The Red Cord Campaign

The Disability Interest Group of Salisbury (DIGS), Salisbury City Council, and Signs in Motion Ltd are collaborating on a campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of tying up and cutting red emergency cords in accessible toilets.

In February 2026, DIGS presented the campaign proposal to the Council’s Commercial Services Committee, which gave its unanimous support.

As part of the initiative, clear and informative posters, kindly printed by Signs in Motion, will be installed in accessible toilets across the city to highlight this prevalent and critical safety issue.

Red emergency cords are essential, life-saving features for people with disabilities. In an emergency, every second matters, and even a brief delay caused by an out-of-reach cord can put lives at risk.

Emergency cords must always remain untied and hang freely to the floor. They should never be knotted, looped, cut, or obstructed. Tampering with red cords is a violation of safety regulations and accessibility standards.

Kez Adey, CEO of DIGS, said, “The Red Cord Campaign is important to DIGS because it can be a life-or-death situation and many disabled people take the red cord being in the correct place for granted whilst many non-disabled people don’t realise how important the cord can be.

“We need as many people as possible to understand the importance which is why we are running educational spaces and workshops for independent social groups for all ages, as the first educational campaign DIGS have run it is fantastic to see the support it is getting from others.

“We thank both Salisbury City Council and Signs in Motion for the support in getting this campaign off the ground.”

Cllr Sam Foster, Chair of the Commercial Services Committee, said, “It was a privilege to have DIGS bring this campaign to our committee’s attention and to be able to provide Salisbury City Council’s support for it. This has been one of those times where I was left thinking why isn’t this already being done, and if DIGS, Salisbury City Council and Signs in Motion can tackle this issue then let’s take the opportunity we have to do so.

“I look forward to seeing the campaign be rolled out, and then continuing to look at its effectiveness and whether new ideas are needed. Our committee’s view was clear that this isn’t just about a nice campaign but actually making sure we address the important issue of preventing red emergency cords being tampered with.”

Lee Burt, Director of Signs in Motion, said, “Having worked with SCC for many years and learning about this campaign with DIGS we were happy to help in supplying the necessary literature in order to help raise awareness of this worthwhile cause.”

Font: Salisbury city council