Scotland wants to give 60,000 euros – you just have to go to these islands
Only 80 people live in the Scottish island town of Fionfort.
What: Getty Images/Pierre Longans
Life on a small isolated island is a dream for many. Still, the Scottish North Sea islands are struggling with a shrinking population. This should change now.
DYou are young, just started a family and looking for a new center of life? Then the Scottish Government may have just the thing for you. Britain’s with a multi-million dollar stimulus packagenational island plan’ Parliament in Edinburgh wants to ensure that more people are attracted to the Scottish islands in the Atlantic and North Sea, which have been deserted until now.
There are many arguments against living there: poor infrastructure, harsh climate, cold winters. But around £50,000, the equivalent of about 58,687 euros, should reassure. The first 100 people under the age of 30 or those drawn to one of the selected Scottish islands should receive that much money. The region also needs a cash injection, with a total amount of five million British pounds: the island’s inhabitants are getting old. Many people prefer to go to Scottish cities such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee or directly to the British capital London.
Before we tell you which islands you can visit, it’s your turn:
Living conditions harsh on the Scottish Isles
Those who wish to move in and benefit from the island bonus must declare one of the following districts and their islands as their new main residence and be the center of their life, that is, work there as well, e.g. For: Argyll, Aran, Bute, Great Cumbre, the Outer Hebrides with islands Lewis and Harris as well as Ust and Barra, the Orkney Islands, the Shetland or Isle of Skye and neighboring smaller islands. With the help of funding, beginnings in the new homeland should be made a little more pleasant for the new islanders, such as the British. BBC Reported.
There are over 90 inhabited islands around Scotland. Some residents fear there will be competition between island municipalities to attract more new residents, Ian Stephen Morrison, a reporter for the Western Isles News newspaper and online magazine Am Pipier, told the BBC. In his opinion, a total of five million pounds could be a better investment. For example in infrastructure development, which in the long term will make the islands more attractive to many Scots:
There is no dearth of people wanting to visit the islands. What is lacking is opportunity – be it a place to live or a job.
Spectacular Northern Lights on Ust Island, which is part of the Outer Hebrides.
Quayle: Getty Images/Oliver Smalley/Oli Smalley Photography
Kevin Morrison’s example shows that some Scots might envision living on one of the fairy islands in the Atlantic or North Sea, but the odds are huge. According to a BBC report, he moved from Glasgow to Ust on Scotland’s west coast five years ago – and could use the equivalent of around 60,000 euros to start his new island life.
It would have been useful then. The main issues for island communities are transportation to and from the islands and housing.
At that point you may have taken the risk: he and his wife, who hails from Ust, would have given up their secure full-time jobs in Glasgow and turned to life on the island. Then, in 2016, Morrison only had a part-time job south of Ust, which was even harder to begin with and finding housing, as he explains: “We just got lucky.”
A Shetland pony grazes on the islands of the same name.
What: Getty Images/Paul J Davis
Starting next year, others who, like Morrison and his wife, decide to move to one of the Scottish islands, should find a little more financial security. But how the plans will be implemented is still open (as of December 2021). Parliament has till October 24 to vote on the plans The so-called “National Islands Bond” exchanged and advised. Before this, all Schtheir opinion on the plans Online Announcement.
However, there is no cash injection master plan for the Scottish islands.
The Isle of Mull belongs to the sparsely populated area of Argyll.
Quayle: Getty Images/www.richardkellettphotography.com
By 2025, Edinburgh politicians want to do everything in their power to further strengthen the Gaelic culture of the sometimes remote regions. There are currently about 130 people living on Argyll Island, of whom only 30 are under the age of 50. Currently only four children attend the island’s primary school. Such an alarming number.
In order to avoid further decline in population, improvements have to be made to the expansion of sustainable energy and local public transport on the islands, in addition to personal financial support for newcomers. Projects promoting mental health are also to be supported.
In addition to the harsh climate in the far north: the Scottish islands promise phenomenal landscapes and are considered a popular travel destination. Maybe they’ll be something for your next vacation too?
This article was first published in August 2021.
Freelance twitter maven. Infuriatingly humble coffee aficionado. Amateur gamer. Typical beer fan. Avid music scholar. Alcohol nerd.
