The recently refurbished public loos in Ironbridge’s Square are being twinned with toilets in Malawi in support of an international charity’s crusade to help those in poorer countries gain access to proper toilets and clean water.
According to the charity Toilet Twinning, 2.3 billion people do not have anywhere safe to go to the loo. Basic sanitation impacts on their health and life expectancy and around 1,000 children die each day from preventable diseases linked to unsafe water. The Ironbridge and Severn Gorge Lions wanted to support the charity and approached the Council to ask if the public loos in Ironbridge could be twinned with Malawi loos. In return for their donation, the Lions were given certificates showing a photo of the twinned loos and their GPS coordinates, which have been mounted in the Ironbridge loos to help raise awareness.
Colin Thompson of the Ironbridge and Severn Gorge Lions says, “Thanks to the council for agreeing to this. Ironbridge is a world heritage site that attracts visitors from across the country and beyond. Many of them will use the facilities during their visit, and so these toilets are ideal to maximise publicity and perhaps motivate people to find out more and help spread the message.”
