Arlene Montgomery, Manager at Crossroads Care Orkney, shares her wish for all unpaid carers this Christmas through an original poem entitled 'Caring doesn't stop at Christmas' - recited in her best Westray mother tongue!

Every day, thousands of local folk are selflessly helping others with day to day needs. This army of unsung heroes bring cheer and comfort to vulnerable people in our community. Unpaid carers play a vital role helping people who otherwise would experience greatly diminished quality of life. But caring is demanding, and many carers are unaware they’re entitled to support too. Local woman Sarah Norquoy cares for her mother, Liz, who is living with Dementia. Here, she speaks about what led her seek support from Crossroads Care Orkney community - and what carers really want for Christmas.

Orkney Health and Care has taken the difficult decision to close Older People’s Day Care from 19 December through to 4 January 2023 due to staffing issues.

This affects two Mainland day care centres – Gilbertson and West Mainland.

Orkney Islands Council is to launch two financial support schemes for local households to help them meet the challenges of the cost-of-living crisis

A third scheme will assist Third Sector organisations in the county struggling with rising costs.

They are: Business representatives - Tracey Phillips and Liz Stevenson and Community representatives - Gail Anderson; Lorraine Bichan and Harvey Johnston.

They join reappointed members – Beccy May and Steven Sinclair as business representatives and community representative Beverly Clubley.