Shetland Heritage Association, the Shetland community partner in HerInDep, led the first of its series of workshops, which it is holding together with Shetland Amenity Trust, throughout the isles on Saturday 28th October between 1.45 – 3.45pm at the Bressay Heritage Centre, on the island of Bressay.
The island is a short ferry trip from Lerwick, capital of Shetland. There will be several such events over the next six months in different parts of the archipelago. Each will undertake a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis of the heritage communities, in particular the voluntary heritage sector.
Andrew Jennings attended, representing HerInDep, in order to get a sense of how the Shetland heritage community feels about the current situation. He noted that there was a feeling of burnout amongst the volunteers, including a feeling that they were expected to do more and more, including providing information and materials for the increasing numbers of cruise ship passengers, despite not being paid. However, even though there were challenges they continued to love Shetland’s cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, and enjoyed having the opportunity to research it and present it to their community. Robin Barton said, ‘Everybody said how great it was to engage face to face after such a long time, and welcomed the chance to share views and ideas which is long overdue. Altogether a very interesting and productive session - we look forward to more!’
