The Isle of Rùm is a tranquil spot about 30 miles west of the Scottish coast. Tax-paying citizens are in short supply here. There are around 30 times more deer than people on Rùm. So the small community launched a campaign to attract new residents to the island. With success.
Buffy Cracknell and Alex Mumford, for example, followed the call to the island. The couple pitched camp in Bristol, England, packed a van and drove across the UK to start a new life on the remote island. And that without even having been there once. Thanks be to Corona. Due to travel restrictions imposed by the pandemic, the two have been unable to get a feel for the place they now call home. Before arriving there on November 26, they only knew the island from photos on the internet.
"The biggest change for us was getting used to planning ahead for our new self-catering home," Buffy said in an interview with Stern. Your new two bedroom, one bathroom home has a wood burning stove, oil tank for central heating and solar panels for hot water. Plus, everything you need comes by ferry, so Buffy says it's important to plan ahead.
Around 30 people live on the island of Rùm, according to the BBC, only two children go to the local primary school. Two small hydroelectric power systems provide electricity to residents who are literally cut off from the outside world.
To attract new residents, the local council built four new houses with broadband internet connections in the hamlet of Kinloch and encouraged people from all over the world to rent the houses. The appeal was aimed at "individuals and families who would like to be a part of island life". Special skills to boost the local economy are particularly welcome, as are families with children. According to the BBC, there were more than 4,000 inquiries and around 440 serious applications.
Buffy and Alex, ages 29 and 31 with no children, got one of the nods. With them, three other British couples were selected with a total of six children. Steve Robertson, development officer for the island, is particularly happy about the offspring: "We have six new children, all under eight years old, which is wonderful," he told the BBC. "We desperately needed new people to make Rùm an outward-looking, dynamic island and it's great to see these little tots running around here."
Buffy justified her move primarily with nature: "We both have always enjoyed being in the middle of nowhere," she told BBC Scotland. "Life on Rùm is getting wet, but we are really looking forward to community life". She particularly likes the idea that everyone will know everyone there. And: "Being in nature, being able to go for long walks and not having to rely on the car."
During the lockdown, they were "stuck" in their Bristol flat and thought that this couldn't be all. Then they came across the call and simply went through with it. "Life's too short to procrastinate," Buffy said.
The two tried to arrive on the island as prepared as possible. They had 27 cans of beans and 12 cans of chopped tomatoes. Educator Alex hopes to be able to work at the school and at the day care center that is due to open next year. Buffy will continue to do online marketing from Rùm. The two document their adventure on their Instagram channel "House by the Stream".
And in the long term, the two plan to also take care of new Rùm citizens. Alex told the BBC: "If we're going to have kids, it's going to be in a place like this."
Sources: Isle of Rum / BBC / Bristol 24/7 / Inews
