Shetland Foodbank has received a £3,000 funding boost as part of Aith Junior High School’s annual youth philanthropy initiative.
The funding will make it easier for wheelchair users to access the foodbank located on St Magnus Street in Lerwick.
The cost-of-living crisis currently hitting households across the UK means more people are having to use foodbanks.
According to a spokesman for the Shetland Foodbank, they are currently serving around 150 clients per month.
Youth philanthropy initiative (YPI) is a nationwide scheme that raises awareness of social issues.
This is done by engaging students to research and then present their findings to their peers.
Introduced in 2008 by The Wood Foundation, the scheme has engaged over 230,000 young people, who have gone on to decide which charities receive funding.
Pupils from across Scotland have taken responsibility for gifting £5million of funding.
As part of the process, secondary three pupils at Aith Junior High School researched several charities to pitch their suitability for the £3,000 grant.
Money will help Shetland Foodbank improve disabled access
Five local charities were represented, including Clan Shetland, Mind Your Head Shetland, RNLI Aith, Shetland Foodbank and Shetland Pride.
The judging panel, made up of local officials, decided to award Shetland Foodbank the funding, which will go towards improving disabled access at their premises.
James Garrick, deputy head yeacher at Aith JHS said: “This is our seventh year taking part in the Youth Philanthropy Initiative, which fosters active citizenship in our community, and develops our pupils’ research and teamwork skills.
“This year’s presentations were both captivating and humorous, and accurately described the needs being addressed by local charities.
“We’re grateful to the YPI for their funding and to all the charities involved who have supported the research by our pupils.”
