A West Lothian teenager is celebrating after opening the first dedicated safe space for autistic young people in Scotland.
Kaydi Scotsville (15) now has a dedicated building to run her Diversified charity, making it the first autistic-led charity to open such a facility.
Kaydi gives invaluable support to fellow neurodiverse young people and their families and was delighted to pick up the keys for her charity’s new base.
She is now appealing to local people to dedicate their time or resources so that the space can be opened soon.
She said: “We are so excited to be able to share with you that we were recently awarded funding from The National Lottery Community Fund and UnLtd.
“This, alongside winning The Bright Future Prize by the Ardonagh Community Trust, means have been able to secure our very own building for Diversified.
“I want to thank everyone who has supported my journey with Diversified and all the amazing people who I have met along the way.
“Having our own premises will give the young people we work with somewhere consistent and a place they can feel safe and understood.
“Diversified will be the first autistic-led charity to open a dedicated safe space to support autistic young people in Scotland.
We are looking forward to getting everything set up and will post updates on our page to keep everyone updated with our progress and opening date.
“We would love to have the support of our community in setting up our new space and if anyone is able to donate some time or resources we would be very grateful.
“We are excited to get our new home ready for all the young people we support and those we hope to support in the near future.”
Diversified began as a platform that would sell affordable sensory toys before it became a fully-fledged charity that has online and face-to-face programmes that help neurodiverse teens and their families find support.
The charity has an Amazon wishlist for items for the new base, you can help by visiting www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/JIIHD9HSQ1JQ
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