Orkney Foodbank has been notified by the Trussell Trust that it can accept the £750 donation that representatives of the Orkney Four delivered to its Kirkwall premises on Friday.

There had been a question over whether the Orkney Foodbank could accept the donation as it has to remain apolitical. However the foodbank was also the venue for a surgery held by Orkney & Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael on Friday.

The £750 was left over from The People Versus Carmichael crowdfunding campaign, which was set up to pay the legal costs of the Orkney Four when they took Alistair Carmichael to court. The Election Court proceedings investigated Mr Carmichael's role in a botched attempt to smear First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during the 2015 General Election. Mr Carmichael lied about when he had known about the leak of a false memo claiming that Ms Sturgeon had said she would prefer to see David Cameron re-elected as Prime Minister.

The Orkney Four's donation is to be used by the Orkney Foodbank to provide electricity vouchers or credit, which is given to the value of £10-£20 depending on the number in the household.

Yes Orkney, which has been supportive of the Orkney Four's campaign from the outset, is delighted that a substantial sum of money raised by the public throughout Orkney and further afield is now going to support some of the most vulnerable folk in our community.