Amenity award

SHETLAND Amenity Trust celebrated a night of triumph on Friday at the Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards 2008. The trust was among the elite of the Highlands and Islands tourism sector at the industry’s annual awards ceremony, picking up the award for Investing in the Environment. The judges said they had great difficulty in selecting a winner from the two category finalists, and recognised that they were two very different examples of businesses investing in the environment. The amenity trust was judged to be the winner because of the way its scheme engaged the community and a cross-section of the local population.

Alan Blain of the trust said: “We were delighted to have been shortlisted for two Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards, and to win the Investing in the Environment Award in our 25th year is a wonderful way to finish of a year of celebrations.

“Winning the environment award is particularly fitting as this encompasses the philosophies of the trust, and is a common thread which runs through all our activities from re-use, restoring listed buildings for community use, collecting aluminium cans and glass to preserving Shetland woodlands, providing a ranger service to interpretive work.”