London Loos Local Groups

London Loos - Local Campaigns 

We created and work with six campaign groups across London in the boroughs of Barnet, Haringey, Islington, Lambeth, Merton and Southwark. The following provides, in brief, some of the activities and successes for the groups. 

• Loos for Haringey - We supported a group of older residents in Haringey to persuade the Council to develop a Public Toilet Strategy. This was done by organising a deputation to the Council, and face-to-face meetings with councillors. 
• More Loos for Merton - In Merton, More Loos for Merton campaigners persuaded the Council to relaunch an expanded Community Toilet Scheme (CTS) and hire a new  to address ‘loo deserts’. Activities included campaigners meeting the Deputy Leader and speaking at Council meetings. 
• Loos for Islington - In Islington, we supported campaigners to persuade the Council to publish a map of toilet locations. Together we secured face-to-face meetings with Cabinet Members, were featured more than 10 times in local media, and asked questions at a Council Meeting. 
• Loos for Barnet are working with Barnet Council to improve the council's Community Toilet Scheme. 
• Loos for Southwark -  campaigners organised a successful deputation to Cabinet, met with councillors and submitted evidence to a scrutiny review.
• Loos for Lambeth - a group of local residents are campaigning to revitalise Lambeth's Community Toilet Scheme. 

The campaigners find being a part of a campaign group fulfilling. Many are campaigning for issues that affect them or their close family or friends. 

• When asked, over 87% of 24 survey respondents involved in ‘in-person’ activities, said their experiences had given them either ‘slightly more’ (35%) or ‘much more’ (52%) confidence to campaign. 

More Loos For Merton 

Case study: Julie Johns, More Loos for Merton

More Loos for Merton (MLFM) was founded in November 2022 to campaign for improved public toilet provision in London Borough of Merton. Since that time we have:

• identified over 100 local premises which have toilets (either with free access or for customers)
• audited over 30 toilet facilities to check their accessibility and spoken to some local business owners regarding their views on Community Toilet Schemes (CTS)
• identified sources of information about the location of local public toilets on transport, council and other websites/apps
• encouraged participation in the council’s consultation about public toilets in Spring 2023
• engaged with other local groups such as Age UK Merton, Merton Centre for Independent Living and Friends of St. Helier to expand our campaign
• fed our audit reports into a scrutiny report produced by a local councillor following the consultation
• supported the council’s petition to TfL to have toilets installed at Morden Underground Station. These toilets were opened in Spring 2026
• continued to meet with the deputy leader of the council and council officials regarding implementation of the recommendation in the scrutiny report and relaunch Merton’s CTS
• canvassed local political parties and encouraged them to support our campaign
• responded to media enquiries about our campaign
• set up a Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/997163071478490
• participated in discussions hosted by the Royal College Art regarding public toilet design

Our campaign would not have got off the ground without Age UK London initially bringing together their local supporters with an interest in this issue.

They have been an invaluable source of knowledge and expertise in terms of what is happening in other boroughs, the Greater London Assembly and the London Loo Alliance, as well as adding credibility to our representations to the council.

I have found participating in the campaign very interesting and worthwhile and gained a sense of satisfaction from feeling that we may be able to achieve some positive outcomes from our efforts. While, after 3 years, we still don’t have a proper CTS in Merton, we do now have toilets at Morden Underground Station and toilets that can be accessed by the public on council premises (e.g. in libraries, leisure centres and parks) – which are now listed on the council’s website.

We continue to seek supportive businesses and organisations who are willing to be added to the toilet map.

What the papers say

The campaign has gained interest from the media in the boroughs. Take a look at some of the coverage below. 

And finally... a poem by our campaigner Leonie Philip