Worrying implications

As well as being tragic for SYIS (Hunter issues warning as trustees resign, SN, 9 April 2013) this has worrying implications for any other organisation funded by the Shetland Charitable Trust. Continuity in the voluntary sector is precarious at best of times. One-year or three-year funding is the norm.

In the past the SCT worked hand in glove with SIC to fund voluntary organisations. I expect that the new arrangements for the SCT mean that this link will be decoupled. This is what the new arrangements were meant to do. I would expect them to judge any application for funds on its merits.

However most voluntary organisations do not depend on one source, they have a package of funding. Quite often an SIC or SCT grant can leverage funds from outside Shetland, so for a comparatively small local input an organisation can make a bigger impact in Shetland.

The SCT needs to think what message it is sending. Volunteers to run third sector organisations are hard enough to find as it is. It is going to be harder if they think the ground is going to be cut from under their feet without warning, undoing years of hard work bringing a project on.

John N Hunter
Nordia
East Voe
Scalloway