Wycombe Wanderers will from this weekend join a very small group of EFL clubs who provide support for male fans suffering with incontinence with “a bin for men” in each of its 13 male toilet locations around Adams Park.
WWFC has been pleased to support the WW Supporters Trust initiative, led by their Finance Director Alan Cecil, to get to this position in time for the first home game of the season this Saturday..
Alan says “Although I have yet to experience the problem of incontinence following my own successful treatment for prostate cancer, I have heard that it is a big issue for many, who end up having to suffer quietly because of the stigma attached to it. Having seen discreet male bins in a major retailer in High Wycombe, I thought why can’t we do this at Adams Park”
So contact was made with the existing sanitary bin providers CLD Services and a deal to add male bins to their existing service was quickly agreed and approved with thanks also to the Finance Department at the club.
As stated, at each location, there will be a discreet sticker on the cubicle door indicating that a bin is available inside and we hope that these will be respected by all and then used by those in need. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men with one in eight men likely to get it, rising to one in four if you’re black or have a family history of prostate cancer. Of these, two thirds will become incontinent, especially after surgery, which means many men at our club could be affected.
A number of national organisations including Prostate Cancer UK are campaigning to get the government to make it law to have bins in all male toilets nationally. But in the meantime, we do not want our fans to stop coming because there are no facilities to change and dispose of their incontinence products.
Nick Ridgman, Head of Support Services at Prostate Cancer UK said: “A man living with incontinence should be able to go to the football only worrying about whether his team will win and the ref will make good decisions – not about whether he’ll be able to get rid of his used pads.
Despite the fact that 1 in 3 men over 65 in the UK experience urinary incontinence, there’s a dire lack of sanitary bins in gents’ toilets and a paralysing taboo stopping people from speaking up about it – in fact, some men tell us they don’t want to leave the house.
We launched our Boys Need Bins campaign to stand up for these men and to get sanitary bins installed in gents’ loos all over the country. We are thrilled that Wycombe Wanderers are now providing their male supporters with bins – a really positive step that will make the ground more welcoming and accessible and maybe encourage more to attend games”
Any feedback on this can be sent in confidence to wwst@wwst.org.uk – your email will be seen by one person only and confidentiality/anonymity respected.
At Adams Park the Supporters’ Trust already supply all the ladies toilets with emergency sanitary products, bought and distributed for us by Lisa Bowker (up till 2025 then Bev Eames). Thanks to Lisa and now Bev for their dedication to providing this facility for our female fans.
