Our Goals

Our aim is for Shetland to be a place for people to live a happy and confident life, surrounded by a community that encourages and supports everyone.

We have identified five key goals, underpinned by four guiding principles. These are:

Enabling strong and resilient organisations

Our goal is to enable strong and resilient charitable and voluntary organisations

which respond to community needs, adapt to changing conditions and ultimately enhance quality of life across Shetland.

Community wellbeing

Our goal is to foster a community enriched by social, cultural, and leisure experiences in a healthy environment, because social opportunities, participation, and a positive environment shape vibrant and resilient communities and a sense of belonging.

Individual wellbeing

Our goal is to make physical activity and mental wellbeing accessible to all so that everyone across Shetland can actively pursue wellness in all its forms.

Everyone matters

Our goal is for individuals facing crisis, enduring long term disadvantage, or in vulnerable situations to be able to access compassionate support, practical help, and feel empowered to make positive choices.

Generational fairness

Our goal is for Shetland to be a place where the young and elderly are respected, feel included, and can prepare for the future on their own terms.

Our guiding principles

In order to achieve our goals, our decision-making and activity are guided by the following principles:

Equality, inclusion, and accessibility:

Listening and responding to different voices and needs leads to a wider positive impact.

Sustainability:

Creating meaningful change for residents helps to ensure Shetland is looked after for future generations.

Outcome-led:

Focussing on outcomes helps us and our supported organisations make good decisions, adapt to changing conditions, and maximise impact.

Collaboration:

Working effectively together leads to better solutions and creates more impact.

If you would like more about the Trust’s strategy for achieving our goals, you can read our current Strategy 2025 - 2030.

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.