Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘Like family to us’: Dunfermline family explains what Kirkcaldy centre means to them

The Fox family (Left) Lee,3, Chantel, 31., Oliver, 9 and Matthew, 32 at home in Dunfermline
The Fox family (Left) Lee,3, Chantel, 31., Oliver, 9 and Matthew, 32 at home in Dunfermline

A Fife family have talked of a “lifeline” Kirkcaldy service which has undergone a volunteer-led facelift.

The Yard has been part of the local community for more than 30 years, offering disabled children and their siblings the chance to experience outdoor play in an environment that fosters fun, friendship and community building.

It’s a lifeline to people like the Fox family from Dunfermline.

Matthew and Chantel Fox have two sons, Oliver and Lee. Oliver has Wiedemann-Steiner, a rare genetic disorder, as well as a learning disability, sensory processing disorder, ADHD and suspected autism.

Chantel explained how The Yard Fife had transformed family life. “Life with Oliver on a daily basis is very challenging,” she said. “When he was diagnosed, we lost lots of friends and people who couldn’t understand or deal with his behaviour.

“I used to take Oliver out and end up in tears due to stares and comments.”

Things became even more challenging when Lee arrived in 2015.

He has had serious health problems which left him in hospital for weeks. “This took its toll on Oliver, as it happened just as he was starting school, which meant that life became even more challenging and lonely.”

But she said The Yard had given the family a “place to escape” where they could all have fun together.

“It gives Oliver freedom, something he never ever gets if we are anywhere else.

“Due to his disabilities and behaviour, he always needs one of us close by, telling him what he can and can’t do for safety, and how to behave with others. The Yard provides this freedom for him.

“The Yard Fife is like family to us.

“Our lives before this amazing place were lonely, now we have a place we can go and enjoy, and we have made new friends who understand.”

staff are pictured lending a hand at The Yard in Kirkcaldy.

A dozen volunteers from M&S Gyle joined the children’s charity to create a new mud kitchen and a water play area.

The Yard Fife and M&S were connected to work together by Neighbourly – a social network for social good – after the charity reached out for support to create a mud kitchen and water play area at its site in Kirkcaldy.

The M&S volunteers among 5,000 staff from more than 600 M&S stores who took part in a week-long volunteering drive committing 40,000 hours to projects.

M&S Dunfermline volunteered with Aberlour Children’s Charity, undertaking a garden makeover.

Jason Dixon, store manager at M&S Gyle, said: “The wonderful work that the Yard undertakes to support local families is something we know our customers care about hugely, so we’re really proud to be coming together as a team to help such a worthy cause.”

The Yard’s chief executive Celine Sinclair said: “We can’t thank the M&S volunteers enough who helped transform our play space.”