Living on a Scottish island

By 'contribution to the community' - I'd think about the following:

• do you or your family members have a useful profession/trade skill - this can be anything from nursing to teaching to accountancy to engineering or building or plumbing or the licence/ability to drive a bus. Remote communities have to be self-sufficient (there is a whole strand of Highland Council policy devoted to 'community resilience', for example). You'll most likely be accepted quickly if your skills fill a gap in community needs. Ask around your chosen island to find out what these are. They will vary from place to place.
• Think about this scenario. It's February, dark (very, for a lot of the day) and cold and wet and maybe freezing. Your neighbour's private water supply pipe has sprung a leak. Or perhaps their septic tank has got blocked. What would you do? Saying 'sorry, I'm afraid I can't help' would not be the right answer.
• The village hall badly needs a spring clean. Or there is a collective clean up of the local beach, to get rid of litter left by tourists. A poster advertisers for helpers, on one of your few free Saturdays. Do you turn up?
• The local volunteer fire brigade/emergency responders (=care until a qualified medic arrives) schemes need more helpers. Would you consider training for this?
• Old Mrs MacSomething's son normally takes her to the doctor's (the GPs visit the main town on the island once a week, IF you are lucky). But he's away on the rigs/out at sea. It's not especially convenient for you, but do you offer (BEFORE being asked)?
• the local school needs equipment/games kit mending and/or work done on (for eg) the pupil's play equipment and/or garden. Are you there?
• (frivolous but important) can you bake? ALl sorts of community events require cakes/scones - or - depending on the event - other more refined comestibles. Offers for catering for community functions are usually very much appreciated.
• You have a return ferry ticket to the mainland. Hooray! So have you asked your neighbours/the most needy people you know whether there is anything you can get for them - this might be just their favourite brand of shampoo or 'exotic' fruit and veg. That means nothing fancy, but just such items as salad perishables - watercress, for example. An offer - however temporarily inconvenient to you - really will be much appreciated.

Everything other posters have said about costs of fuel, costs of routine deliveries, difficulty of access to medical treatment , difficulties for bored/having to travel teens rings very true.

There is a great deal more I could say but I think you get my drift. Locals will have seen countless newcomers mooning around the place enthusing at the views and waffling on about (mostly 19th cent) 'folklore'. Yes, the views are wonderful. But making a realistic living (apart from tourism) if you are not a crofter (and therefore part of that very speciaised and sometimes separate community) in remote places can be very difficult.

If the island is Gaelic speaking, people coming to the island who have no Gaelic contribute to the erosion of the language which many people are protective over.

are you entitled to live somewhere where you don’t have the primary or preferred language- and presumably will expect people to speak to you in english?

You’ll also be contributing to pricing out locals. Many countries have immigration restrictions- so on a global scale it is definitely accepted that not everyone is entitled to live wherever they would like.

1. Are you getting a government lump sum to live there?
2. Is he really handsome and great in bed?

Demonstrating my belief that the only reasons to live on Scottish islands are money and sex. Don't go if they can't prove you'll get them. Beautiful there, though.

You mentioned “am I going to contribute to island life “ can you explain what you mean by that please ?

if you don’t understand on a fundamental level how people can contribute to the communities that they live in, then I think you’ll struggle to be honest.

Theirs is not always flights and not always even a ferry. It can be weather dependent. I have a friend on Shetland and there are times when there is no fresh food in Tesco at all for days and days because the ferry isn’t running. Then the ferry runs and the Tesco lorry gets over but still no fresh food as it’s now out of date as the lorry has been sat at the ferry terminal on the mainland for days. Yes for a proper emergency you’d hopefully be able to be helicoptered out but guess there could be circumstances when even the helicopter can’t fly.

"I suppose the only real issue with that would be an emergency situation. But there is also flights I suppose."

