Liskeard toilets get bins for men with hidden health needs

Not every health need comes with an awareness ribbon or a fundraising walk. Some are dealt with quietly, in a toilet cubicle, by men who have never told a soul why they carry a spare bag in their pocket. Liskeard has just made that a little easier.

New bins in the Public Hall toilets

Liskeard Town Council has signed up to Bins for Boys, a scheme that puts discreet disposal bins into male toilets so men can get rid of pads, pouches or stoma products without carrying them home in a bag. The council has now installed one at the Public Hall, alongside a sign explaining what it is for.

Liskeard Town Council says the initiative is a simple but important step towards improving dignity, accessibility and inclusion in its facilities.

📷Credit: Liskeard Town Council

Why a bin makes such a difference

The scheme, run by Lingen Davies Cancer Support, is aimed at men living with incontinence or who need to dispose of items such as pads, pouches or stoma products while they are out. Women’s toilets have long had sanitary bins as standard. Men’s rarely have, which can leave someone with nowhere discreet to turn.

For some men, that gap in provision is enough to make going out difficult, or to put them off leaving the house at all. A hygienic, discreet bin will not fix that on its own, but the council and the charity behind the scheme both say it removes one small, everyday barrier to confidence and quality of life.

The idea that started with Sylvia Berry

The push to bring Bins for Boys to Liskeard came from Deputy Mayor Sylvia Berry, who originally proposed the idea locally. She is pictured alongside Mayor David Braithwaite marking the new bin’s arrival at the Public Hall.

Sylvia has championed the change as part of the council’s wider work on accessibility at its buildings, working with Lingen Davies to bring the scheme to the town.

Read more about the scheme

Full details of Bins for Boys, including how other venues can sign up, are on the Lingen Davies website. For now, anyone using the men’s toilets at Liskeard’s Public Hall will find the new bin waiting for them, tucked discreetly by the door.

📷Credit: Liskeard Town Council