The Yard – Page 3 – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

£1.8M funding boost for next generation of musicians, dancers and artists

Budding young artists, dancers and musicians are amongst hundreds of young people across Scotland today celebrating a £1.8 million cash boost that will empower them to develop their skills and talents through a range of creative projects.

Five Edinburgh-based organisations have received funding in the latest round of grants. These include The Yard (£90,000), Canongate Youth (£84,000) and Fruitmarket Gallery (£100,000). Continue reading £1.8M funding boost for next generation of musicians, dancers and artists

Lottery windfall for Granton’s Walled Gardeners

Awards for All grant for Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden

Local community group Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden is one of 22 Edinburgh projects to receive a share of £1.1 million National Lottery Awards for All funding. The community group receives £9800 to commission a feasibilty study and conduct community consultation to plan for the future use and restoration of Granton Castle’s historic walled garden. Continue reading Lottery windfall for Granton’s Walled Gardeners

Edinburgh College students raise money for local children’s charity

A group of Edinburgh College students have teamed up with Edinburgh Harley Davidson to raise £1319.57 for local children’s charity The Yard. Continue reading Edinburgh College students raise money for local children’s charity

Celine shines at Scottish Charity Awards

The Yard’s Celine is leading light at Charity Awards

Charities and individuals from across Scotland have been recognised for the life-changing difference they make at the 2017 Scottish Charity Awards, which took place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre last night. Among the winners was The Yard’s Celine Sinclair, who won the Leading Light award. Continue reading Celine shines at Scottish Charity Awards

WATCH out! New see-saw at The Yard!

Blackhall St Columba’s raise over £11,000 for The Yard

Disabled children and young people at The Yard in Edinburgh were delighted when their new playground see-saw opened last weekend in time for Easter, thanks to funds raised by Blackhall St Columba’s Church’s WATCH Committee. Continue reading WATCH out! New see-saw at The Yard!

College fundraisers go the extra Yard

A group of Edinburgh College Childcare Practice students and their puppet pals have raised £1,267 for local children’s charity The Yard, the local adventure playground that provides a safe space to play for children and young people with disabilities.
Continue reading College fundraisers go the extra Yard

Edinburgh gets playful!

Children set to invade Grassmarket for fun and games

The Grassmarket will be transformed into a giant children’s playground tomorrow (Wednesday) to promote play in the city.

The enclosed street in the Old Town will be transformed between 12.30pm and 4.30pm for Edinburgh’s Playday where there will be lots of family-friendly activities on offer including junk drumming, a mud kitchen, parachute games, magic potions, a giant sand pit, water play, and a cardboard city.

This will be the 15th year that the event has been held and every year gets bigger and more fun! Thousands of people, both young and old, have come along to join in activities on offer.

Playday is the national day for play, which is being celebrated next week. On Playday thousands of children and their families get out to play at hundreds of community events across the UK.

As well as a celebration of children’s right to play, Playday is a campaign that highlights the importance of play in children’s lives. It’s all about learning for life and showing that play is fun not just for the child but for adults as well.

Councillor Keith Robson, Play Champion for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Play is a massively important part of a child’s development and makes a tremendous contribution to happy and healthy childhoods. Children need freedom to play so they can practice skills, explore the world around them and develop understanding in their own way and in their own time. Real play comes from children’s need to express themselves, to explore, learn about and make sense of their world.

“Playing with your child is one of the most wonderful things about being a parent. It’s a vital part of the way babies and children grown and learn. The time you have fun together brings you closer, makes your child feel loved and secure, helps them develops elf-esteem and social skills.

“Our very popular Playday in the Grassmarket provides a fantastic opportunity to celebrate play and promote its many benefits as well as visiting one of the most picturesque areas of the city. I would recommend everyone comes along for what promises to be a fun-filled afternoon of play!”

Playday is part of the successful City of Edinburgh Council Play Strategy which states:

“Edinburgh aims to be a play friendly city where all children and young people can enjoy their childhood. They will have access to play opportunities in a range of different settings which offer variety, adventure and challenge. They will be able to play freely and safely and make choices about where, how and when they play.”

Other ongoing projects to promote play include the formation of the Edinburgh Play Forum – ‘Playful Edinburgh’, which is a partnership of voluntary groups and other organisations supporting play across the city. The forum were successful in gaining Inspiring Scotland Go2Play funding for Play Ranger projects which will run outdoor play sessions in eight sites across the city. The Edinburgh Play Ranger projects are organised by Smart Play Network, Canongate Youth Project, North Edinburgh Arts and Edinburgh Leisure. EPF members Dads Rock and The Yard will be adding to the exciting activities on offer at Playday.

Access to Edinburgh’s Playday is free but children should be accompanied by an adult.

For more information contact cf.play@edinburgh.gov.uk

The event has been organised by the City of Edinburgh Council, the Edinburgh Play Forum and many volunteers.

The Yard is Tesco Bank local charity of the Year

Local children’s charity The Yard is one of three childrens’ projects that will be supported by Tesco Bank over the coming year.

Tesco Bank ‘colleagues’ from each of the three Bank’s three regions choose a local children’s charity to support, and this year the lucky recipients will be:

The Yard (Edinburgh)

The Yard is a playground for children with physical disabilities or learning difficulties. It gives children space to explore, join in and make friends – things that they can be excluded from in other environments.

