Also in the news / Parkrun tour of Italy, another award for Seabirds & Seals, Clair oil field progress and more …
LOCAL man Melvyn Heath is about to embark on a motorcycle tour of Italy during which he will run every Parkrun course along the route in memory of the late Maurice Staples and to raise funds for the InDependent Diabetes Trust.
Heath will be launching his challenge by participating in the local Parkrun event in Bressay on Saturday morning.
He said he and Maurice had always planned to visit Italy on their motorcycles once retired.
“Sadly he passed away so that will never happen. I decided to dedicate this journey to Maurice and to fundraise for the InDependent Diabetes Trust which he supported,” Heath said.
He is due to leave Shetland on Wednesday night’s ferry. His journey can be followed via this Facebook page.
HARD on the heels of winning the Federation of Small Business’ service excellence award, local wildlife tour operator Seabirds & Seals has now been awarded the gold standard in the green tourism certification programme.
Business owner Marie Leask said: “We were last assessed by Green Tourism in early 2023 when we were delighted to be awarded ‘Silver’.
“We have worked hard over this past year on our sustainability practices with an aim to achieve ‘Gold’ and delighted to say we have achieved the highest standard of sustainability.
“Achieving a Green Tourism award means that our sustainability practices have been assessed and verified by a credible partner. Green Tourism has assessed our business against 15 sustainability criteria grouped under the pillars of people, places and planet.”
OIL COMPANY BP is again working on developing the next phase of the Clair oil field west of Shetland, according to the Offshore magazine.
The online publication reports that Clair Phase 3 is likely to target Clair south, which has been described as one of the undeveloped offshore oil reservoirs in the UK.
Work on Clair Phase 3 was halted during the Covid pandemic, which saw oil prices fall due to the reduced demand.
Oil from phases one and two (Clair Ridge) of the massive field is pumped to the Sullom Voe terminal for export.
SHETLAND Girls and Women’s Football Club have been awarded the Scottish Football Association bronze quality mark, the first in Shetland to achieve the certification.
In addition, the club has also agreed a multi-year training kit sponsorship deal with Underwater Contracting Limited (UCO).
Club secretary Adam Priest said the deal, which sees UCO branding appearing on all training apparel, will ensure the club has sound financial footing needed to continue its activities.
“With under 14s, 16s and 18s teams all taking part in competitions on the mainland, this level of support is vital to ensuring we can give the players opportunities to compete against their mainland counterparts,” Priest said.
He also acknowledged recent support from Certas Energy neighbourhood fund, EMN Plant, RM Electrical and LHD.
FRIDAY’s rubbish collections in some communities had to be rescheduled to Saturday following ‘issues’ with the essy kerts.
Affected are the non-recyclable waste collection in Lower Voe and Aith, and the cardboard and paper recycling collection in Nesting and Vidlin.
Meanwhile a breakdown on Thursday affected collections in Lerwick. The council’s waste management team apologises for any inconvenience.
