Kayleigh and her colleagues from Kleboe Jardine are taking on the mammoth challenge of Tough Mudder to raise funds for The Yard. This is Kayleigh's story...

"One day, a few years ago, I was on my way to the shop when I noticed a plume of bubbles floating over a wooden fence and into my path. Squeals of laughter and joy accompanied the bubbles, all of which were coming from behind a fence in the middle of George V Park. ‘That’s odd,’ I remember thinking and, on my way back from the shop, I peeked through the fence and caught my first sight of The Yard. 'Cool,' I thought, actually, I still think. 

"I have been volunteering with The Yard for just over six months - it took me quite a while from that initial encounter with bubbles. I came to The Yard as a volunteer after being involved heavily with another charity, who were associated with the Lothian Autistic Society, who in turn put me in touch with The Yard.

"I have loved every moment of my time spent at The Yard. It’s a truly amazing place and the young people that I have had the privilege to get to know have all been wonderful. I love being able to talk with gusto about Star Wars, share my ability to remember all of the words to every song in Aladdin and Pocahontas, dance like a maniac and even, at one point, don a sumo suit and wrestle. There is never a dull moment! I have never been what anyone would term ‘cool’, but at The Yard, cool means a different thing to what it means outside and being yourself is the coolest thing you can do. How could I not love it?

"In my life outside of The Yard, I have been heavily involved in fundraising activities for a few years and, never one to do things by half, I thought that it might be a good idea to combine my existing fundraising with my new-found love of The Yard. Now, as you may have gathered by now, I am a bit of a loony at the best of times so getting me to sign up to daft and difficult fundraising events is never usually too difficult, but my lovely colleagues really have no excuse! Three of us in total from Kleboe Jardine are going to taking part in Tough Mudder in June to raise funds for The Yard (our MD has also promised to cheer us on). We must be bonkers.

"I think I can speak for Natalie, Kirsty and I when I say that we are all excited and nervous in equal measures. My training is just getting kicked off (I am also training for a marathon later in the year) and we will all be training hard in the months to come - watch this space for updates and videos. It’ll all be worth it in the end."

You can support Kayleigh's Tough Mudder team by sponsoring them here.

Check out taking on Tough Mudder for yourself or have a look at all the other events you can do for The Yard. Just email our fundraising team if you need any more info.