Cornerstone, one of Scotland’s largest charities and a leading provider of services for people with disabilities and other support needs, has found the perfect home for its Angus and Dundee services after moving into a building of like-minded enterprises in the city.
Dundee Children and Young People’s Service has been relaunched after taking up residence at The Circle, a hub for charities, social enterprises, community groups and socially conscious businesses.
Since it first opened its doors in City Quay some 12 years ago, the Children and Young People’s Service has expanded to include a Short Breaks Club. The new hub has brought together these two key services which were not previously in the same place. The Circle also hosts Cornerstone’s adult community support service in Dundee, and office staff.
Cornerstone’s Children’s Services provide personal care support, helping children to get ready for bed or up in the morning and ready for school, as well as enabling support, which helps the children attend mainstream services and activities. The team also offers a nightshift service.
The Short Breaks Club is a day service offering a range of fun, inclusive and therapeutic activities. Set up just over four years ago, it operates a number of groups including various after-school club sessions and a youth club for youngsters up to the age of 21 with additional support needs. Unique in the area due to the fact that parents do not have to stay with their child, the various clubs and sessions are currently attended by just under 60 youngsters and spaces are restricted to just one session per child due to their popularity.
Cornerstone also provides a hugely popular respite service, which includes the option of taking youngsters on mini breaks and holidays, a particular favourite being to a family-run caravan park in Arbroath.
Dundee team leader Suzanne Conway said that all the children Cornerstone supports have additional needs, some of which are very complex, and a number have issues with challenging behaviour. Having the new premises has helped both the staff and the children enormously.
"The Circle really has been a Godsend,” she said. “In terms of the support we can offer each other, as well as the people we support, everything is so much better. Now that our services are all under one roof, there is a lot more opportunity to have informal conversations with other staff members and parents, and it is much easier to share best practice.
“We have a total of 33 staff, which amounts to many years of experience to call upon. The team has doubled in size since I became team leader just over two years ago, and some of the individual staff members have more than 10 years’ experience.”
Branch Leader for Dundee, Perth and Angus Sara Murphy said: “The issue that we had before moving into The Circle was that previously all our equipment was kept in various garages and stores. We now have everything under one roof, which is so much better.
“Our main focus at Cornerstone is always the adults and children in Dundee that we support. The vision of The Circle is brilliant as it has opened up lots of opportunities for us, including many events such as Client Tuesdays, networking and fundraising. The way in which The Circle supports its tenants has been fantastic. It really feels like a community and we are very pleased to be a part of it.”
Located in a former skills centre in the city’s Staffa Place, The Circle was set up by well-known local social entrepreneur Kirsty Thomson, who also owns third sector consultancy ACK.
Kirsty had identified that one of the key barriers to third-sector organisations is finding available office space at an affordable rate so, when an opportunity arose to purchase the building, she jumped at the chance in order to realise her ambition to bring together organisations and people from a variety of like-minded backgrounds and disciplines.
When they first moved into The Circle, Cornerstone’s area was just a shell with limited equipment and toys for the youngsters. However, thanks to the generosity of a number of hugely generous local trusts and foundations - Balgay Children's Society; W.A. Cargill Fund, Anne Herd Memorial Trust; Bruce Wake Trust; Gertrude Muriel Patello Trust; Walter Craig Trust; Leng Charitable Trust; Nicoll Charitable Trust; Gordon Fraser Foundation; Souter Trust, Kells Trust and the Ina Briggs Trust – more than £20,000 was donated towards the installation of a ground trampoline, swings and a spectacular sensory garden where the children can play and explore.
A further donation of £17,000 was made by Thorntons Investments, who raised the money at their Sports Challenge Dinner.
Team Leader Suzanne Conway added: "Since we moved into The Circle, we have knocked down walls, put up walls and decorated. There is now a sensory room, a big activity area and we have changing facilities, office space and meeting rooms. We have also started work on the garden, and local company RBS Muir Plant Hire came and fenced it all so that it is now a safe place for the children to play. The support we have received from our fantastic donors is what has made this all possible.
"Being part of The Circle means that we get the chance to meet and interact with other tenants and social enterprises, and we are starting to build partnerships with some, which has been great. This is definitely the right place for us. There is still a lot of work to do, but we now have a safe and secure building, and the kids have a lot more freedom.”
Cornerstone
Cornerstone is one of Scotland's largest charities and a leading provider of services for people with disabilities and other support needs.
