets. Fear of not finding a suitable toilet has been shown to be a major cause of social isolation and home-boundness, which itself has repercussions for physical health through reduced exercise, mental health especially through increased levels of depression. Isolation is also implicated in dementia.
The research team alongside the EDA members will be prioritising applications for funding to support this work in 2013. Priorities for WHO members in 2013 include applying for grants to the ESRC to support future collaboration on the Volunteering for Health project and to develop a project that will deliver a comprehensive teaching structure/model for the Lifestyle Matters Programme.
The aim of the community toilet project is to work with local businesses who have suitable toilets, to open them to the public even if people are not using their business. A survey of current public toilet need has been completed, while the current environmental survey seeks to discover suitable toilets in business premises such as hotels and public houses that might become involved in the scheme, which will include the development of a mobile phone APP of Eastbourne toilets open to the public, as well as enhancing the existing Access Committee’s Map.
Research team
Output
Partners