Community / Nearly 100 care packages distributed to residents in north Yell
The packs were paid for through profits from North Yell Development Council’s community-owned wind farm
ALMOST 100 packages featuring items like hand sanitiser, bleach and toilet roll have been handed out to residents in north Yell.
The packs were delivered on Tuesday by two volunteers from North Yell Development Council (NYDC), who followed the recommended precautions.
They were given out to houses in the geographical area which NYDC covers, which spans from Gloup in the north to Colvester (south side of Bastavoe) in the south.
Items included hand sanitiser, bleach, surface cleaner, paper handkerchiefs, toilet roll and bars of soap, as well as a voucher for the RS Henderson shop.
The packs were paid for with profits from NYDC’s five-turbine community-owned 4.5MW wind farm, which was launched in 2017 with the promise that profits were to be reinvested in the community.
The packages have been well received by locals, with one person commenting on the NYDC Facebook package that it “brought a tear to their eye”.
NYDC director Andrew Nisbet said the the group wanted to do something to help as the crisis has had a “big impact” on the community, especially on small businesses.
“These are facing hardship and at least some of them that we know of have not been able to access any of the government schemes for help,” he said.
“Our group all felt that they wanted to do something to help, and that we should do something as soon as possible. There followed a number of suggestions, and a Zoom meeting to discuss these. There was a lot of discussion and it was agreed to do the packs. A budget was identified and then it was a case of the work required to make it happen.
“As a charity most of our efforts have been focused on longer term projects to bring benefits to our community, such as the business park/marina we are working towards. The corona crisis presented a new problem which we have responded to in a different way to support our community.”
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