Also in the news / Very large cruise ship visits, new Hjaltland chair, Parkrun swimmer, family history event and more …
ONE OF the largest cruise ships ever to visit Shetland was domineering Lerwick’s skyline today.
The 333 metre long MSC Fantasia dropped anchor in Bressay Sound on Tuesday morning, and sailed again for the Baltic port of Kiel at 5pm.
With a capacity of almost 4,000 passengers, the 15-year-old ship will not be the largest to visit Lerwick this summer.
That accolade will go 145,655 tonne Norwegian Getaway which is due on Saturday 23 September.
COLIN Nicolson has been confirmed as the new chair of Hjaltland Housing Association.
He replaces Agnes Tallack who has been stepping down after five years in the position.
The social housing association’s chief executive Bryan Leask paid tribute to the outgoing chair who served during what he described “as difficult a period as any I can remember in my time in social housing”.
One of the highlights of her time in the position was the confirmation of £20 million of government funding which will allow the commencement of the Staney Hill housing project.
Meanwhile, Karen Eunson will take up the office of vice chair of the association’s board of directors.
DONATIONS can still be given to a runner and councillor who recently swam from Lerwick to Bressay in aid of Alzheimer Scotland.
Moraig Lyall completed the feat at the weekend en route to her 100th Bressay parkrun. The distance spans around one kilometre.
More than £1,600 has been raised online so far, and people can still donate here.
SHETLAND Library is partnering with the local family history society to host an event next week with Canadian-based author Karen Inkster Vance.
A writer, researcher, storyteller, and educator, Inkster Vance has spent the past twenty years documenting the stories of North Roe – the village where her great-grandfather, Peter Inkster was born.
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The free event will celebrate the launch of the second edition of her Shetland book Voices from the Past: Stories of North Roe, originally published in 2006.
This new edition has been rewritten and is twice as long as the original, featuring more stories, people, and photos. It also has three additional chapters tracing the adventures and lives of a few North Roe Shetlanders and their different paths.
The book launch will take place from 7pm on Saturday 9 September at the Shetland Library in Lerwick at 7pm.
SALMON company Scottish Sea Farms has lodged plans to redevelop the existing floating pontoon at its Ronas Voe shore base with a fixed pier structure.
The firm said this would “allow for better access at all states of the tide”.
Construction is expected to take around three months.
THE SCOTTISH Association for Mental Health (SAMH) is inviting people from across the country with lived experience of suicide to apply to take part in the Suicide Prevention Scotland Lived Experience Panel.
The panel exists so that people with experience of suicide can help shape Scotland’s mission to prevent suicide.
SAMH’s head of suicide prevention Dan Farthing said: “This is a unique opportunity for people across Scotland to play a significant part in Scotland’s mission to prevent suicide.”
To find out more about the role and to apply, visit here.
PEOPLE across Scotland are being asked to suggest ways of increasing local control over decision-making.
The second phase of the Democracy Matters national conversation will give people the opportunity to come together in their communities to imagine how new and inclusive democratic processes can best help their town, village or neighbourhood.
People can provide their views here.
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