Also in the news / VAS board members stand down, fishing call and more…
VOLUNTARY Action Shetland (VAS) had get together recently to commemorate two long-standing board members, Alex Miller and Willie Henderson, who have stood down from their roles.
Both have been active board members for VAS – which was previously called Shetland Council of Social Service – for many years.
Henderson was a board member between 1996 and 2002, and then again from 2003 to 2022, contributing 25 years of voluntary service as a board member.
Miller equally provided a significant amount of voluntary time to be part of the VAS board, first becoming involved in May 1998 until June 2003 and then again in June 2006 until June 2022, tallying up 21 years of voluntary participation.
VAS chairperson Willie Shannon said: “Alec and Willie have made a huge contribution to the Voluntary Sector over many years and it is only right and proper that we mark the occasion.
“On behalf of all the VAS Board members and staff, past and present, I want to pay tribute to Willie and Alec for all that they have done in support of the third sector in Shetland.”
Both board members stood down at this year’s AGM in June.
VAS currently has board member vacancies and if anyone is interested they should contact executive officer Lynn Tulloch on 01595 743901 or by e-mail at lynn.tulloch@shetland.org.
GOVERNMENT ministers have been warned against “caving in to a concerted campaign to deprive Scottish fishermen of quota” in favour of a large foreign-owned vessel that operates out of a British port.
Chief executive of the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association Ian Gatt, and Simon Collins, executive officer of Shetland Fishermen’s Association, said lobbying by UK Fisheries to secure more fish for the Kirkella must be resisted.
Gatt said: “This vessel operates out of Hull, but is owned primarily by Dutch and Icelandic interests, is largely operated by a non-UK crew and processes its catch on board.
“In 2022 the owners already have 6,550 tonnes of Svalbard cod quota and an associated 14 per cent bycatch plus 500 tonnes of Barents Sea cod quota.
“To put that in perspective, the entire UK fleet has a cod quota this year of 5,934 tonnes, of which the Scottish fleet has 3,500 tonnes.”
Collins added: “In current and future discussions, we must not get to the point where the interests of a foreign-owned company outweigh genuinely British interests.”
A FUNDRAISING event to find Shetland’s ‘fastest’ man and woman has been rescheduled to this Saturday (8 October).
An exercise bike will be in place in the Clickimin foyer between 9.30am and 3.30pm. People can pay £1 per go to see how fast they can cover a distance of 500 metres on the bike.
The Lerwick Co-op has provided gift cards of £20 each to go to the two winners. Winners will also receive a Prostate Scotland cycling jersey.
The event, which is being hosted by the Rotary Club of Shetland, aims to raise money for the charity Prostate Scotland.
It was previously due to be held on 10 September but it was postponed following the Queen’s death.
LOGANAIR is offering customers booked to travel to or from Sumburgh Airport on Wednesday the chance to adjust their travel plans for free.
Winds are due to pick up on Wednesday, and Loganair’s offer extends to other airports such as Kirkwall and Stornoway.
The airline added: “We plan to fly all our scheduled services. We have standby aircraft and crews in place to help recover any disrupted services as soon as reasonably possible once weather conditions permit.”
A SCOTTISH Parliament committee is keen to know what people in Shetland think about the support available to disabled children and young people as they grow into adulthood.
The findings will be considered by the Scottish Parliament’s education, children and young people committee as part of their scrutiny of a bill which seeks to introduce more structured support for disabled children and young people in their transition to adulthood.
The committee’s survey on the bill is open and people can share their views until 27 October.
PAYMENTS to support farming businesses through the current financial crisis have exceeded targets by three months, the Scottish Government has said.
Payments have been issued to more than 14,200 businesses, totalling £328 million.
Sharp rises in energy, fuel and fertiliser costs for the agriculture sector prompted legislative changes to allow early payment of Scottish Government support schemes.
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