We’re quite well prepared for lots of time when there’s not much going on.
Nobody around, and sort of fending for ourselves.
So I feel a bit of a fraud really, because being on here it’s out with what I see everyday,
I’ve got no TV or anything like that, so I don’t really know what’s going on, and
I’m not bombarded with it every five minutes which I think a lot of people are.
We’re very fortunate really to be in this situation, you know, compared to a lot of
folk, it’s er, it’s not good, you know, it’s not good at all. But, no, we’re very
fortunate, we don’t forget that you know.
Jason! He’s a springer, when he decides he wants his walk it’s now. Sorry. This
is the lounge, in the lounge right now this is all for the staff, the people that live here.
We’ve closed the hotel, of course. We employ 20 people here and about 15 live in, and so
this is their home. I think it’s my job, and my responsibility to ensure that they
remain in their home. And that’s what’s happening, they’re remaining in their home.
And we are absolutely lucky, really, really fortunate to be on an island, and it’s not
actually closed, but there’s only really residents tooing and froing.
This has really been a bit of a slap to everybody hasn’t it. It’s really a shock, and it
really is. Everything closed, I mean, who would have thought it, who thought it could
ever happen.
I’m Wayne Hamilton, and we’re on the island of Inch Kenneth. I’ve not really got a title,
but I caretake the island, manage the island. It suits me, it doesn’t suit others, you know?
There was all stories, you know, of etchings on the glass, in one of the bedrooms, in Unity
Mitford’s bedroom upstairs, and she supposedly put swastikas on there, and all this. So we
came here with an open mind, and sure enough, that wasn’t the truth.
I do like remote areas, you know, and the scenery is just amazing, um, the community,
great community. I can go weeks without seeing anybody, but that suits me. It can also get
very lonely as well in the winter time, when the weather is really bad and it’s dark early.
I’m an ex-Royal Marine so it doesn’t scare me at all… But um… No it can be kind of
spooky but er, with the windows rattling and the doors creaking.
Come on, say hello to your dad. Ok? Shall we go for a walk?
I remember watching an article on Coronavirus in China, I live on Mull, and it’s not a
problem, you know? It’s sort of grew arms and legs pretty quickly, and I do know that
the community has just sort of come together and said right, we’ve got to get on with
it. Just anything anybody can do they’ll do.
We’re part owners of two scallop boats. Boys delivering things all over the island,
the community has rallied round as far as that goes, it’s a good community.
Do you know how many volunteers we’ve had, is that right?
Yeah we’ve got, all over the island we’ve got 200 to 300 volunteers.
We’ve had a lot of donations, to the food bank as well.
It brings a tear to your eye, genuinely it’s very very emotional.
We’re pulling together so much that we will come of this as a stronger unit.
I think, we’ll come back stronger. I’ve talked to people in the village, when you’re
lining up to go into the shop, at the Co-Op, that I’ve never talked to before. All of
a sudden everybody wants to say hi, and how are you? And the words I hear a lot are stay
safe, and are you ok?
I’m sure that people have made friendships, out of this situation, that possibly wouldn’t
have happened, had it not happened. And I think that’s a good thing, you know? It’s
got to be a good thing.
Bit like a winter storm. Batten down the hatches and wait until it’s sorted itself out, we’ll
be ok I think. Yeah.