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A robot capable of spraying foam insulation under floors will be trialled in Orkney on selected homes this month, following a successful funding bid by Orkney Islands Council to undertake it as a special project with the local Warmworks team.

For International Women's Day, we've gathered a few thoughts from Orkney's Lord Lieutenant Elaine Grieve - the first woman in the role in Orkney - and her recently appointed Vice Lord Lieutenant, Dr Sarah Scarth.

Folk in Orkney are thinking out of the box when it comes to helping others in Ukraine.

Jo Sutherland from Just Dance is holding a quiz night at the Sands Hotel, Burray on Saturday 19 March from 7.30pm. Costing £5 a player, with teams of up to six, you are asked to please book in advance by sending Jo a message via Facebook. There will be homebakes, snacks and a raffle – any donations would be very welcome.

Funds raised will be shared between the Ukraine appeal and the Just Dance London trip.

COVID-related staffing pressures across many of Orkney’s schools and nurseries is continuing to impact on classes and early learning groups.

On Monday, 62 members of staff and 221 young people and children were absent, largely due to being positive themselves or because they are the main carer of a child with a positive result.

The high community transmission rate – Orkney recently recorded 1,000 COVID cases in just two weeks – is likely to have an effect on school kitchens now too.

Like many others Westray’s Nicki Hellewell has found watching the news footage on the war in Ukraine horrendous.

As a crafter, she felt compelled to do something.

From today, Tuesday, there will be a selection of flags, hearts and flower pins in Rendall’s shop. All she asks is that if you take one away with you, you make a donation and all proceeds will go to the DEC – Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Appeal.

Historically, teaching is a highly gendered profession.

In primary schools, teachers are overwhelmingly female, and yet their male counterparts are almost twice as likely to hold leadership positions in secondary schools.

Is Orkney bucking the trend to some degree, with both Orkney’s Mainland secondary schools headed up by women?

Final works are well underway to allow three community groups to take up residence in the former Herring Factory in Stromness.

You will be aware that COVID-19 has led to challenges in terms of resource and maintenance in some of our facilities – in particular the four swimming pools in the isles.

All pools and leisure facilities in Orkney shut down with the first lockdown in March 2020, and while many facilities have reopened, there has been a number of ongoing issues at the isles swimming pools.

The pools in Westray, Sanday, Stronsay and North Walls are much-loved by their communities – and it’s not just those on the four islands who benefit from the pools, Papay and Eday pupils also learn to swim at the Westray and Sanday pools respectively. It is therefore entirely understandable that there has been a growing level of frustration expressed at facilities not being open or fully open for long periods, therefore we thought it would be helpful to provide an overview of the situation and answers to some frequently asked questions.

Across International Women’s Day today (March 8) we’ve been celebrating some amazing women who are involved with the work of Orkney Islands Council.
One such woman is Meredith McBeth who is our Historic Buildings Conservator.