On Wednesday we held this year’s YPI Final. YPI stands for Youth and Philanthropy Initiative. Two groups of pupils pitched for two local charities: Dogs Against Drugs and the Whalsay Heritage Centre.

The Final was attended by representatives of the charities; Janet Davidge, who founded the charity, attended on behalf of Dogs Against Drugs and Alison Simpson, Marina Irvine and Anne Huntley attended for The Heritage Centre. The three judges were Carolann Reid (Chair of the Parent Council), Moira Dally (Clerk of Parent Council), and Jonathan Christie (Depute UK Director of the Wood Foundation).

The pupils in the two groups conquered their nerves and ably delivered their informative presentations about the work of their chosen charities. The pupils advocating for Dogs against Drugs spoke knowledgably about the work of the organisation in both combating the drugs trade in Shetland head-on by detecting drug trafficking and offering education programmes in local schools aimed at preventing experimentation with drugs. The pupils speaking for the Heritage Centre spoke about how their own educational experience of school had been enhanced by visits to the Centre. They also described how volunteers work alongside the Fernlea Care Centre to offer valuable experiences to residents: both by facilitating visits to the Heritage Centre and taking photos and artefacts to Fernlea.

Jonathan Christie gave feedback to both groups, commenting on how well prepared they had been and how they had grown in confidence during their presentations. He then handed over to Carolann Reid and Moira Dally to announce the winning group – Tom Anderson, Amy Pearson, Irena Polson and Mark Williamson who were advocating for the Whalsay Heritage Centre.