Trustees praise positive contribution of funded bodies to Shetland life

September 15th 2017

Trustees of Shetland Charitable Trust today praised the achievements of its funded bodies in enhancing the quality of life in the islands.

Trustees praise positive contribution of funded bodies to Shetland life

Trustees of Shetland Charitable Trust today praised the achievements of its funded bodies in enhancing the quality of life in the islands.

It followed publication of a report highlighting a range of statistics from all the bodies that receive annual grants.

For example, Shetland Arts Development Agency’s audience figures were above target at more than 200,000 in the year to March this year. SADA also operated within its budget of £696,038.

Meanwhile, almost 90,000 visits were made to the Shetland Museum and Archives run by Shetland Amenity Trust, while 4,600 volunteers took part in Da Voar Redd Up.

With more than 700,000 admissions, Shetland Recreational Trust exceeded its target by 8.1%. The Trust also surpassed the vast majority of its other targets.

Shetland Islands Citizens Advice Bureau, which received £132,000 of funding, exceeded many of its targets, including for the number of new cases opened and the financial gains made on behalf of clients.

The Royal Voluntary Service, which received funding of £46,985, met most of its targets and exceeded some, including 5% increases in interactions with service users and passenger journeys.

Chairman of Shetland Charitable Trust Bobby Hunter said: “I think it is really important to recognise and acknowledge the impact that the activities of the funded bodies have on improving the quality of life in Shetland.

“I don’t want to single anyone out, but it is great to see over 700,000 visits to our leisure centres, over 200,000 attending Shetland Arts events and nearly 90,000 visits to the Museum and Archives.”

Ends

For further information, please contact Paul Riddell of Platform Shetland on 07739 750543, 01595 697296 or paul.riddell@platformshetland.co.uk

Notes to editors

Shetland Charitable Trust is one of the largest such trusts in Scotland. The value of its investments is currently around £260m, with £232m invested in the world’s markets and £27m in the local economy. The remainder is net current assets.

Funded originally by Shetland Islands Council’s “disturbance payments” from the oil industry between 1976 and 2000, the Trust now relies entirely on its investment income.

The trust formerly comprised all councillors plus two independents. This changed in 2012 and again in 2017 and it is now a completely separate organisation from the council, with a built-in majority of independent trustees.

Shetland Charitable Trust owns three companies: Shetland Leasing and Property Developments Ltd (SLAP); Shetland Heat Energy and Power Ltd (SHEAP); and SCT Renewables Ltd.

Registered Charity No. SC 027025

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.