Donations pour in to save weather site

SHETLANDERS’ famous generosity has lifted a dark cloud from a small independent weather service that was threatened with closure

Gulberwick resident Bob Skinley said he had been completely overwhelmed by people’s generosity after he announced on Facebook that he was being forced to close down www.gulberwickweather.co.uk

Skinley told his audience of weather watchers that a £200 sensor unit had gone faulty and he could not afford to replace it.

But his 1,300 Facebook followers were having none of that and a warm front of donations started sweeping in.

Now Skinley not only has sufficient funds to replace the unit and carry out additional maintenance, he has received an offer of sponsorship.

“I started the weather website about two years ago. Later I added a Facebook site and it really took off from there,” he said.

“I invested quite a lot of my own money in the weather station over the couple of years that it has been running. It is not a cheap hobby.”

Last Friday it looked like the free service would come to a sudden halt when Skinley announced on his Facebook site that www.gulberwickweather.co.uk may come to an end.

Two days later he was able to announce that £290 had already been donated, and by Monday the replacement unit had been ordered from Davis, the leading brand for weather stations.

“When I first set it up I didn’t expect it to have the appeal it seems to have.

“Obviously we Brits are obsessed with the weather and people love talking about it, but I never thought people would be particularly interested in my weather station since there are plenty of others out there.

“But people now say they rely on my website and are delighted to see it keeping going – it’s all really heartening.”