Since its inception Westray Development Trust has had a mandate from the community to take forward youth projects. Children and young people are highly valued assets in our community and providing them with the best possible environment to grow up has always been a community principle.

The history of the subgroup and its massive successes is currently being researched and will appear on this page shortly.

Right now on Westray we have a school enrolment of around 75 and we are enjoying something of a baby boom with at least 4 babies being born per year for the past 4 years. This has created an exciting opportunity to ensure that children of all ages have opportunities to interact, develop and grow in our unique island environment.

The Youth Development Worker is responsible for ensuring 12-25 year olds are given support, guidance and opportunities to become active and valued members of the community. In the past 2 years we have enjoyed Young Scot funded workshops which included youngsters from Eday, and Papa Westray and we travelled to both those other islands to participate in welding, story-telling, photography and drawing workshops. The workshops were a huge success and we are hoping to repeat the same format of including neighbouring islands in activities and opportunities wherever possible.

We also have a democratically elected Youth Committee of 6 teenagers who have been in place for about 9 months. These youngsters have undertaken leadership coaching, transition discussion and we are exploring joining various committees around the island to ensure the perspective of young people is represented by the young people themselves.

We are currently exploring options to ensure that youth services on Westray become self-sustaining in the long term. This is critical if we are to fully realise the potential of young people as assets to the community.