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Short(ish) thread on our work in Orkney, do share with anyone who might be interested. Our project is based on five of the 'non-linked' isles of Orkney, a group of islands of the very northern tip of Scotland, about as far north from London as Milan is south [1/10]
![Short(ish) thread on our work in Orkney, do share with anyone who might be interested. Our project is based on five of the 'non-linked' isles of Orkney, a group of islands of the very northern tip of Scotland, about as far north from London as Milan is south [1/10]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EnGZo67W8AETHvS.jpg "Short(ish) thread on our work in Orkney, do share with anyone who might be interested. Our project is based on five of the 'non-linked' isles of Orkney, a group of islands of the very northern tip of Scotland, about as far north from London as Milan is south [1/10]")
They're called 'non-linked' because there's no bridge or road connecting the isles to mainland Orkney. Instead you must travel by boat or (terrifyingly small) plane. This creates some difficult challenges, with most services currently unable to deliver on the islands
Visiting the dentist, attending a specialist appointment, getting to the charity shop, can all take a day. With populations of 300-600 people, it's too expensive to replicate all these services, but there are innovative alternatives to explore- the focus of our work
The 'Island Wellbeing Project' uses a broad definition of wellbeing, which incorporates health, economic, social and place prosperity, recognising how these interconnect. This also equips our coordinators to support people as people, instead of just one specific problem
Our coordinators (each employed by their island's Development Trust) also have broad roles. We've created the 'I.N.C.A' model below to explain what they do, a mix of one-to-one support and service creation & capacity building, which I'll demonstrate with a example
Access to affordable food is a long-running problem. Somebody approaches the coordinator to say that they’ve found themselves struggling. The coordinator provides 121 support, signposting to foodbank & identifying a neighbour who can provide a weekly hot meal (navigator). As the
number of people coming forward rises, they also begin to think about what needs to be built within the community. They secure funding to set-up a Community Larder project (innovator) and link a generous pub offering free meals to volunteers willing to deliver them (connector)...
Finally, recognising the problems have been made worse by travel restrictions, which prevent people visiting the bigger cheaper supermarkets, they begin collecting evidence and stories which they share with statutory partners to call for more support (advocate)
We've got so many examples like this. On top of one-to-one support, the coordinators have set-up health walks, a daily living aids centre, a skill sharing group; supported the recruitment of carers and found virtual solutions to bring services to the islands, the list goes on...
I'm looking forward to sharing more about our work on Hoy; Sanday; Stronsay; Shapinsay; and Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre, none of which would be possible without the work of the island Development Trusts and funding from the Aspiring Communities Fund
If you have any questions, or want to know more, drop me an email at [email protected]. If you’re interested to learn more about the third sector in Orkney, you can also follow @vaorkney
I forgot to add our very colourful and arrow-ridden Theory of Change, which gives an overview of how these different roles fit together and the outcomes we are trying to achieve, for which our Project Evaluator @Rosie148 deserves the credit!