The large outdoor playground is a perfect place to build dens, climb trees and charge around on one of their specially adapted bikes and trikes. Indoors there is also room to paint, bake, draw, smile, chat and be with others or be alone in the calming sensory room.

The Yard’s specialist Playworkers look to encourage children and young people to explore and be themselves, promote risk and challenge to help children overcome barriers to inclusion, and nurture natural curiosity.

HOPE For Autism (North Lanarkshire)

HOPE for Autism is a charity set up by parents who didn’t feel their children’s needs were being met. They have a great understanding of what is required to support the whole family, as they have been through it themselves.

HOPE for Autism currently offers services to families affected by an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), including evening groups for children and young people, parents’ group meetings and services for carers, such as one-to-one and group support, free training and social nights.

Grace House (Sunderland)

Grace House is a purpose-built children and young person facility in Sunderland which will offer short break and respite care services for children and young people with complex disabilities, health needs and life limiting conditions.

They are presently planning to increase the number of their en-suite bedrooms to eight before their planned opening in May 2015 which will allow them to have up to eight children visiting at any one time. Eight bedrooms will allow them to help between 250-300 children every year.

Congratulations to you all!

Last stop – but happy memories at the end of the road

Lothian Buses’ year working with The Yard has comes to an end – but the company has raised a record breaking amount for its Charity of the year, The Yard.

The charity’s bus has become well known and much loved throughout Edinburgh and the Lothians and the company’s employees taking the charity to their hearts by raising an fantastic amount of money for them.

The Yard provides care, support and fun for children with disabilities and their families and work closely with special need schools in Edinburgh

Over the year Lothian Buses, their employees and customers have raised over £20,000 for the charity from events such as charity football matches, raffles, the Christmas Grotto Bus and the company’s staff awards night, plus customers and employees donated their foreign coins and change to collections tins at our Travelshops. The charity also received a year’s free adverting on the outside and inside of buses with a value of over £196,000.

Jenny McDonald, Fundraising Manager, The Yard said: “It has been a great privilege to be Lothian Buses Charity of The Year and to see the commitment from all the staff and customers who have done an incredible job raising £20,000 towards our work.

“Special thanks to Keith and all the team at Marine Depot who organised the Hibs Legends Vs Lothian Buses Allstars Football Match, creating great memories for our children involved. Seeing the smiling faces of Cissie and Amy on our Yard bus still makes us all smile and it has been invaluable in raising awareness of what we do – thank you!’

Government announces more cashback for youth groups

Minister for Young People welcomes £533k investment in 161 projects across Scotland

Thousands of young people across Scotland will benefit from CashBack for Communities youth work grants totalling half-a-million pounds which have been announced today for 2014-15.

Sixteen Edinburgh youth projects will receive a share of almost £46,000 this year – local beneficiaries include Pilton Youth & Children’s Project (PYCP), Leith’s Pilmeny Development Project, The Yard in Stockbridge and Granton Youth Centre,

Allocations from the CashBack for Communities Youth Work Fund for the first year, administered by YouthLink Scotland, have been made to 161 community groups supporting young people the length and breadth of Scotland. Between them, they are sharing an initial £533,036, which marks the first awards from a £2.094 million fund over the next three years.

Minister for Children and Young People Aileen Campbell welcomed today’s announcement. She said: “Since Cashback for Communities was introduced by this Government in 2007, thousands of young people have benefited from more than 1.5 million sporting, cultural and educational activities and opportunities, all funded from ill-gotten cash seized from crooks. I am delighted to see so many great organisations are receiving this latest funding, which will help them take their important work even further.

“The average CashBack youth work funding award for each organisation is around £3,310 and that is an investment that will go a long way in supporting activities for young people. I have seen for myself many examples of the excellent work these organisations do, and wish them well as they turn exciting plans into reality.”

One organisation to have benefited is Strathmore Centre for Youth Development, which provides information and services for young people in the Strathmore area of Perthshire. It has received £2,182 to support its programme of activities, which includes organising trips for local youngsters.

Craig Cantwell, Centre Manager, said: “CashBack funding is extremely important to us as it allows us to give opportunities to young people who would otherwise never access such trips or learning opportunities. They are open to ideas and projects that are a bit different than the norm.

“As a retired Police Officer, I am grateful that this money is being put to good use and is being fed back into communities across Scotland.”

Another of the recipients to have benefited is Mid Argyll Youth Development Services, which has received £1,740 to support a dance program offered to young people throughout the region. Fiona Kalache, the Services’ Manager, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded a CashBack grant. This money will allow us to continue to run our diversionary dance program over the coming year. This is a very popular project which could not have carried on without this donation.”

Jim Sweeney, Chief Executive of YouthLink Scotland, said: “Our young people are the future of this nation so it is crucial they all have the opportunity to flourish. Putting the cash from criminals back into communities has offered thousands of young people the chance of a more positive path in life. Investing in youth work changes young people’s lives. It is an investment in all our futures as it helps create young people who are confident, engaged and a credit to society.”

Since the inception of the CashBack for Communities in 2007, over £74 million recovered from criminals has been invested in the Cashback Programme to provide over 1.5 million free activities for children and young people throughout Scotland.