Free Toilet Hygiene Products

Providing free Toilet Hygiene Products to those in Glasgow with Bowel/Bladder Conditions.

It’s always a real special pleasure to work with one of our key partners at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow, providing Free Toilet Hygiene Products for young patients suffering from Bowel and Bladder Conditions many of whom are unable to afford them. I can associate with these kids through our shared illnesses. I’ve been in their shoes from time to time: in hospital through a relapse in my Crohn’s disease. These kids have, like I do, Crohn’s disease or one of the many other bowel disorders such as Ulcerative Colitis, IBS, IBD or maybe Bowel Cancer.

So, when I speak to these kids I know what they are going through and it’s not only a medical condition affecting your physical mobility through a need to be near a toilet pan; it brings with it the inevitable mental stress and even depression through being worried, isolated from friends and most forms of fun.

It’s staggering to realise that today, somewhere between 89% & 95% of people with a bowel disorder also suffer from mental stress or depression. That’s an enormous burden to be added to an already ill person.

When you have a bowel disorder, there are periods of remission. These are the better times. However, periodically there are relapses resulting in anything from moderate setbacks in health right up to hospitalisation. One of the fears sufferers have is a setback as a result of what they eat or through a lack of basic hygiene. Any stomach upset can result in a flare-up in their bowel. One of the problems they face is that they are more prone to infection than others. The medications they take for their bowel conditions can suppress their immune systems and leave them prone to infection and therefore a relapse in their condition. Poor hygiene in food preparation and dirty toilets are where these people find themselves most exposed to infection and therefore a relapse. Hygiene is vitally important for their physical health and mental wellbeing.

This is why I like to visit and donate toilet hygiene products, all completely free of charge, to help these kids. Many are too young to understand what’s wrong with them, though the teenagers have a much better understanding. They receive medical and nursing help when they most need it and I make my contribution on top of the terrific work the doctors, nurses and auxiliary support staff do. I could easily have someone else deliver this social impact to these sick and vulnerableIt young people but it gives me a great deal of personal satisfaction, as a ‘bowel condition sufferer’ to do it in person because I have a deep rooted association with these kids. I am making my contribution towards improving their quality of life by providing them with basic toilet hygiene essentials to help protect their health when they have to use a public toilet.

I can’t personally make all visits for donations but I do as many as I can. Here you see me making one such donation of Social Impact (free toilet hygiene products) to those in need.

As I leave, I know that my donations to these children will help towards them getting back into education; mixing with friends developing social skills for future in further education, training and employment, becoming for self-confident and overcoming that fear of a social embarrassment as a result of a ‘toilet accident’; improved health and mental wellbeing; and having an overall better quality of life. Knowing all this, gives me a deep sense of satisfaction.