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Against my better judgement I am going to ask this, is there another reason for sharing this other than that you can?

Maybe an age thing. Certainly one I've used, and heard used often going back a good way. I was sure it used to be spelled 'cacque' and all, so its good to see someone else using that. As when I figured I'd best check I was remembering the spelling right, google was giving nothing for 'cacque', and all the hits were coming back for 'cack' - Which to me is the slang version, used by folk who can't spell properly in the first place. No as far as I am aware always cack handed. Being one of those words that came to Britain through the army in the Middle East where people wipe their bums with their Left hand and thus are cack handed. But of course off topic so apologies.

@ Capeesh It is one thing for a government to provide funding to the likes of Scottish Ballet, etc. It's another thing entirely when they start to dictate upon what's available in areas and neighbourhoods having a say; that's what we already have planning laws for and a whole plethora of other organisations. This whole thing reminds me of cultural activities such as those in Japan and China, whereby people must participate in certain activities, and not necessarily on a voluntary basis. Having a greater say in what's available locally doesn't necessarily mean everyone will be in favour of certain cultural activities. The document also refers to Scots language and gaelic; no mention of Shetland dialect; some might argue that it isn't Scottish. So will all our roadsigns be in Gaelic then in the future?

I'm personally not against opportunities in any sort of creativity or sports/fitness being on offer, (they already are) & being advertised fully. My reservations are about how accessible they really will be to all. If you are on a very limited budget (& that's not necessarily unemployed) then even the extra bus fares to get to a venue (if it's not in walking distance) can be beyond your means. Yes even in Shetland there are some living this lean. Also ofcourse bus timetables don't always fit in with lessons or events, some areas are affected in this way worse than others. You may think a person can always get a lift but as a non driver I can tell you this simply isn't a reliable option, for work or play. I have to say I don't have a great deal of faith in some involved in this partnership to deliver anything better than what's on offer at present. My scepticism stems from the things that have already taken place in relatively recent times such as the cutting/limiting of school knitting & musical instrument lessons that I mentioned in a previous post & other issues like "messing" with the timetable for the bowlers at the Clickamin. I wouldn't be surprised if there are other examples that I'm not aware of. Everything has a budget ofcourse but trimming from the roots is not the way to go about it & does not make me feel that opinions on what is wanted will be listened to seriously.

@ suffererof1crankymofo Whatever floats your boat. I personally see it as a positive thing, I hope that (on our behalf) the many superb groups, organisations and even interested individuals in Shetland participate.

The majority of people appear to spell it, "Cack handed" or so it appears. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/cack-handed Right, time for a cuppa

@ peeriebryan: What is 'culture'? Yes, its all of those things, and none of those things at the same time. Its a constantly evolving subjective fluid object. Its everything we are and that there is, and nothing at all, both at the same time, depending upon an individual's personal opinion. It became whatever it is in the present entirely by accident, not by plan or regulation, and while it deserves to be recognised as a valid phenomena and to be to each individual whatever it is to them, it also needs to evolve naturally. So I'm yet to be convinced that Government intervention with any kind of 'plan' or 'strategy', given their love affair with labelling, ticking boxes, pigeon holing and 'one size fits all' thinking, is a good thing for culture. Their somewhat cacque handed, and arguably highly inappropriate ideas concerning Gaelic language stands as a case in point. Can't knock them for trying I suppose, but I get a definite sense of 'fixing what ain't broke' while other arguably more important issues that are broken are left that way, going on with this. As long as people act on their own desire to express themselves through their medium of choice, culture will continue and evolve, and if there's a role for a government to play, perhaps it should be reactive to accomodating culture in whatever direction it evolves naturally to, rather than proactively manipulating and leading it, as this strategy seems to be intended to be. Is culture not over-regulated and stifled in some areas already? Take grafitti for example, there's enough of it been around long enough now to prove its a part of their culture for some, yet governments do a great deal to remove it, hide it, discourage it, and promote the belief that it is negative, undesirable and not a legitimate 'art' form. As long as any government strategy recognises all forms of cultural expression equally, that's fine, but given their track record so far I fear their plan will end up more a case of promoting and respecting those parts of 'culture' they deem to be legitimate parts of 'culture' and browbeating down the rest. Time will tell.....

How long is it?