Bressay Newsletter
Purpose of Engagement
Bressay is an island on the east side of Shetland, accessible by ferry from Lerwick, with a population of 348. Bressay Development Ltd (BDL) was set up in 2014 with the purpose of addressing major challenges faced by the residents of Bressay. This includes depopulation, an ageing population, lack of on-island services, and increasing ferry fare costs to the Shetland mainland. BDL supports local activity in a variety of ways, encouraging Bressay to be a vibrant, thriving community for its residents and visitors.
BDL is based at Speldiburn, formerly the primary school, which BDL took ownership of through Community Asset Transfer. The building houses Speldiburn Café, a ‘Good as New’ shop, art and craft exhibition space, artist studios, rooms for hire, a green lending library and the BDL office. A Living Well Hub and NHS Healthcare Support Worker Appointments also take place at Speldiburn every second Wednesday. A Social Group meets at Speldiburn every week, and various classes, workshops, groups and events are hosted throughout the year.
A newsletter is created by BDL, entitled ‘Weel Bressa, Whit News?’, and is shared quarterly at voar (spring), simmer (summer), hairst (autumn) and yule (winter). It includes articles and accompanying photos on local news, history, updates from BDL projects and from other community groups, contributions from residents, and a ‘What’s On’ section. BDL invites contributions and collates the material, and then formats, prints and distributes the newsletter.
Photo credit: SIC
What was the desired outcome?
The newsletter was intended to be a source of information and interest for all residents, to encourage community engagement and cohesion. By publicly showcasing and celebrating Bressay in a newsletter, the hope was to encourage people to come together as a community and support a sense of comradery and pride for their area, as well as promote the island to potential new residents. This would then hopefully act as a catalyst for further activity and Bressay could work towards overcoming some of the major challenges it faces.
What was already known?
The closure of the school had led to reduced activity on the island and residents were concerned about the negative impact. They felt there was a loss of community feeling and engagement and were calling for something that could support them in bringing this back and returning to lightsome things. Nothing like a newsletter was available to the community and it was thought that this would be a good way to collate and share information and articles of interest with all residents.