SCT chair points to the benefits of community good fortune

September 11th 2024

The £9 million spent each year by Shetland Charitable Trust on sport, leisure, elderly care and support for voluntary organisations “makes a real difference” in a small place like Shetland, according to the trust’s chair Robert Leask.

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s SCT annual general meeting, Mr Leask said: “In other parts of the UK there are care homes, leisure centres, cinemas and art venues coming under threat of closure due to funding cuts. SCT is able to do its bit to help Shetland avoid that.”

SCT saw a recovery in its fortunes during 2023/24. Its value grew by £52 million to £445.3m – a strong turnaround from the previous year’s losses of £56.2m, blamed on inflation and geo-political tensions.

Mr Leask said: “SCT looks for a strong return on its investments over the long term. But a good year serves as a confidence booster for the trustees to continue with the high levels of grant spending. Hopefully that is reassuring for the providers of the services we’ve all become used to in Shetland and for the two dozen or so charities that we support.”

SCT aims to use its available funds to benefit and improve the quality of life of all people living in Shetland and to preserve its financial reserves for future generations.

During 2023/24, nearly £5.8m was spent on subsidising the sport, recreation, arts and heritage sectors. The rural care service for the elderly and disabled received almost £2m to provide Shetland’s higher standard of service.

Dozens of voluntary organisations were helped out with grants costing around £1.4m in 2023/24.

In addition, community organisations can also apply for zero interest loans to help avoid cashflow problems when undertaking grant funded construction projects.

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.