DIY NICK’S ANGER AT CHARITY FIREBUGS
Blaze destroys kids’ hangout supported by makeover star
DIY SOS presenter Nick Knowles has hit out after a kids charity he supports was forced to close a vital sensory space after a fire attack.
The Yard’s play and support facility for disabled children in Dundee was set ablaze in what police believe was a deliberate act. Vandals caused about £10,000 of damage in the fire on Thursday, wrecking a sensory space for kids with specific issues who need a quiet area when overstimulated. It is the second attack to plague The Yard charity after another of its centres was targeted by sick thugs at the end of 2021. Vandals torched a boardwalk installed at their Edinburgh base during a DIY SOS Children In Need special with Knowles, who has since become a keen supporter of the charity’s work. Knowles has urged people to get behind The Yard as it raises money to cover the cost of the extensive damage and reopen. He said: “I really want to see the community come out and support The Yard because what they do is astounding and lifeaffirming. “The greatest shame of this is that the damage that has been done is likely mindless, done by bored youths as an act of bravado and showing off.
“One of the difficulties we have across all of the United Kingdom is a lack of youth centres and places for young people to go.”
The “Gingerbread House” sensory space had been donated to The Yard by the National Lottery and decorated by a host of lottery winners. Pictures shared with the Record show the shed, and the equipment inside, blackened by smoke and soot and many of the toys melted.
Charity boss Celine Sinclair said: “There’s so much damage – we can’t have families in for now and there’s so much equipment that has been destroyed.
“At a time when it’s tough to be running our services, when costs are so high, with people using us as a warm space, I can’t understand why people would take that away.” Mum Nadia Christison, who takes her autistic sons Saul, 15, and Guy, six, to the centre, said: “We love going to The Yard – it’s a real lifeline for us as a family, and the Gingerbread House is central to that as are the bikes and trikes which we hear have also been damaged, some destroyed.
“We hope the people of Dundee can rally round.”
A police spokesman said: “The fire is being treated as suspicious and inquiries are ongoing.”