Also in the news / Lerwick vandalism, black bag collection, wild skies events, NHS launches new website and more …

POLICE are making enquiries after receiving a report of damage to a vehicle parked in North Road in Lerwick.

A spokesperson said the force received the report at 11.30am on Sunday.

Social media posts suggest that more than one vehicle was damaged in the area, but police referred to one report to one vehicle.

COUNCIL staff will attempt to catch up on missed recycling and black collections over the coming days after weather conditions last week brought the service to a standstill in many areas.

Collections in Northmavine this week will be for black bags which were missed last week, the SIC advised.

The paper and card collections scheduled for this week will take place on a later date.

Collections in Yell on Tuesday (tomorrow) and Wednesday are planned to go ahead as normal, again where possible, and this will also be for black bags that were due to be collected last week.

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Paper and card collections will also be made at a later date.

A council spokesperson said the SIC would like to apologise to householders for any inconvenience.

ANYONE interested Shetland’s dark nights, in star gazing but also in safely experiencing darkness, are encouraged to sign up to two events held later this month.

Wild Skies Shetland is hosting freelance dark sky ranger Elizabeth Tindal to introduce people to the delights of being out and about in the darkness.

Tindal regularly takes people out stargazing in the Galloway Forest, supposedly one of the darkest places on the planet.

Catriona Waddington of Wild Skies Shetland said: “It will give us a chance to gain from her extensive experience of providing safe night-time walks, and allow anyone in Shetland interested in running tours, walking at night or simply enjoying being outside in the dark, to join her at one of the events.”

A free taster event will be held in Unst on 18 March, meeting at the Balta Light pub at 7pm, while a second meeting at the Whiteness and Weisdale Hall on 22 March is more about how to plan and deliver a darkness experience event.

The cost for the second event is £20. Booking via wildskiesshetland@gmail.com is essential for both events as spaces are limited.

NHS Shetland has said its new website, still under development, should help the community find information on healthcare services with just a few clicks.

The health board has now ‘soft launched’ the new website as a beta site and is encouraging public feedback ahead of its official launch later in spring.

Corporate services manager Carolyn Hand said: “Rather than refresh our older site, we decided to start from scratch and design a new, modern site with fresh and up-to-date content. We also feel the new site is user-friendly and the design is much more intuitive.”

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Chief executive Michael Dickson added: “As a board, we believe the investment and commitment to deliver this project was well-spent and I’m sure the new site will enable the community to find information quickly and easily, whilst also being able to keep up-to-date with the latest developments, vacancies and healthcare news in Shetland.”

THIS year’s Shetland Schools’ Music Festival will be held at Mareel next week with the senior and junior young musicians of the year events taking place on 22 March at 7pm and a gala concert the following night.

Organisers said they were pleased with the level of entries for this year’s festival, the first one for secondary pupils since 2019.

Proceedings will be overseen and adjudicated by Mandy Kettles, a senior music tutor from Clackmannanshire.

One of the organisers said: “The festival offers our young musicians the hugely important opportunity to perform in a live environment but equally important, parents, families and the general public alike get a chance to witness first-hand classroom and instrumental teaching that is going on in schools and in the community.”

Tickets are available from the Shetland Arts box office.

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