Who we are

Shetland Charitable Trust is a community based funder, providing funding to organisations that improve life for Shetland’s people today, tomorrow and beyond.

Our funds helps maintain and develop the community facilities that bring people together; from cultural and musical venues to arts spaces and sports facilities. These places are at the heart of Shetland life, enriching our islands and strengthening our shared sense of community.

The Trust funds also provide vital support to local charities and groups that help people facing challenges or disadvantages. Without our funding, many essential services and facilities in Shetland would be greatly reduced, or might not exist at all.

We’re committed to ensuring that the benefits we create today are sustainable for the future. Managing our fund responsibly allows us to provide ongoing support where it’s needed most. We continually balance immediate needs with long-term sustainability for the generations to come.

The Trust is a fully independent Scottish charity and is currently governed by a board of 11 independent trustees and managed by the team in Lerwick.

Our Team

Our Trustees

Our History

Our Goals

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.