Watershed Toilet Policy
Last Updated: October 2026
Aims of the Policy
To ensure:
- Our facilities meet inclusion, privacy, safety and access needs together rather than trading one against another
- Trans, Non Binary and Intersex customers and staff are welcome in Watershed
- Toilets are available for people who are not comfortable in a trans-inclusive space.
- No one at Watershed will be questioned or challenged about which facility they use
- Information about our toilets will be clear and accessible and our staff are appropriately trained
- Our toilets meet relevant legislation
Overview of our provision
Top Foyer (top of the front stairs): 2023 Loo of the Year Awards winner
- Four fully enclosed cubicles with integral washbasins. One with a sharps box. Can be used by everyone
- Six fully enclosed cubicles. Can be used by everyone
- Two fully enclosed ambulant toilets for people who need mobility assistance. Can be used by everyone
- One large self-contained family room with baby changing facilities. Can be used by
everyone - One self-contained accessible toilet with baby changing facilities. For disabled people of
all genders - The top foyer toilets and the family room contain a plastic prayer water kettle
suitable for Muslim people's ablution needs. There is also a kettle at Watershed Box
Office you can pick up from staff and use anywhere else in the building.
Café & Bar Corridor
- A block of six cubicle toilets with baby changing facilities. These are designated as mixed
sex. Signage on the door indicates they are suitable for women and they are Trans+Inclusive. - A block of three cubicle toilets and urinals with baby changing facilities. These are designated as mixed sex. Signage on the door indicates they are for men and they are Trans+ Inclusive.
Cinema Corridor (near top foyer)
- One self-contained accessible toilet with baby changing facilities. For disabled people of all genders. You do not need a cinema ticket to use this toilet.
End of Cinema Corridor (back of Cinema 2 and 3)
- One self-contained toilet designated as single sex female.
- One self-contained toilet designated as single sex male.
- You do not need a cinema ticket to use these toilets.
Pervasive Media Studio
- One block of two cubicle toilets. These are designated as mixed sex. Signage on the
door indicates they are suitable for women and they are Trans+Inclusive. - One cubicle toilet and urinals. These are designated as mixed sex. Signage on the door
indicates they are for men and they are Trans+ Inclusive. - One self-contained accessible toilet with baby changing facilities. For disabled people of
all genders.
Staff Room
Two self-contained single-occupancy rooms.
Code of Conduct
The majority of our toilets are designated as mixed sex. This means we do not have to ask our staff to monitor their use, which is not safe or practical. It also means that people using our toilets will be clear about the parameters of the space they are using.
If a customer makes a complaint about someone using a toilet, the person complaining will be shown to an alternative toilet.
We ask visitors and customers to report any incidents of harm that take place in Watershed to the Duty Manager, rather than address it themselves. If any visitor experiences an incident of harm in our toilets it will be recorded in our daily Duty Manager’s report. Incidents will be monitored by Watershed Leadership team and will feed into future policy iterations.
Watershed will take action where harassment occurs. Any incident of harassment, vandalism or inappropriate behaviour by anybody will result in warnings, banning or reporting to the police, depending on level of severity.
We ask staff to help us to uphold this policy and our code of conduct as part of their job, but we do not require them to hold specific beliefs relating to gender.
We do not expect staff to engage with customer feedback where it intersects with their lived experience in a way which may cause harm.
We do not ask staff to explain or represent Watershed’s policy in person to customers, but instead to pass on details of how to complain or feedback.
How we have considered whether we are excluding anyone?
People from the Trans+ community
Trans+ people can use all main toilets in Watershed. Normalising choice means that no one will need to out themselves as Trans+ to use the toilet.
People who don’t want to use a toilet in the presence of people of other genders for personal preference, because of a history of trauma or because they are worried about personal safety
We have tried to ensure this group will feel like they have appropriate facilities at Watershed in the following ways:
For those who would prefer not to use a gender inclusive communal toilet we have a variety of full room toilets which can be used by one person at a time, with the door locked. A block of these are situated in the Top Foyer, including a large family room.
We have a designated single sex male and single sex female full room toilet with entrances straight off of the cinema corridor. Our website and the QR code at each toilet block show where each of these are.
Should water be cut off and these toilets are closed, we will be ready to provide alterative arrangements.
Refugees and Asylum Seekers
This group was identified in online forums as a group in our community that may not like our toilet provision.
We consulted with organisations working with these communities and were told our fully enclosed cubicle toilets are well placed to provide privacy for people with needs connected to faith and modesty – as they reduce time spent in shared communal areas.
A (relatively) significant and growing proportion of asylum claims are based on sexual orientation and gender identity, largely from countries of origin where same-sex acts are criminalised.
Disabled people
Watershed offers multiple accessible toilets which are mixed sex, single rooms.
Information about our facilities is available online and is accessible by screen reader. Our staff are able to explain provision to anyone who is learning disabled or visually impaired and who cannot access the QR code.
People with religious faiths that require modesty
Our inclusive toilets are floor to ceiling cubicle toilets - some include sinks and mirrors (these are clearly labelled), allowing people to use the facilities completely alone. The family room is a very large fully enclosed and lockable room with mirror and sink.
People who cannot access QR codes which lists toilet provision in venue
Signage will also say “If you cannot access a QR code, our staff will be happy to help.” A printed out version of the QR code will be laminated and left at Box Office and the top foyer.
People who hold a philosophical or religious belief that facilities should be separated by sex
Our self-contained single-occupancy rooms in the top foyer allow anyone to use a toilet entirely alone, with the door locked, sharing the room with no one. We also have a designated single sex male and single sex female full room toilet with entrances straight off of the cinema corridor.
We recognise this does not provide a sex-separated communal facility.
Should water be cut off and these toilets are closed, we will be ready to provide alterative arrangements.
Complaints procedure
Watershed welcomes feedback from the people and communities we work with whether they are audience members, Café & Bar customers, artists, creatives, filmmakers, conference clients, partners, freelance practitioners, external stakeholders or others.
How has this policy been produced?
- We reviewed Watershed complaints log 2024 to present
- We reviewed Watershed audience surveys – 2024 to present
- We reviewed Duty Manager’s Reports from November 2022 (when new toilets opened) to present
- We undertook Interviews with Trans+ Community Members
- We sought input from women’s organisations and organisations working with refugees and asylum seekers
- We undertook desk research around toilets, modesty and faith communities
- We attended legal briefings and had the policy reviewed by legal professionals
- We undertook multiple stages of staff consultation
- It was reviewed and signed off by our Board of Trustees