SLCVO BLOG 29 May

This week’s blog marks the recent sad passing of someone whose dedication made a positive impact on the lives of many people in Skye and Lochalsh. The SLCVO team (past and present) would like to take some time to reflect on, and celebrate the work of Patricia Walsh – known fondly by many as Mrs Pat.

Dedicated to improving the health and welfare of our local communities she leaves a legacy that continues in the work of many Third Sector groups still active in Skye and Lochalsh.

Pat’s employment as social worker (and later as manager of Tigh na Drochaid (then providing day care for the elderly and now integrated NHS Highland resource and social work centre) and her voluntary roles on the boards of many local community groups are interwoven with the history of SLCVO itself and the difference she made to so many people.

Pat arrived in Skye from the Peak District in the early 1970s with a family history of volunteering and a background in housing management and social work. The 1968 Social Work (Scotland) Act had set out a framework for uniting previously fragmented services and creating dedicated social work departments. By 1975 Skye and Lochalsh came under the newly formed Highland Regional Council and social workers focused on community-based casework.

Initially, Mrs Pat worked in the wooden ‘hut’ on The Green in Portree sharing office space with SLCVO (then Skye and Lochalsh Council of Social Service) and the nascent Skye Tourist Association. She instinctively understood the need for localized approaches to reach our scattered communities. Then - as now – this meant working alongside SLCVO and local communities to identify not only where those needs were, but also to work out the best ways of addressing them. Skye and Lochalsh has a long history of people rolling up their sleeves and volunteering their time to make things happen - and Mrs Pat shared the same approach. Poor housing, lack of services for the elderly, little support for people with disabilities – all of these were priorities for Skye & Lochalsh Council of Social Service and the social work department. Mrs Pat was a powerhouse of driven energy and a strong believer in getting things done.

When the Social Work department were unable to secure funding to employ a driver to deliver a shopping bus service for the elderly, in 1976 Pat got behind the idea and helped  Skye Older People’s Welfare secure a minibus to extend their volunteer run shopping car service. Her input helped the SOPW shopping bus service to continue running (with a succession of minibuses) for 50 years.

Her hands on approach continued and by the mid-1980s she had put her housing background to good use, making invaluable contributions to the working party set up to form a tenant’s association which led to the formation of Lochalsh and Skye Housing Association. With her social work hat on she worked alongside the Community Education Dept and SLCVO (then Skye & Lochalsh Council of Social Service) to start a Community Information Service (1984-1985) This later developed into the Community Advice Service and eventually became the Skye and Lochalsh Citizens Advice Bureau with its office in Portree.

Mrs Pat also helped contribute towards sowing the seeds for what would become Crossroads Care Skye and Lochalsh and she served on the first Skye & Lochalsh Association for Disability committee (then a sub-committee of Skye Council of Social Services) which went on to become Skye & Lochalsh Association - now Kyleakin Connections).

In1990 Pat was one of the founders of Skye & Lochalsh Community Care Forum (SLCCF) – and for 6 years this was facilitated by SLCVO. In 2000 this led to the launch of Skye and Lochalsh Young Carers.

Pat continued to support many charities and projects well into her retirement. She was a volunteer board member of many groups including SLCVO (1997-1999) Crossroads Care Skye and Lochalsh 1996-2008, LSHA, Kyleakin Connections (until 2023) and SLCCF (until February 2018) She also remained an active member of the fundraising team for the Young Carers Service for many years. She ran the Sleat Lunch Club with the support of Age Scotland and continued her association with the Highland Senior Citizens Network (HSCN) catching up with other folk from across Highland every Thursday with their weekly Online Tea-breaks.    

In 2020 she was awarded a well-deserved MBE for a lifetime’s work supporting several health and social care projects and organisations in Skye and Lochalsh.

She will be sorely missed by so many