Our impact

The Yard creates beautiful havens for play for disabled children, but even more than that, opportunities for fun, friendship and community building. Support and a sense of belonging. Somewhere to feel safe to take risks. A place of understanding without judgement. A vital lifeline for whole families. Read more from our families in our annual report 2015/16.

The benefits of creative adventure play for children are well documented. We strongly believe disabled children should be offered the same opportunities as their mainstream peers to get involved in risky play to help them develop, learn, build friendships and find their own limits.

After working with families in Edinburgh for the last 30 years, we now run services in Dundee and Fife, allowing us to reach more families who need our support. We know there is demand for services like ours across Scotland, which is why we hope The Yard continues to grow.

Our members tell us having somewhere like The Yard has a hugely positive impact on their daily lives. We were able to measure that impact with a signficant piece of research conducted with our Edinburgh families in 2016. We also collate regular feedback from our children, young people, parents, siblings and carers, both to support our funding applications and for the Care Inspectorate. We use this feedback to ensure our services continually improve.

We are able to bring even wider community benefits by opening The Yard Edinburgh to the general public so that all families can experience our unique brand of adventure every Sunday Funday. As well as bringing joy to more children and families, we are also raising awareness of our services for disabled children, why they are so important and how people can get involved in helping us fund them. Public opening has led to a huge increase in The Yard's profile, and a number of leads to access further fundraising and support, from individuals and organisations.

View our annual accounts 2015/16