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Welcome to our final newsletter of 2025.
As the festive holidays approach, schools will soon be closing and many council offices will be shutting for a well-earned break. While some services will pause over the holiday period, our essential services will continue to operate, supporting communities across Shetland when they’re needed most.
Details of service opening times, emergency contacts and festive period arrangements are available on our website, so you can easily find the information you need over the holidays.
If you're looking for festive Ferry timetables, Essy Kert schedules, or the opening times for the Household Waste Centre at Gremista, you'll find them all, and more, on this page.
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Global expertise brought in to explore future fixed links in Shetland
 International contractors with experience delivering major tunnelling projects have been appointed to help assess the feasibility, costs and deliverability of potential fixed links between islands.
Hard work recognised in positive Brae High School inspection
 Inspectors have praised the efforts of pupils, staff and the wider school community, confirming steady progress and a positive direction of travel.
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What we learned from Shetland’s first electric bus trial
 A four-month trial has shown electric buses can work in Shetland, while identifying the steps needed before wider rollout is possible.
Share your experience of digital connectivity in Shetland
 Following recent outages, residents are being asked to contribute to a UK Parliament inquiry looking at how digital connectivity can be improved across Scotland.
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Dates set for Whalsay and Yell Community Conversations
Dates have been set for the final drop-in sessions in our community conversations series.
- Tuesday 13th January 2026 - Whalsay School (4.30 - 6.30pm)
- Thursday 15th January 2026 - Mid Yell Junior High (4.30 - 7pm)
Help shape the Council’s priorities for the coming years.
Join us for an informal chat about your ideas for supporting and improving local services, meet your local councillors, the Council’s political leaders and Chief Executive, and share your thoughts on what matters most to your area.
Can't make it in person? Find out more how to participate on our website
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ABC campaign: looking out for each other this festive season
This festive season, we can all play a part in looking out for one another. NHS Shetland and local partners – including Shetland Islands Council – have launched the ABC campaign to help keep people safe, supported and respected over winter.
The message is simple:
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A – Alcohol: Know your limits and drink safely.
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B – Behaviour: Recognise how alcohol can impact behaviour and be empowered to challenge inappropriate actions.
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C – Call It Out: Speak up when something doesn’t feel right and support others to do the same.
What you can do
• Visit the ABC campaign webpage on the NHS Shetland website to learn about safe alcohol use, positive bystander actions and how to challenge inappropriate behaviour safely.
• Share the campaign video and posters within your workplace, community group or social venues.
• Share accurate information and clear advice about alcohol and its health risks.
• Support friends who may be struggling with alcohol or who may need help after an incident.
• Be a positive role model, intervene safely and respect those around you.
You’ll find advice, resources and links to local support on the NHS Shetland ABC campaign webpage. Support for people affected by alcohol or substance use – including the Shetland Recovery Hub – is available.
By looking out for each other, we can make this a safer and more caring festive season for everyone in Shetland.
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Our Performance Matters
Festive Recycling with the Climate Yarns Team
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Not sure what to do with all that left over festive wrapping?
Buried under boxes?
Don't worry - our climate yarns team have you covered.
Watch our short video to find out the best ways of dealing with festive waste
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Keeping you moving in the worst of weather
With the festive break upon us, we've been thinking about those teams who will be working throughout the holiday period to keep our communities safe.
One of those is our roads team - on wintry days they start as early as 4am to complete their checks and get our roads ready for us to safely drive to work. We caught up with Executive Manager Neil Hutcheson to find out exactly what goes into a typical gritting day.
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 The roads team on Christmas Jumper day in front of the gritters (Ganzies and Gritters are real - but we can't say the same for the snow and trees!)
We want to say a huge THANK YOU! to all of our staff and teams who will be working over the holidays, including tireless social care and social work staff and NHS Shetland’s health professionals, as well as the waste, ferries, roads, gritting teams and emergency repairs.
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What's on in the New Year
Jump Start January
If you are ready to take on a challenge next year, join us in being active for at least 15 minutes every day from 2nd to 29th January!
There will be great prizes kindly donated by NorthLink Ferries and Shetland Recreational Trust and others. Weekly prize draws are open to all those who were active for 15 minutes daily for the previous 7 days, and a bigger draw open to all who managed to participate during all 28 days!
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Winter Pop-ins Return in 2026
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Wishing you all the best for the festive season
 The 'Maid of Norway' Window at Lerwick Town Hall, with Christmas Tree
We'd like to take this opportunity to wish all our subscribers and residents the best for the festive season, and a very Happy New Year
New Year, New Career?
If you're looking for a fresh career in 2026, there's no better place to start than with us. For jobs that make a real difference to the community you live in, take a look and see where a career with the Council could take you.
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