Whalsay pupils raise thousands for RNLI 

Primary 3 and 4 pupils from Whalsay School presenting a £1,000 cheque to mechanic Paul Hutchison (front left) and John Angus (front right) of RNLI Lerwick, and Rhoda Watt (left) and Linda Simpson (right) of Lerwick Lifeboat Fundraising Crew. Photo: RNLI Lerwick.   

Whalsay School pupils raised almost £3,000 for the RNLI following a fish and chip fundraiser.

Pupils wrote letters to Whalsay skippers asking for donations of haddock and other essentials for the event which was held on Friday 27th September.

The fundraiser was well-attended with £2,740 split between the RNLI lifeboat stations in Aith and Lerwick.

Primary and secondary pupils had both been studying the work of the RNLI due to Whalsay’s strong fishing community.

While on a visit to the Shetland Museum yesterday (Tuesday) pupils presented the £1,000 cheque to RNLI Lerwick.

Paul Hutchison, full-time mechanic at RNLI Lerwick, said: “It was a pleasure to meet some of the pupils and staff from Whalsay yesterday and thank them for their very generous donation, which will help us save lives at sea.

“They have put in an incredible amount of work this term, learning more about the work and history of the RNLI in our special 200th year.

“On behalf of all our crew, we’d like to thank everyone at Whalsay School and in the Whalsay community for their support.”

Read the full story in this week’s Shetland Times.