The adventure continues at The Yard…
The past 12 months have here at The Yard have been a whirlwind of excitement, with our services across Dundee, Edinburgh and Fife continuing to provide a vital lifeline for disabled children, young people and their families. We are pleased to say that we now have 876 registered members, the most members we have ever had – surpassing even our preCOVID-19 numbers. Alongside our ever-popular weekend family sessions, we’ve offered activities such as our Fun & Friendship Clubs, school play sessions, early years support, sessions for kinship carers, and school holiday support (including continuing our ongoing holiday provision at Oakland School). We’ve hosted special events for families including Easter egg hunts, a monster truck-themed summer party, and visits
from Sylvie the therapy dog. Our impact is not only limited to our play services. Our family support team has been instrumental in providing direct support to parents and carers of children with additional support needs through one-to-one meetings, signposting events and informal coffee mornings. In Dundee, this has been complemented by a parent carer peer support group and community larder, providing free food, clothes and household essentials on-site at The Yard.
In Edinburgh, our family support has grown stronger than ever with our involvement in co-leading the new Edinburgh Disability and Neurodiversity (EDAN) Hub, launched in autumn 2024 and delivered in partnership with organisations such as Barnardo’s, NHS Lothian and City of Edinburgh Council.
By partnering with so many other organisations, the EDAN Hub represents and exciting new opportunity for us to reach more families than ever before. As part of this new service, we now provide a one-stop shop for children and families in Edinburgh that encompasses play activities, bookable family support appointments and training for parents/ carers.
Our impact in numbers
Our latest membership survey (November 2024) highlighted the impact of our work in
several ways. For example:
• 79% of parents/carers and 72% of children felt less isolated
• 72% of children and 64% of parents/carers experienced increased confidence
• 78% of parents/carers reported their child felt happier overall
• 56% of parents/carers had improved knowledge of things that mattered to their family as a whole
• 50% of children developed new skills
• 78% of parents/carers reported that The Yard felt like a community they could rely on for
support.
However, the figures only tell part of the story. The impact of our work is best
summarised by the stories and experiences of our families themselves.
What’s next for The Yard?
We are proud of the growth we have been able to achieve over the last year, and look
forward to maintaining this momentum throughout 2025. In particular, we are excited to have taken ownership of our Dundee centre, allowing us to completely renovate the premises. Work is now underway, with the centre set to re-open in August 2025. These upgrades will allow us to apply for
Care Inspectorate registration and bring new services to the area, such as after-school care
and youth clubs. We have also now signed a long-term lease on premises in Glasgow, which
– following renovations and upgrades – will allow us to launch our first ever service in the
west of Scotland.
In conjunction with the Tailor Ed Foundation and an independent inclusion consultant, we
also have started developing a new digital training platform that will transform disability awareness and education among families and public services such as schools, councils and the NHS. The Scottish Government’s priorities of early years childcare for all and youth mental health may provide scope for scaling up and securing statutory support for this programme, as the training could be rolled out across
workforces that would benefit from improved disability inclusion practices.