If you mean passenger flights, not all islands have airports and obviously flights can also be impacted by bad weather. If you mean you have an emergency medical situation, yes there are air ambulances but you are more remote and there will be times these can't fly. It depends again on the island - some have small hospitals, others only have visiting GPs.

Surely you have the nous to see why there may be resistance to newcomers in such isolated and entrenched communities?

People are, at heart, tribal. You will see it in small insular communities. God knows you see enough of it in cities where groups gather in specific areas to live with people like themselves

Sure people can live where they choose - but those who have been there since time immemorial may choose not to welcome outsiders! New people won't understand how things are done, the unwritten Social Rules, and may come across as arrogant and/or patronising.

Because island communities are fragile and young people often have to move away because of lack of affordable accommodation or jobs. Without them an island dies. If someone new is coming in they may well have more money so can outbid a relative or young person who grew up on the island for accommodation. That young person or family may have to leave the island or be in completely unsuitable housing for years. That can make people resentful. I think you really need to appreciate this if you want to successfully move to an island.

Why are the people like that though?

Isn’t anyone entitled to live where they choose ?
Nobody owns and Island

Except they do. Some of the smaller Scottish islands are privately owned or community owned. Some are owned by conservation charities.

It all depends on the island and even the community you settle in.

Winters are brutal and even the summer can be challenging.

You need to be organised for when the ferry doesn’t get in and there is no fresh produce.

Also, do you have a medical condition which requires regular hospital treatment as this may not be available on the island you chose and if you do contact something serious such as cancer, you will be treated away from home and loved ones.

you have children you need to consider schooling. Depending on where you live, they may need to be away from you during the week.

You will need to be able to drive and have a car and make sure you have fuel.

Again depending on where you live, you could be subject to power cuts that on occasion last days.

Oh and did I mention that winters are brutal!!!!

I meant that if you, for example, work in the school or medical services, have children so you get to know people, are someone who's friendly and gets involved in things you are more likely to be welcomed than a second home owner or someone who comes in and tries to change things or doesn't make an effort to integrate into island life.

Ooft, sharp intake of breath and a head tilt and nod at the last sentence.

If i could live on Mull I would be a very happy person. Give me cold and winter. And all that great stuff.
A world of Great MH being there ime.

Many of the incomers are up one year and gone the next. They're not used to the very harsh and dark winters. Don't judge the island by what you see during two weeks in June. People are friendly if you expect them to be that way. Cost of living is higher but many things are subsidised by the Scottish government, so you don't really pay the full cost. Obviously fuel is a consideration because you're going to use more of it. And, like any rural area, internet can be a problem, but it's fine if you're near an exchange or a town. Don't expect the lifestyle to be 'throwback' - it's as up-to-date as anywhere else in the country.

Well it depends. Bute will be very different from Barra….

SIL lives on one. Seems OK until the ferry stops running and/or you need serious medical treatment.

No washing out on a Sunday and very little is open on many of the islands on a Sunday

That's pretty specific to the Western Isles I would say. Nobody cares when you put your washing out in Orkney or Shetland, and there's plenty going on. Especially today, its the last day of the Shetland Folk Festival. There's loads going on today!

It depends what island, some are welcoming, others not so much. Second home owners are often shunned where I am and it’s made clear by the locals to them they’re not welcome.

As others have said ferries can be problematic in autumn and winter which can impact fresh supplies. Summers can be chilly wet and windy some years, it’s not as romantic as people think. Winters can be harsh and with little daylight hours.

No washing out on a Sunday and very little is open on many of the islands on a Sunday.

People love it or hate it.

People fit in or don't.

Some people move up and never leave.. Some people move up and are gone within a year.

You need to be okay with wild weather. 60+ mph winds are not uncommon, and I've seen 100+ mph winds.

Your best bet is to go and spend some time there in winter, as long as you can manage, and see how you feel.

Some things will vary by which island.

But yes the COL is higher as people have already mentioned.

Winter is miserable, just wet, windy and dark.