Charities in line for grant payouts of nearly £9 million

November 28th 2023

Charities supported by Shetland Charitable Trust (SCT) will benefit from grants of up to £9 million next year, trustees have confirmed.

The spend for 2024/25 remains at the level planned previously despite the seesawing of SCT reserves on the world stock markets.

Trustees at last Wednesday’s board meeting heard that the invested funds stood at £390m last week, up from £377.9m at the end of September.

SCT chair Robert Leask said: “This is encouraging because we have seen significant fluctuations in recent months.”

The agreed £9m grant payout will help keep 28 local charitable services running, including the rural care centres, leisure centres and swimming pools, heritage services, cinema and arts venue, a variety of support services and small voluntary organisations.

The main change to SCT’s spending plans for next year is the revising of its Capital Grant Scheme which funds repairs and improvements to major public buildings. The £12m fund was expected to be spent over three years with £6.8m earmarked for 2024.

But increased building costs and difficulties getting the work done in Shetland has disrupted the plans. Trustees heard that the scheme is to be revised to take account of the delays and logistical problems.

For more information

Contact: Shetland Charitable Trust - mail@shetlandcharitabletrust.co.uk - Tel: 01595 744 994

Media Contact: John Robertson - noostmedia@gmail.com - Tel: 07775 407 796

Testimonials

The funding COPE Ltd receives from the Shetland Charitable Trust supports us in many ways. It allows us to develop and maintain a strong foundation to our core business and assists us to provide on-going employment skill development opportunities to people with disabilities living within Shetland. COPE Ltd highly values the support provided to our organisation by The Shetland Charitable Trust.

“The substantial grant made to us by Shetland Charitable Trust every year allows us to provide first-class facilities and dedicated staff to underpin sporting success among people of all ages and abilities in the islands.”

Having this core funding from the Charitable Trust means that we can use that money where we need it at any given time. It's multi-year funding which really takes the pressure off. To have the funding to keep going is really important as it is improving the lives of disabled folk in Shetland.

The funding that we get from the Charitable Trust pays for part of staff support and matching with other funders. Without local funders we wouldn't have national funders, and without either of those funders, we wouldn't be able to do this, so funding from the Shetland Charitable Trust is incredibly important.

The funding Shetland Arts gets from Shetland Charitable Trust is about making sure the organisation can thrive, access other funds, and deliver on behalf of the community of Shetland. Our funding from the Shetland Charitable Trust really helps us with our conversations with national funders because it shows that we're working on behalf of what the local objectives and priorities are.

The Access to Leisure scheme was introduced to allow folk to be able to get access to classes and activities for a lower cost. I feel that the SRT play a critical role in every community across Shetland and that's all down to the funding of the Shetland Charitable Trust that we're able to maintain that.

Unpaid carers do an amazing job looking after people 24/7 in their own homes, keeping them living at home safely, and they really need help to do that. Thanks to the funding from Shetland Charitable Trust, we've been able to employ a deputy manager, recruit more care attendants, and provide overnights. We're also really grateful for the funding because it means that everybody can get the service for free.