A Dundee family is encouraging people to support a local charity’s fundraising campaign for a £1.5 million expansion.
The Yard, which supports children and young people with disabilities and additional needs, is currently refurbishing its Dundee centre in Mid Craigie.
This includes replacing the roof and creating a changing places room, sensory room and larger play spaces.
The charity, which also has a branch in Kirkcaldy, helped more than 330 children last year.
Around £1.2m has already been secured from a range of supporters including the Scottish Government, The Robertson Trust, The Gannochy Trust and The Northwood Charitable Trust.
The Yard has now launched the Dig Deep for the Yard Dundee appeal to bring in the remaining £300,000, allowing the centre to re-open in late summer 2025.
‘The Yard is just fantastic’
Stacey Robb, mum to five-year-old Ryan, is a regular at The Yard in Dundee.
Ryan is currently awaiting an ADHD assessment and first visited The Yard as a pre-schooler permanently attached to a six-foot oxygen tube following life-changing illness from birth.
While he no longer needs the oxygen tube, Ryan remains tube-fed and faces some emotional and sensory processing issues.
He also has one lung which will never reinflate and has a permanent condition, Bronchiolitis Obliterans, in the other lung.
Stacey, who also has an 11-year-old daughter and 18-month-old son, said: “One of my friends recommended The Yard, after she had been referred with her child.
“It was amazing to discover that Ryan could run around with his six-foot oxygen tube, and no one looked at him any differently.
“The Yard is just fantastic – it’s the one place Ryan can be happy, chill out, and just be himself, all with the support of the team who are so brilliant at what they do.
“It’s also amazing being able to take both boys and to see them enjoy the outdoor space and everything that it brings, from the hammock and the tyre swings to climbing”.
Public and business encouraged to donate
“It will be wonderful when The Yard has been refurbished and when they can offer even more to families like us”, Stacey added.
“There is literally nowhere else for Ryan and the other children to go as they grow. They have a right to be who they are and The Yard makes that possible.
“I’ve also made lots of friends there through the parent/carers group, it’s a place I can go and vent or ask questions.
“The Yard always has the answers or knows how to get them, and the staff are so well trained to support us.”
The Dig Deep for The Yard campaign is urging members of the public to give anything they can afford from as little as £10.
Businesses can also buy bricks for £250 each or sponsor a specific element of the service such as a room or piece of new play equipment for the garden
For more information, visit The Yard’s appeal website, email info@theyardscotland.org.uk or telephone 0131 476 4506.
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