Change of name for Shetland Council of Social Service

Shetland Council of Social Service, which celebrated its 50th birthday last month, is to have a change of name.

At last week’s annual general meeting it was unanimously agreed that the organisation should in future be known as Voluntary Action Shetland.

This year has been an important milestone in the history of the organisation, with the launch of the Shetland Compact and funding now directly coming from the Scottish government.

New services and developments include the Shetland arm of the Identity and Passport Service. Two awards have also been received under the Scottish Healthy Working Lives Awards, the silver award and a mental health commendation, the latter being a first for a Shetland employer.

Executive officer Catherine Hughson said the premises at Market House continued to flourish with 10,347 visitors recorded as receiving services from the 17 resident organisations in the last year.

She said: “We continue as business managers for The New Shetlander magazine, and are the local distributor for Children in Need social grants, provide the support for the Carers Group and day to day management of Disability Shetland. All this alongside the one to one support provided to the voluntary groups, volunteers and communities.

“The new name and brand better reflects the nature of what Market House and the company does which is to enable the Shetland community and voluntary sector to play a key role in developing thriving communities, connect to policy and decision-making, and grow our social economy. In the current climate this is needed more than ever and we will continue to meet the challenges that brings.”

Mrs Hughson added that the Shetland’s Voluntary Voice magazine was due out shortly and more information will be included in that.