The news follows a successful campaign by Crohn's & Colitis UK calling on the UK's largest supermarkets to further support people with 'invisible' illnesses.
Crohn’s and Colitis UK asked their members to email the Chief Executives of Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Waitrose asking for their help to end the unfair treatment that people can experience when making use of accessible toilet facilities - and also helping to raise awareness that not every disability is visible.
Following the launch of the campaign in August, more than 18,000 emails have been sent. Morrisons is the first supermarket to change the signage on accessible toilets.
This fantastic announcement comes at the beginning of Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Week (1-7 December), with the new signage being rolled out across stores in the UK from now until the end of January 2017.
We’ve listened to our customers who have told us that this is an important issue. We want everyone to have an enjoyable shopping experience and so have worked as quickly as possible to introduce the signs throughout our accessible toilets nationwide.
David Scott
Head of Corporate Services at Morrisons
This announcement is a great step by Morrisons towards reducing stigma and raising awareness that not every disability is visible and everyone is grateful to them for making this change so swiftly. People living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease can be very disadvantaged by the impact of their condition. They may not look unwell but are often profoundly affected by debilitating and unseen symptoms that affect all aspects of their lives. The experience or fear of unpredictable incontinence is very undermining to a person’s confidence and self-esteem and can lead in some cases to the person affected becoming too anxious to leave their home.
Dan McLean
Director of Marketing, Communications and Membership, Crohn's & Colitis UK
