Being involved with your community hall has always been viewed as a traditional obligation which displays a commitment to the area you live in.   There are 51 halls in Shetland which require approximately 1000 volunteers, so the commitment from a population of 22,000 is substantial and very real.
 
Community ownership ensures that what is provided is a true reflection of local need and control remains at a local level.   It is important to encourage and stimulate the continuation of this very desirable attitude of self-help particularly in island communities such as Shetland where the way of life and our distance from major central facilities supports and reinforces this stance.   The Shetland Halls Association was formed in 2005 to protect these values and provide a stronger voice for all community halls in Shetland.
 
The challenges our halls will have to face in the future are difficult to predict or foresee but some are here now – issues to do with drink and drugs, none of which are straightforward, child protection disclosures in abundance and now the increasingly complicated Licensing Legislation.   It is to be hoped that Shetland Islands Council continues to be supportive in their dealings with our halls, even in a situation of diminishing resources.   Clearly, if Shetland moves back into harder times, our halls will be needed as much, and perhaps more, in the future.
 
Shetland Islands Council, the Charitable Trust and various other agencies in partnership with the community, have invested millions of pounds in our community hall network so it is critically important to stay in partnership to ensure that maximum benefit is enjoyed by all Shetland communities now and in the future.

-John Nicolson
 Director of Leisure & Recreation (retired)
 Yell SIC Councillor (retired)
 Active member of Shetland Halls Association