Lerwick Police Station has joined the 'Keep Safe' initiative, which alongside a network of local businesses, creates safe places for vulnerable people in the community to seek assistance if required.

Police Scotland are appealing to knitters in Shetland to assist with a project to provide knitted teddies for young victims or witnesses of crime.

The Scottish Government have published an easy to read 4 page review setting out a summary of the evidence on the links between childhood adversity and criminality and victimisation in adulthood. It makes a strong case for preventing crime by targeting those most at risk of experiencing adverse childhoods, and supporting people in the Justice System whose lives have been affected by adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in order to reduce reoffending and prevent intergenerational crime.

Everyone in Shetland should keep their Eyes Open for children at risk during the school holidays. In the week that Shetland schools break for the end of term, Child Protection Committees across Scotland are encouraging the public across the whole country to be extra observant to help protect potentially vulnerable children when school’s out for summer. Child Protection Committees Scotland, a nation-wide grouping of child protection professionals, hopes their Eyes Open campaign will raise awareness that members of the public can play an important role to keep children safe from harm in the holidays. The group believes that everyone is responsible for child welfare in Scotland.

Help is at hand for anyone struggling with nuisance phone calls, or wanting to better protect themselves and others from the activities of scammers. Throughout next week, the Scambusters Shetland roadshow will be spending time with groups of staff, carers and relatives to help them as they support the most vulnerable – and they’ll also be out and about in Lerwick with information on how to protect yourself and those around you from scams. They’ll have advice packs with helpful ideas about dealing with all kinds of scams, including reducing unwanted phone calls and junk mail, and members of the team will be very happy to talk with people about any specific issues. The Scambusters Shetland roadshow makes visits to community groups, organisations and businesses across the whole of Shetland throughout the year. If you would like them to come to your area, just get in touch by phoning the Adult Protection team on 01595 744411.

Cyberbullying makes young people more than twice as likely to self harm or attempt suicide, a major new study has shown. The growth of social media has left many youngsters vulnerable to online bullying, which can include sending threatening, humiliating of intimidating messages or posting hurtful comments or images. Around one third of young people claim to have been victims, but the new research suggests it can have damaging and deadly consequences.

Online workshops were delivered by young volunteers. The workshop is about staying safe online and focuses on bullying and the effects it has on everyone - the victims, the bullies and the bystanders. It raises awareness about the risks associated with internet use. Find out what else happened at the 2018 event.

• Childline launching new Understand Me campaign to challenge discrimination. Childline is encouraging young people to speak out against discrimination as figures reveal the 24/7 service delivered almost 2,700 counselling sessions in the UK about race and faith based bullying in the last three years. Today Childline is launching its new Understand Me campaign amid fears children are suffering in silence from physical bullying, verbal abuse, cyberbullying and racist name calling because of the colour of their skin, religious beliefs or their accent. It comes as Freedom of Information figures obtained by the NSPCC from Police Scotland revealed 444 hate crimes with a racial, religious or faith-based element in 2016/17. The campaign, which includes a film ‘Think You Understand Me?’, challenges xenophobia and prejudice, empowering young people to speak out about racial bullying and discrimination and seek help should they need it.

Safer Internet Day 6th February 2018. The Shetland Child Protection Committee (CPC) has detailed its recent work in this area, and outlined plans for more local training and awareness events over the coming months. VSVS (Virtually Safe Virtually Sound) Youth Conferences have been held in AHS, Baltasound, Mid Yell, Whalsay and Sandwick schools so far. Young volunteers have helped organise events in each school, including deciding which topics should be covered in workshops. Most S1 pupils across Shetland have attended a Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) online safety workshop. A group of S6 volunteers have been trained in delivering these CEOP internet safety sessions in schools and new materials are available to keep the training up to date and specific to real life situations. School parent councils have arranged for internet awareness sessions to be held in Mid Yell, Hamnavoe and Whalsay, with one in Dunrossness being held soon. Parents and children have attended sessions either as individuals or together as families.

More than 1,000 organisations across the UK have registered as supporters, including; over 700 schools and big names such as the BBC, BT, the Children's Commissioner for England, the Department for Education, Facebook, Lloyds Banking Group, Microsoft, National Education Union and NASUWT, Twitter, as well as Premier League Football Clubs, police services and charities across the UK. With less than one week to go, here are 5 things you can do to get involved in the day.

Police Scotland is reminding our communities to be on guard against scammers. The period following the festivities can be a busy time for many people and criminals take advantage of this seeking out opportunities to commit frauds both online and offline. Frauds can be committed by letter, texts and calls, but as more people shop, bank and do business online, criminals are now looking for more online opportunities to SCAM and gain access to people accounts, direct people to fake websites or have money sent to fraudulent accounts. See leaflet.

◾Ground-breaking rapid response scheme – the Banking Protocol – means branch staff can alert police and Trading Standards to suspected frauds taking place. ◾Scheme rolling out nationwide with more than £9 million of potential fraud stopped in first year. ◾The Banking Protocol has led to 101 arrests in 12 months since launch. A ground-breaking fraud prevention scheme aimed at identifying and protecting potential fraud victims when they visit a bank or building society branch has stopped more than £9 million being passed to criminals in its first year of operation, figures from UK Finance show. The Banking Protocol, developed as a partnership between the finance industry, police and Trading Standards, enables bank staff to contact police if they suspect a customer is in the process of being scammed, with an immediate priority response to the branch. So far, the scheme has led to 101 arrests being made nationally.

Virtually Safe Virtually Sound (VSVS) is a group that was formed by Child Protection and Youth Services. The Services noticed an increase in cyberbullying and the number of referrals that were being made in Shetland. A group was put together made up of young people from all over Shetland. The young people initially planned an event in Islesburgh, inviting students from all over Shetland. They put together a programme of drama, dance, keeping yourself safe online, anti-bullying and body image for attendees to participate in. For more information click here

The DBI Programme is an initiative which emerged from the Scottish Government's work on the Suicide Prevention and Mental Health strategies which showed that people in distress require improved co-ordination across agencies, quicker access to support and more consistency in the compassion they receive.

Help is at hand for anyone struggling with nuisance phone calls, or wanting to better protect themselves from the activities of scammers. Throughout next week, the Scambusters Shetland roadshow will be out and about with information on how to protect yourself and those around you from scams. They’ll have advice packs with helpful ideas about dealing with all kinds of scams, including reducing unwanted phone calls and junk mail, and members of the team will be very happy to talk with people about any specific issues.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry wants to hear from you - for more information follow this link.

Following the recent distressing incident in Manchester, Shetland Child Protection Committee wanted to share some advice and support put out by NHS Scotland about coping with stress as it is recognised that parents and young people in Shetland will have been affected by these events. Please find listed below links to resources which may assist and provide help and support to our young people who may require assistance in coming to terms with the impact of yesterday’s tragic events: Click for more information

Wherever you are and whatever life throws at you, Childline is now easier to access than ever before. ‘For me’ is the brand new way to get advice and support on loads of topics – from issues that can play a big part in everyone’s life, like school and exam stress, through to extremely personal issues, such as self-harm and mental health. A new app that can be downloaded from the app store.