Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary to open charity shop to raise funds for animal welfare
New organisation aims to fill the hole left by SSPCA leaving the islands
A NEW charity shop is to open in Lerwick’s Toll Clock Shopping Centre in September to raise funds for animal welfare in Shetland.
It comes in the wake of the SSPCA abandoning the Scottish islands this year.
The shop is being set up by Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary of looking after rescued seals and otters next year.
Photo: Malcolm Younger
The new recycling service Shetland Animal Welfare intends to generate income to support more than just the islands’ marine mammals.
“The sanctuary certainly needs funds to keep going, but we also want to help other creatures including birds, small mammals and even domestic animals like cats,” sanctuary director Pete Bevington said.
“When the SSPCA made all their inspectors redundant in Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles this year they left a gaping hole in the island’s animal welfare services.
“We have been left with no choice but to take up the mantle ourselves, and are confident that we islanders can ultimately do an even better job left to our own devices.”
The shop will be managed by Derek Hart, a familiar face in Shetland after he ran the islands’ successful MRI scanner fundraising appeal.
He was business manager for COPE for a year, and in his role as fundraising manager for MacMillan Cancer Support in the north of Scotland he oversaw that provided for the first two Macmillan nurses in Shetland in the late ‘90s.
In a touching twist of fate, Derek is the cousin of the late Jan Bevington who founded Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary when she rescued a seal in May 1987.
“I have always felt at home in Shetland, so I am absolutely delighted to be back here with an opportunity to do what I have enjoyed doing for the past 30 years, raising money for charities,” he said.
Hart explained that the Toll Clock shop was relatively small, so would initially focus on selling just clothes and bric-a-brac, while holding on to the hope of expanding the operation in the future.
He thanked Toll Clock managing director Malcolm Younger for making the premises available and Lerwick Port Authority for providing land to house storage facilities.
“The support we have already received from the islands community has been incredibly encouraging,” he said.
“It gives me great confidence that this venture will be a resounding success.”
Volunteers are spending the next few weeks preparing the shop to take donations from the public and will soon be putting a call out for help in the day to day running of the premises.
Anyone interested in making a contribution of either donated goods or volunteering can contact Derek at info@hillswickwildlifesanctuary.org
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