Overview

This is an update review is for the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. One year on from my first visit here, see previous reviews, I returned for another conference. My experience was very different from previous visit, when I had complained about the accessible toilet provision. This time it was a very positive and accessible experience. I'd like to huge thank Coram and particularly Christine Kelly, Director, People and Compliance for listening, taking on board and making improvements. I really appreciate everything you have done. The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre is on the Coram Campus and can accommodate up to 160 delegates.

Transport & Parking

The nearest tube station is Russell Square, which does not have step free access. The nearest tube station with step free access is King's Cross and from there you can get a bus to Russell Square and from there it is a 5-10 minute walk. The campus is opposite Brunswick Centre (shopping centre) and next to The Foundling Museum.

Access

Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre has excellent step free access throughout. The entrance is at street level and has manual doors. My meeting was in the lecture hall on the ground floor, with free standing tables and chairs. There is a lift to the upper floors. In the building at the start of the campus, there is now a portable ramp to provide step free access into the Brownlow room. I was elsewhere on the campus and did not see this.

Toilets

Coram have really listened and undertaken positive access improvements to their toilet provision. ACCESSIBLE TOILET The location of the accessible toilet on the ground floor has not changed. It is still in a corner of the Fielding Room which is accessed via the Story Studio. What has changed and made a huge difference, was as I arrived, Coram staff confirmed with me that neither the Fielding Room or the Story Studio were being used during the conference, and that the accessible toilet door was not locked. This meant from arrival I felt confident that I could independently access this toilet whenever I required it, without the stress of wondering if one or both meeting rooms would be in use and I would have to disrupt a meeting or having to find a member of staff to get key access. The accessible toilet has grab rails and an emergency red cord. However due to a radiator, its rather tight for wheelchair users to manoeuvrer. GRAB RAILS INSTALLED IN THE NON-DISABLED TOILET CUBICLES Also on arrival I was informed that since my last visit to the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, in the ground floor, in both the women and men's toilets, grab rails have been installed in one of the cubicles. Due to the size of the cubicles they are unable to accommodate a wheelchair user. However, for those of us, like me, who only need accessible toilets for the safely of the grab rails, having this option frees up the accessible toilet for those who need more than grab rails. I didn't check out the men's toilets. For the women's it is the furthest away cubicle from the entrance door. The entrance to the toilets and the individual toilet doors are both manual. On the cubicle with the grab rails, there is no signage to let you know what it contains. The cubicle with the grab rails has no emergency red cord. SIGNAGE It would be helpful if the toilet cubicles with grab rails had a sign on it, and as it's at the far end of the row of toilets (in the women's) a notice letting people know there is one and its location by the entrance door would be useful. If you have accessibility please shout about it, otherwise people will tend to assume you don't have it. Outside the toilets the directions to the accessible toilet have not changed, and clearer directions would be helpful. NEW ACCESSIBLE TOILET In the building at the start of the campus, there is now a brand new accessible toilet, which involved the re-configuration of the drainage system to install. I was not in this part of the campus so I did not see it.

Staff

When I arrived at the conference centre I was met by a member of staff who informed me about the changes that had been made to improve toilet access since my last visit and confirmed that the accessible toilet was unlocked and not meetings taking place in the rooms I needed to walk through to access it. At the lunch break Christine Kelly, Director, People and Compliance, came over to see me, to check everything was ok, to apologise in person for what had happened previously and to let me know what changes Coram had made to improve access since my previous visit. It was really lovely to meet Christine in person and be able to thank her. She was the person responsible for following up my complaint, taking it seriously, she brought it to the attention of CEO and CFO (responsible for estates and building work). Without her input the changes would not have happened. Huge thanks and gratitude Christine.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

I was delighted that so many things had changed since my previous visit. I now look forward to returning knowing this is a safe and accessible space for me. Thank you Coram for listening and taking action.

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