Folk keen to keep Culswick chapel for community use

THERE are hopes that the Culswick chapel could be kept for community use.

Around 30 people attended a meeting on Saturday afternoon to discuss the future of the building, which went on the open market recently.

People were keen to see the Methodist chapel kept in community use.

Shetland West councillor Liz Peterson, who attended the meeting, said the community will look to explore options for community ownership.

She said they hope to find a “constructive way forward, in dialogue with the Methodist church”.

A further community meeting is set to be held in the coming weeks.

A recent meeting about the Westerskeld Methodist chapel, which has also gone up for sale, reached the same conclusion – with folk keen to keep it for the community.

A Methodist Church spokesperson said running the two chapels was no longer sustainable.

“With sadness, Westerskeld Methodist Chapel and Culswick Methodist Chapel are being closed and have been put on the market,” they said.

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“This follows discussion with the members. It was a difficult decision to make but with fewer people able to take on the roles required to run the church, the situation was no-longer sustainable.

“We appreciate the work of volunteers in the community but charity law means that we must sell the building at market value.

“Money from the sale will be used to support the on-going work of the Methodist chapels across Shetland.”