Following in the footsteps of his grandmother, who returned to Benbecula to start a B&B on the family croft in the 1970s, and his parents, who took over the family business in retirement, Alasdair Mckenzie and his partner, Phillipa, always dreamt they would one day do the same.

The last in the immediate family line to live in Benbecula throughout his life was Alasdair’s great grandfather, Lachlan, a blacksmith from Aird, and his wife Maggie. Most of their children moved away for work, including Alasdair’s grandmother, Mary, although she later found her way home. Following a career as a nurse at Bellsdyke Hospital in Larbert, she returned to Benbecula with her husband to open a B&B in retirement, keeping chickens, goats and cattle on the croft. Later, her adult child, Billy, Alasdair’s father, also returned in his retirement, taking on the family business and croft.

Following a career in heritage culture based in Edinburgh, the shift in office due to the pandemic provided the catalyst. “The penny dropped,” Alasdair said, “why are we all going into offices if we don’t have to?”

The organisation where Alasdair has worked for the last 20 years have been supportive of his relocation to the islands. Through their inclusive language policy, they provided time and funding for him to take a Gaelic learners short course at Ceòlas with the language into his family for the first time in three generations. The flexibility to work remotely enabled Alasdair to move the family to his ancestral home, where they could offer much needed support to his ageing parents with their self catering business and croft, while allowing his young daughters to experience growing up on the islands.

Where Alasdair’s ties to the islands were rooted in holidays with his brother to visit family, Alasdair and Phillipa’s connection now runs far deeper. Phillipa’s former role as peer support co-ordinator in the Breastfeeding Network brought them into the network of young families. Alongside the girls’ school, extra curricular activities and crofting, their community connections are stronger than anywhere they have lived before.

“So many people have helped us in explaining how sheep work,” continued Alasdair. “A lot of the crofting knowledge my family once had has been lost, so being able to bring that back has been really important.

“There is a perception of the islands being the quiet life but it is totally not.” Proof lies in the activity planner on the Èideann fridge door that resembles a military operation!

With Phillipa having worked part-time at Southern Isles Veterinary Practice and recently returned to work as a Speech and Language Therapist in the NHS, their balance of work and homelife means desk-based activity is broken up with a walk outside to check the sheep during lunch, changeovers for the self-catering business, and a never ending DIY to-do list.

“I think there are more opportunities here, and a deeper connection to the land, to crofting culture, cèilidh culture and community. That feels quite unique. We didn’t want to wait until retirement to move back. We wanted to do it while the kids were young, so they could grow up here and have the option to stay if they want. They might not, you never know what the future holds, but giving them that choice feels really important.”

The move has been especially formative for their two daughters, Rowan and Muireann. Rowan, the eldest, was exposed to Gaelic from an early age, having attended Croileagan Dhùn Èideann before relocating. Both girls are now in Gaelic Medium Education at Sgoil an Iochdair, and flourishing, despite Alasdair and Phillipa’s lack of fluency.

“They do like correcting our Gaelic. That’s one of their favourite things to do!”

Moving to a Gaelic Medium with composite classes, Alasdair only sees the benefit, and is not the only one. A study by Strathclyde University shows many school pupils who learn in composite classes perform better than those in single year cohorts, with similar positive outcomes resulting through mixed-aged play – confidence and empathy building for younger children and leadership and responsibility for older ones. Same age-groups across primary schools then merge in secondary at Sgoil Lionacleit.

Children get to know each other through events and activities outwith school, like sport groups, horse riding, Highland Dancing and Club Ciùil, the music club that runs across Sgoil an Iochdar and Sgoil Bhaile a’ Mhanaich where Alasdair teaches guitar. The family have recently joined the North Uist Athletics Club which brings young and old together.

“The girls really enjoy the local machair run, competing in the cross country running events and handing out sweets during the road races!”.

With the public sector rolling back on work-from-home policies and encouraging employees back to centralised offices, Alasdair hopes they will take a more creative approach for those working from rural locations, recognising the potential of decentralised work and shared spaces.

“I’ve been very fortunate that I could take my job with me, but I think the public sector can do a lot more to island-proof their policies and help encourage more people to work within island communities, to be more innovative, especially around shared offices and co-location.”

For Alasdair, returning to Benbecula has been less about going back and more about carrying something forward. With crofting knowledge being relearned, Gaelic once again spoken in the family home, and his daughters growing up rooted in island life, the generational line that once fractured is slowly being restored. Not through obligation, but through choice.

“You need resilience to live here, but it’s the place for us.”