Who we are Our response to COVID-19 Following the latest guidance for schools on COVID-19, we took the difficult decision to temporarily suspend all The Yard services and close our sites from Friday 20th March. The well-being of our families and team is always our top priority, and we took this step on the official advice that it is the safest way to protect our children and families. We continue to monitor the situation and follow the latest advice as it is issued. We will keep our members up-to-date by email when anything significant changes, including when we have a date to re-open. You can email us or call 0131 476 4506 during office hours. Temporary support We continue to be closed to our members in general, but we are one of a number of organisations supporting the City of Edinburgh Council to reach very small groups of children and families in the city in person. This is in response to the Scottish Government's commitment to continue to continue to offer support for the most vulnerable. The local authority determines who can access this temporary service and when, with a maximum of five children or young people (including siblings when unavoidable) accessing two-hour morning and afternoon sessions at The Yard Edinburgh, Monday to Friday. We cannot safely open to more families at this time. We advise you to contact your social work department directly if you have concerns about your family’s support during this time. Keeping our community safe We are of course implementing even more rigorous health and safety, cleaning and hygiene procedures to protect our families and team. We continue to follow the latest government and Health Protection Scotland guidance, and we will not be supporting any families who are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. Learn more about the details of what we are doing to keep everyone on-site as safe as possible. The Yard membership The Yard is a charity and we rely on our members’ fees to enable us to provide a consistent and high quality service. Due to the current situation, we have decided to press pause on our membership price increases, which were due to take effect from 23rd March. This means our regular monthly membership fee remains at £5 per month for now and for the duration of time The Yard stays closed. Continuing with our membership scheme is part of the robust plan we have put in place to ensure our services can continue long after we are back open to our families. We greatly appreciate your support on this. In the case that you are unable to continue making your membership payments, we have a programme of membership assistance available for anyone who is struggling financially. Ideas for isolation We have created a place to share our ideas to keep families busy with creative play ideas during isolation and bring a little bit of The Yard into your homes. Find more play ideas from The Yard on our 'Ideas for isolation' YouTube playlist. You can also follow us on social media to keep up-to-date with the latest news from The Yard. The Yard on Facebook The Yard on Instagram The Yard on Twitter Supporting The Yard If you are in a position to make a donation to The Yard in this time of financial uncertainty facing charities, we greatly appreciate your support. The best way to do this is to make a one-off donation or set up a regular gift on our website. This helps us in two ways – we will know it is a donation rather than membership, and we can claim an additional 25% in Gift Aid at no extra cost to you. Your support enables us to plan for a sustainable future by putting in place reliable and regular income streams to support our vital services. Our team is also working hard to secure this through our other income and funding sources. Thank you.