| Chronic shortage of childminders |
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A campaign has been launched to recruit childminders
in Orkney has been launched.
The Orkney Childcare Partnership, a group which
advises on children’s services in the county, says the chronic
shortage of childminders is now beginning to affect the ability
of employers to recruit staff.
The partnership agreed at a special meeting to
promote childminding across the county, and will work closely with
MSP Jim Wallace and the Care Commission to address the shortage.
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| Busy time for One Stop Shop |
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Customer
services staff at Orkney Islands Council have dealt with more than
22,000 inquiries since the opening of the new "One Stop Shop"
at the beginning of April.
Some
4,061 personal callers been to the new customer services centre,
in the former East Kirk, in School Place, Kirkwall, and 18,567 telephone
inquiries have been answered.
Project
manager Jim Robertson said: "There have been one or two difficulties
regarding the sheer volume of inquiries we are taking, but the customer
service function has provided people with more pleasant and efficient
facilities."
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| Stromness Academy team win award |
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Young entrepreneurs from Stromness Academy have carried off the
Royal Bank of Scotland Young Enterprise Orkney award.
The county's three young enterprise companies - Orkney Ink from
Stromness Academy, Kirkwall Grammar School's Hoodjikapiffle and
Orkney College's Season to Season - had to make a final presentation
before judges on Wednesday night. In a close run competition, Orkney
Ink were judged the winners and now go forward to represent the
county at the Scottish finals in Edinburgh next month.
The 12 members of Orkney Ink produced a tourist guide.
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| Sale to include Orkney books |
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More than 40 19th century books about Orkney and Shetland have
been donated to an Edinburgh book sale.
The sale, which will be held at St Andrew's and St George's Church
in Edinburgh, is Christian Aid's largest event in the UK, opens
on Saturday and continues from Monday to Friday next week.
The books include a copy of Christian Ployen's Reminiscences
of a Voyage to Shetland, Orkney and Scotland, in translation,
detailing a journey made in 1839.
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| North Isles health questionnaire |
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People living in Orkney's North Isles are to be consulted on what
they think of community health services, and what improvements they
would like to see in the future.
Questionnaires will be sent to all households asking for views.
The exercise, which will begin next week, is part of NHS Orkney's
ongoing service redesign review, which will take into account a
number of pressures affecting health services in the islands.
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| Walk ahead of schedule |
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Kirkwall man Dave Higgins
who started a journey from Lands End to Orkney last month is ahead
of schedule and so far he has walked
287 miles in 17 days.
He told The Orcadian,
“The distance has been going well. I could take a day out now,
but I’ve just kept on going.”
Keep up with Dave’s
progress on www.ingavoe.co.uk/lejog
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| OIC launch housing future blueprint |
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A blueprint for the future of housing in Orkney
has been launched this week.
The new Local Housing Strategy from Orkney Islands
Council stresses that residents in the county have a right to affordable,
quality private and public sector housing wherever they live.
Councillor Keith Johnson, chairman of the social
services and housing committee, said it was an added bonus that
the report coincided with the first housing boom in Orkney for many
years.
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| Folk Festival tickets on sale |
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Tickets for the 22nd Orkney Folk Festival went
on sale from Tuesday at the festival ticket office in Victoria Street,
Stromness.
They will also be available from Hillanders, Anchor
Buildings, Kirkwall on the next three Mondays.
The festival runs from May 27-30. For more information
see the festival website - www.orkneyfolkfestival.com
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| Redundancies as fish farms close |
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One of Orkney’s
main fish farm companies is set to close six sites across Orkney
and Shetland resulting in 16 to 20 redundancies.
Robert Murray, managing
director of Mainstream Scotland, which has fish farms throughout
the county, spoke out after the firm was forced to make redundancies
and close down salmon farms.
Mr Murray said: “The
lack of politically positive environment will inevitably cost jobs
in remote rural communities which can hardly afford to lose them.”
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| Sniffer dog searches reveal drugs |
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A number of
people are to be reported to the procurator fiscal for alleged drugs
offences, following an intelligence-led operation in Orkney at the
weekend.
Two
sniffer dogs and their handlers were drafted in from Northern Constabulary
headquarters in Inverness to carry out the searches on premises,
private houses, vehicles and people.
Acting
Inspector Bob Mackenzie said: “We worked out of Fusion
nightclub, on the streets and in private houses in an intelligence-led
operation,” he said. “It was successful, but disappointing
to find that there are drugs around.”
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| Weekend incident |
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A man is to
be reported to the procutrator fiscal after an incident in Kirkwall
at the weekend.
Police
were called to Powerbowl on Friday night in relation to damage at
the premises. A 19-year-old man has been charged with vandalism
and a public order offence. A man is to be reported to the procutrator
fiscal after an incident in Kirkwall at the weekend.
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| First for Kirkwall pontoons |
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It was a day of firsts in Kirkwall bay on Monday.
The county welcomed its first cruise liner of the season, when
the Discovery, carrying up to 600 passengers, arrived shortly
before 7.30am.
Meanwhile, the first yacht, a catamaran, tied up at the repositioned
pontoons in Kirkwall Marina on Monday morning.
Although several yachts have berthed next to the new breakwater
wall, the catamaran was the first to use the pontoons, which have
been moved during the past two weeks.
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| St Magnus Festival booking opens |
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General booking for this year's St Magnus Festival opened on Monday
at the St Magnus Festival Office, 10 Victoria Street, Kirkwall for
personal and telephone bookings.
The festival brochure containing full programme details and booking
form is available from Tourist Offices, Festival Office and on the
festival website - www.stmagnusfestival.com
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| Scapa Flow fatality |
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A 39-year-old woman died following a diving accident in Scapa Flow
on Sunday.
Helen Simpson, from Cheshire, got into difficulties while diving
on the wreck of the Dresden. She was brought ashore but was
found to have died as a result of the incident.
A police spokesman said a report is being prepared for the procurator
fiscal.
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| Orkney sevens victory for Aberdeen |
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Orkney Rugby Club's annual Sevens tournament, on Saturday, finished
with a win for Aberdeen Grammar by 43 points to nil against Grangemouth,
in the final.
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| First for ladies rugby in Orkney |
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Orkney
ladies rugby team's first competitive match against a team from
Inverness was played on Saturday, and although they were well beaten
by their rivals, they will have learned much from the match.
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| Water supply upgrade nears completion |
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Two water treatment plants in Orkney are set to
go ahead after a five-year wait and £5 million has been poured
into the projects.
Scottish Water has confirmed the treatment plant
at Kirbister loch in Orphir, which will supply Kirkwall’s water,
along with Boardhouse loch in Birsay, which will supply Stromness,
will be ready by early summer.
Work on Kirbister started six years ago but the
project soon ran into difficulties, which resulted in escalating
costs. Now, six years later, the work is almost complete.
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