A north-east charity is offering a new service to help support adults with learning disabilities.
Rowanlea House at Peterculter is believed to offer one of the first services of its kind in Scotland.
Designed to help young adults adjust to life after school, the service, operated by VSA, offers high quality accommodation and, in addition, skills training and development for adults aged 18-26.
VSA was able to launch the facility thanks to donations from the AG Bain Trust and the Speratus Group Limited (SGL).
The service, which is attached to Linn Moor School, has only recently been opened but is already proving to be a big success.
Angela Bruty’s son Elliot is one of three people living at the house just now.
Prior to living at the facility, he attended Linn Moor for two years.
Mrs Bruty said: “The big worry we had is what we were going to do when Elliot turned 18.
“He has very severe autism, previous schools weren’t able to cope with him.
“It was a really terrible feeling, when you find a school for your child it’s almost like the easy part.
“There’s not many places that provide this support for adults.
“This will give hope to parents of children at Linn Moor that they will be able to get the same standard of care after they leave.”
The Bruty family live in West Lothian but were forced to look further afield for support for Elliot.
Mrs Bruty, a fundraiser for the Regal Theatre in Bathgate, continued: “We went through a number of schools when Elliott was younger and they couldn’t cope with him, until we came to Linn Moor.
“The more severe the autism, the more limited the options are available to you.
“Put it this way, when Elliot is out of the facility he has two adults with him at all times.
“We wanted the best service possible for him and that’s what VSA, Linn Moor and now, Rowanlea provide.”
Wendy Milne, registered manager at Rowanlea, added: “The end result for us is that the residents become valuable members of society.”