South Tyneside man’s brave cancer story leads to action on hidden struggle faced in public toilets
Town hall chiefs have provided an update on steps taken to install sanitary bins in male toilets across the borough after a South Tyneside councillor bravely shared details of his own experience with cancer.
A motion was approved at an authority-wide meeting of South Tyneside Council earlier this year to promote Prostate Cancer UK’s ‘Boys Need Bins’ campaign.
Proposed by Councillor Ken Dawes, Whiteleas ward representative, he called on the council’s cabinet to look at providing at least one sanitary bin in all council male toilets, including both public and council workplace buildings.
The motion encouraged other employers and business owners in the borough to do the same and involved writing to MPs in South Tyneside seeking support to lobby government over the issue.
Speaking at that meeting, Cllr Dawes shared how he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2023, before later having to be taken into hospital for surgery due to a bowel obstruction.
He said this left him needing to use a stoma bag, which led him to becoming aware of the lack of facilities in public toilets to appropriately dispose of the contents of the bag.
Now a report from council officers to the local authority’s overview and scrutiny coordinating and call-in committee has provided an update on what measures have been carried out in response to this.
It confirmed the council is “rolling out sanitary bins to male toilets across its buildings as a result.”
It comes after the council chief executive was asked to refer the motion to the ruling cabinet to consider a potential increase in the local authority’s expenditure to provide at least one sanitary bin in all council male toilets, including both public and council workplace buildings.
Following the motion, the council has also actively promoted and supported Prostate Cancer UK’s ‘Boys Need Bins’ campaign and encouraged other businesses and organisations to make male sanitary bins available in their facilities.
This has included using April’s South Tyneside pledge newsletter, which all organisations in the area can sign up to and supports taking steps to benefit the borough, to highlight the issue.
It encouraged pledge organisations to join the council in supporting Prostate Cancer UK’s ‘Boys Need Bins’ campaign and highlighted how prostate cancer “is the most common form of cancer in males in the borough.”
It noted as a result of suffering or recovering from treatment, many men need to dispose of sanitary waste (such as incontinence pads, pouches or other sanitary dressings) and that many workplaces often lack such sanitary bins.
The council report also noted local authority chiefs have written to MPs in South Tyneside seeking support to lobby government to update regulations to ensure suitable means for the disposal of sanitary dressings is provided in all toilets.