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MEMBERS NEWSLETTER
November 2006
Welcome to the second of our Members Newsletters. We hoped to publish these every three months but due to the very busy summer we have had, this one is late, so realistically it would probably be more sensible to publish a member’s newsletter every six months, if at anytime anybody wants any updated information please do not hesitate to contact me.
Dental Provision
Recently along with the Community Councils we held a meeting with Mike Collins and Michael Johnson of the Shetland Dental Service. They explained that the problem is a national problem of there being a shortage of Dentists. They have done, and will be doing everything possible to help resolve the situation in the North Isles. They are currently advertising for Dentists and promised to keep us informed. They have recently recruited two Polish Dentists who will provide internal cover to enable more established Dentists to come up to the North Isles to provide some service in the meantime. At present there is a temporary dentist in Yell until xmas.
TOURISM CONFERENCE
Shetland Enterprise and Initiative at the Edge held a very successful Tourism Conference in Unst at the Saxa Vord base in September with over 200 delegates taking part. The Conference was opened by Alistair Carmichael who then introduced the keynote speaker who was Clare Bereziat from the “Moffat Centre for travel and Tourism Development”. This was then followed by an inspiring talk from Kristine Ohnstad who spoke about how an area in Norway with the same problems that the North Isles have, has managed to turn that around and now has a very successful tourism business. Andy Steven (Visit Shetland) and Neil Henderson(Shetland Islands Council Economic Development Unit) then spoke about who our visitors are and what they are looking for. Finally an update from Military Asset Management on the vision for Saxa Vord ended the morning session. The Buffet lunch, all which was local produce was exceptional and showed some of the fine produce that the North Isles has on offer. The afternoon had various workshops on offer with a final rounding up of the day by Tavish Scott. The Market Place showcased lots of local business and community enterprises and was enjoyed by everyone.
INITIATIVE AT THE EDGE ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2006
This was held over 2 days, the first in Northmavine, and the second in the North Isles with trips to various community enterprises and local business, followed by relevant workshops and in the evening a meal made up of local produce and wonderful local entertainment .All the delegates traveled from all over Scotland, and everyone commented on how wonderful the hospitality in the Shetlands was. Everyone went back to their own areas full of lots of ideas etc. Here is a quote that was printed in the “Rural Gateway”-
Hailing the success of the conference and the wonderful hospitality of the Shetland folk, IATE Co-ordinator Hughie Donaldson said: “This conference was a chance to witness the extraordinary resolve of local people in Shetland to not only survive here but to actively promote and nurture their very own distinctive heritage and cultural traditions.”
PROJECTS UPDATE
Youth Employment Project (2 year Project)
- This project will offer the young people of the North Isles with the opportunity to:
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Gain experience and skills in a work environment over an 8 week period.
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Enhance their knowledge and understanding of employability skills.
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Attend training on CV writing, interviews skills and confidence building.
We have now started work on this project and have held meetings with the Teachers and Youth workers of the North Isles who fully support us. There is still a fair amount of work to be done before we get this up and running, we need to organize the training etc. and speak to local business to see who would be interested in taking on one of our youngsters for an 8 week period. We may have to look into additional funding to give as many youngsters of the three Islands an opportunity to take part.
Motivation for Local Enterprise
This event is postponed until March 2007 due to another event taking part in the Highlands that clashed with our dates. This event will include entrepreneurs from Norway and the Highlands coming to the North Isles to visit various local business and community enterprises, motivational and training workshops, and then finishing off with some of our wonderful Island entertainment.
However we have been advertising for folk that would be interested in local enterprise to apply to us to be part of the visit to Norway early next year to Aurland. Aurland has good examples of work with Agricultural training, local produce development, business development and tourism. We will also be setting up a local enterprise group in the North Isles for anyone with an interest in living and working (or returning) in the North Isles, this will be with Shetland Enterprise-North Isles. If anyone knows of anyone that would be interested please get in touch with me.
Fetlar Survey
During the consultation on the ‘Initiative at the Edge’ Development Plan, folk highlighted concerns about population decline in the North Isles and questions about land use and the availability of land. So starting with Fetlar during the summer, ‘Initiative at the Edge North Isles’ and the Crofters Commission carried out a confidential household survey, to try and get a clearer picture of what people think.
The Information gathered will be used to identify and progress projects to help improve land use in the area.
Development plan progress
A detailed copy of the progress of the Development plan can be obtained from the Development worker, contact details below.
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