Orkney Islands Council’s Youth Services team is advising the county’s young folk they now have until 1 September to stand up for what they believe in, by standing for election onto the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP).

Anyone aged between 14 and 25 can nominate themselves to stand, via a quick form on the SYP website.

Our Community Councils team will be heading to the Hup show on 9 August to encourage local folk to stand in the upcoming community council election for the area.

The South Ronaldsay and Burray community council area – one of 20 around Orkney – has been without a community council for a year.

The drive is now on to encourage community members to nominate themselves to take up this important role, providing a vital grass roots link between the Council and communities.

The £400,000 Playpark Renewal Fund has reopened for applications from communities striving to improve their playpark areas.

Six applications were received from eligible organisations in the county in the first round earlier this year.

The fund, created thanks to Covid-19 recovery funding and managed by the OIC Sport and Leisure service, is now open for applications until 5pm on 8 September 2023.

Orkney Islands Council has welcomed £2m from the Scottish Government to improve the energy efficiency of homes across the county, after a record response by local householders to the government’s Heat and Energy Efficiency Scotland scheme.

Since 2015-16, the HEES: ABS  (Heat and Energy Efficiency Scotland: Area Based Scheme) and similar previous initiatives have helped nearly 950 households in Orkney make their homes warmer through the installation of energy-saving improvements, primarily insulation.

As the dust settles on a fantastic 2023 Guernsey International Island Games, the baton has been handed over to Orkney for what will be the biggest single event ever to be held in the county.

This, the 20^th Games in 2025, is a chance for Orkney to showcase the islands to the 24 other member islands from across the world from the 12-18 July 2025.

For the first time ever, three athletes from Orkney were selected in one year to compete in the International Track and Field Meet, run by the Schools International Athletics Board (SIAB), last week. (14 July)

The Scottish Schools selectors had been watching the performances of the top ranked U17 athletes throughout the year, and, after Lucy Kenyon, Max Linklater and Jamie Sutherland all medalled at the Scottish Schools Outdoor Track and Field Championships in June, they were selected to compete for Scotland at SIAB.

A summing up of road works underway or soon to start in the county - for week starting Monday 24 July 2023.

Council and OHAL tenants are warmly invited to come along to the next Bite and Blether at Cromarty Hall in St Margaret’s Hope, to find out more about how they can help improve and develop social housing and housing services in the county, and strengthen their community – through Tenant Participation.

Smile and the world smiles with you has been a thought-provoking enterprise by a number of pupils at Glaitness Primary School.

The focus was on encouraging P6/7 pupils to realise there can be significant rewards in things other than financial gains.

Part of this included a new intergenerational group set up with the Orkney Befriending Service based at Voluntary Action Orkney linking with Sunnybrae Adult Supported Accommodation at Eunson Kloss and pupils from Glaitness.

Orkney Islands Council is seeking applications to its Community Led Local Development (CLLD) Grant scheme from this week.

The Community Led Local Development (CLLD) fund is an annual grant allocation to Orkney from the Scottish Government and acts as a replacement to the previous LEADER funding Orkney received.