Latest News

Still connecting communities in 2023, the Churchill Barriers are to be recognised with the unveiling of a National Transport Trust Red Wheels plaque today Friday (12 May) – the 78^th anniversary of their official opening in 1945.

The Red Wheel Plaque is mounted in the entrance of Barrier View Cafe - with grateful thanks to Celina Rupp – on the site of Balfour Beatty’s Headquarters during the construction of the causeways.

We have a round-up of works underway or soon to start around Orkney from Monday 15 May 2023.

Scottish Water are working on the A960 in Toab, under traffic lights for the duration of the work.

The collapsed culvert on the Harray Road (A986) is remains covered by steel plates while replacement options are investigated. Further information will be provided in due course.

A brand new website has been launched to showcase the wealth of information, exhibits and artefacts available at Council-owned museums in the county

Feedback from motorists passing through the Finstown roadworks has led to a number of tweaks to the site in an attempt to make delays a little shorter and large-vehicle manoeuvring a little easier.

The average wait at peak time is around ten minutes – however, this could be further reduced thanks to the manual working of the three-way traffic lights and the adjustment to timings to better suit the routes.

The Council’s Head of Neighbourhood Services, Lorna Richardson, and Service Manager Engineering, David Custer, were at the site this week to see for themselves how the traffic is moving.

Waterstones Children’s Laureate (2022-2024), Joseph Coelho, will visit libraries across Scotland – including Orkney Library & Archive - as part of his nationwide ‘Library Marathon’ tour from May to August.

On Monday 15 May, the award-winning performance poet, playwright, and children’s author will be at the Library meeting children from Shapinsay and Stenness Schools.

Get your Plus Fours on, dig deep into the bunker and support this intrepid quartet on their quest to complete four golf courses and a ferry trip in one day to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Orkney’s Justin MacIver, Paul Robertson, Shaun Robertson and Brian Garson are taking on the Longest Day 72-hole Golf Challenge for the charity on Monday 19 June.

We probably all know someone who doesn’t like to throw anything away – but when does hoarding become an issue and what are the real reasons behind it?

Hoarding can actually be a coping mechanism used to deal with a trauma or difficult period in someone’s life and it can be a very difficult condition to break.

The Learning Link, Orkney College UHI and Voluntary Action Orkney are working together, with the Council’s support, to launch Multiply in Orkney. Multiply is a new Government programme to help transform the lives of adults by improving numeracy skills.

The Council’s Community Learning Development & Employability (CLDE) dedicated adult learning centre, The Learning Link, has received £306,379 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund for a three-year programme to deliver the Multiply programme.

The funding has been awarded to deliver free numeracy classes to anyone in Orkney aged 19 and over, with the majority of the provision being offered through The Learning Link.

Walter Gorman knows from personal experience the benefits that re-engaging with learning can have.

He left school with no qualifications and worked in a low-skilled factory environment before meeting a local community youth worker who helped set him on a new career path.

TJ White has shared her “life-changing” learning experience in a bid to help others living in a world where numbers and words are largely meaningless.

With the help of the The Learning Link, TJ has shown that age should never be a barrier to learning.

“In 2018, at the age of 45 I made a very anxious phone call to The Learning Link. I spoke to Chrissie and she arranged to meet me - from that first meeting my life really started.”