First casualty of damaged cable

A Western Isles charity based in Stornoway which has been helping young adults since opening its doors in 2003, is the first victim of the subsea cable fault which caused an island blackout last month.
By John A. MacInnes
Published 11th Nov 2020, 08:16 BST
Western Isles Foyer have been forced to close the doors due to a lack of funding.Western Isles Foyer have been forced to close the doors due to a lack of funding.
Western Isles Foyer have been forced to close the doors due to a lack of funding.

Unfortunately, Western Isles Foyer was partly funded by a grant from a local community wind farm.

Due to the failure of the electricity cable under the Minch this means no income is being generated in power exports to the national grid and has had devastating results for the charity.

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The Foyer have been forced to call it a day and cease trading as a result of Point Power no longer being able to generate any income, nor at this stage, have any idea as to when things might return to normal.

Point and Sandwick Trust (the charitable arm of Point Power) notified Western Isles Foyer on October 28 that it would no longer be able to pay out any grant funding for the remainder of the current financial year and that this situation is very likely to run into next year as well.

The prioritised grant which was due to have been handed over this month totalling £50,000, represented a quarter of Foyer’s annual operating budget for the current financial year.

Given the changed financial situation facing the Foyer without this funding, the committee directors held an EGM where the very tough decision that the organisation was no longer viable was made. Agreement was reached that they would therefore need to cease trading resulting in all Foyer’s staff team being made redundant.

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A spokesman said: “This decision has been made with huge regret and in the knowledge that other island bodies do not have sufficient funds available to cover this shortfall at such short notice, especially given the current global Covid-19 Pandemic.

“Foyer’s committee directors would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff, past and present, for their dedication and hard work in supporting vulnerable young people. We would also like to thank all partner agencies and funders, including Point and Sandwick Trust, for all of their input over the last 18 years to help support the positive outcomes for the young people that Foyer support.”

Foyer will officially close on the December 2. During the remaining time the charity are focusing on consulting with the Comhairle, and other partner agencies to ensure young people they work with continue to receive appropriate levels of support

Related topics:Western IslesStornoway