By Amanda Greig of Oakley
OAKLEY, Stonehaven’s new multi-million-pound specialist purpose built provision for children and young people with Additional Support Needs (ASN), will officially open tomorrow, Saturday 22 August 2026.
Designed from the ground up around lived experience, family insight and sensory-informed practice, Oakley will support children and young people aged 2 to 18. Its services will include early years provision, school-age support and respite, teen programmes and life-skills development, after-school and weekend groups, parent and carer sessions, community and school visits, and training for families, schools and partner organisations.
Families will not need a formal diagnosis to access Oakley. The provision will welcome children and young people with a wide range of needs, including autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, sensory or developmental differences, anxiety or trauma-related needs, and physical disabilities.
“Oakley is built on a simple belief: children should not have to change who they are to belong. When an environment reduces unnecessary stress and supports the nervous system from the moment a child arrives, safety, connection and meaningful participation become possible.”
Oakley’s founder Amanda Greig said: “This centre exists because families like ours have spent too long trying to make children fit environments that were never designed for them. Oakley turns that around. We have created a place where the environment adapts to the child – a place that protects dignity, supports regulation and says, from the first moment: you belong here.
“Opening the doors on Saturday is an emotional milestone. Oakley has taken years of learning, listening, fundraising, late nights and personal sacrifice. It is here because people believed in the vision, and because children and families in Aberdeenshire deserve support that truly understands them.”
A whole-setting approach
Unlike facilities that concentrate sensory support in one dedicated room, Oakley has embedded sensory-aware design throughout the building. Lighting, acoustics, colour, movement, layout, transitions and retreat spaces have all been considered to make the environment calmer, clearer and more predictable.
The approach is based on the understanding that behaviour is often communication and that apparent defiance or disengagement may be a nervous system responding to distress or overload. Oakley focuses on reducing environmental barriers rather than trying to change children through behaviour-modification or reward-and-consequence programmes.
The centre has been developed with the support of Altair Construction Ltd and Antares Property Development Ltd, whose involvement enabled Oakley to move from an ambitious idea to a purpose-built provision. Architects and design teams also helped translate the organisation’s sensory-informed vision into a practical, accessible space.
Ms Greig added: “Altair and Antares did far more than help us find a building. They gave us the opportunity to create something we believe has not existed in Scotland before. Their time, patience, trust and practical support have been fundamental. Quite simply, Oakley would not be here without them.”
Built from lived experience
Oakley grew from one family’s experience of navigating systems and settings that could not meet their child’s needs. That experience developed into a wider commitment: to build the kind of environment many families have needed but struggled to find.
Its guiding principle is concise: the environment itself is an intervention. By lowering sensory load, creating predictable routines and offering calm places to pause or regulate, Oakley aims to help children feel safe enough to explore, connect, play and learn.
Saturday’s opening marks the beginning of the centre’s work with children, young people, parents, carers, schools and community partners across Aberdeenshire and beyond.