SCT sees dip in value but salutes success of its funded organisations

September 7th 2026

The real value of Shetland Charitable Trust fell last financial year after taking account of inflation, despite £5 million more coming in the door than went out.

Profit from stock market investments stood at £14.3m, adding to £3.6m from rental income and other trading activities. From this total income of £17.9m, some £12.9m was spent on grants and running costs.

The £5m surplus for the year ended 31^st March 2026 fell considerably short of SCT’s earnings target, largely due to weak returns on global markets. SCT aims for a 7.5 per cent growth in reserves to stay ahead of inflation and generate enough funds to foot its annual grant bill of £10.7m. But last year’s return was less than 4 per cent.

Chair Robert Leask said: “It’s a disappointing under-performance. In real terms the funds took a dip. We are focussed on growth but we didn’t see it.”

SCT holds its AGM on Thursday 10^th September where its audited accounts for last year will be signed off by the volunteer trustees. They will hear that the value of all SCT’s funds stood at £453.9m at the financial year end.

SCT’s financial plan for 2025-30 is designed to accommodate weaker investment years without requiring grant awards to be cut. It expects to spend £52.6m on grants during the period – a 20 per cent increase on the previous five years.

Most grant awards are guaranteed for the five-year period, providing some security to the 32 community services which depend on the funding. These include all the leisure centres, arts and heritage projects, the voluntary sector and Shetland’s higher standard of elderly care.

Trustees will also consider a report on Thursday detailing the glowing performance of organisations which received nearly £9.7m last year from the main funding stream, the Large Grants Scheme.

Monitoring is carried out to gauge whether SCT’s strategic goals were met. The Outcome Impact Report concludes: “The awardees deliver substantial social value across community wellbeing, individual wellbeing, support for vulnerable people and generational fairness.

“Funded organisations provide essential leisure, cultural, environmental, care, advice, employability and specialist support services while also strengthening the capacity of the voluntary sector and protecting community assets.

“In 2025/26 we have seen organisations make positive changes and sometimes difficult decisions to strengthen their governance and operations.”

The report also reveals the difficulties faced by many organisations, due mainly to increased demand, workforce recruitment difficulties, volunteer capacity, financial sustainability and in trying to maintain key community buildings.

Mr Leask said: “It is an increasingly tough challenge for these dedicated organisations, especially those run by volunteers. SCT’s core aim is to improve the quality of life in Shetland and it’s great to see these groups managing to deliver on that.”

Eighty per cent of the awards from the Large Grant Fund go to four big organisations. These are £3.8m to Shetland Recreational Trust, £1.82m to Shetland Island Council to enhance community care, £1.34m to Shetland Amenity Trust and £1.1m to Shetland Arts Development Agency.

Testimonials

The funding COPE Ltd receives from the Shetland Charitable Trust supports us in many ways. It allows us to develop and maintain a strong foundation to our core business and assists us to provide on-going employment skill development opportunities to people with disabilities living within Shetland. COPE Ltd highly values the support provided to our organisation by The Shetland Charitable Trust.

“The substantial grant made to us by Shetland Charitable Trust every year allows us to provide first-class facilities and dedicated staff to underpin sporting success among people of all ages and abilities in the islands.”

Having this core funding from the Charitable Trust means that we can use that money where we need it at any given time. It's multi-year funding which really takes the pressure off. To have the funding to keep going is really important as it is improving the lives of disabled folk in Shetland.

The funding that we get from the Charitable Trust pays for part of staff support and matching with other funders. Without local funders we wouldn't have national funders, and without either of those funders, we wouldn't be able to do this, so funding from the Shetland Charitable Trust is incredibly important.

The funding Shetland Arts gets from Shetland Charitable Trust is about making sure the organisation can thrive, access other funds, and deliver on behalf of the community of Shetland. Our funding from the Shetland Charitable Trust really helps us with our conversations with national funders because it shows that we're working on behalf of what the local objectives and priorities are.

The Access to Leisure scheme was introduced to allow folk to be able to get access to classes and activities for a lower cost. I feel that the SRT play a critical role in every community across Shetland and that's all down to the funding of the Shetland Charitable Trust that we're able to maintain that.

Unpaid carers do an amazing job looking after people 24/7 in their own homes, keeping them living at home safely, and they really need help to do that. Thanks to the funding from Shetland Charitable Trust, we've been able to employ a deputy manager, recruit more care attendants, and provide overnights. We're also really grateful for the funding because it means that everybody can get the service for free.