The Island Project - Inchconnachan
Donation protected
The Island Project - Inchconnachan - www.inchconnachan.co.uk
Help us save Inchconnachan, Scotlands own ‘wallaby’ island from being turned into a private holiday home, and support the opening up of the unique island to the community through an eco-retreat, complete with a new sensitively designed lodge which offers a visitor centre for nature walks and tours, educational excursions, respite holidays to people with disabilities, a small cafe offering and unique camping experiences.
Please note, due to the quick timescales of getting the proposal together and the closing date of the sale being the 12th August, we are taking advice on the best method of setting up and delivering the project should be we successful in our bid, from a Charity, Land Trust, CIC, Social Enterprise, Community Benefit Society etc.
Spearheading the project is Elise Wilkes-Brand, the youngest of three sisters whose father used to live on the island as a warden, this family are the “last people to live on the island” and know more than any others how precious this location is, and how important keeping it as a community location is.
Our desire to save the island stems from the strong emotional attachment we share with the island, we remember spending our childhood on the island, swimming in the loch, exploring the islands beautiful forests and beaches and playing with the local wallabies.
We can’t bear to see the island sold off and turned into a private holiday home, so instead, we have a grand plan to restore the island and its lodge to its former glory, to open it up and share its beauty with the public.
We would love to make our dreams become a reality, so please help us raise enough money to purchase the land and fund the new eco-tourism hub, which is being offered internationally at a starting bid of £500,000 but is expected to sell for at approximately £1,000,000.
The closing date for the application is 12th August so we have 3 weeks to raise the funds to be in with a chance of turning this dream into a reality!
We will offer a bid with whatever amount of funding we raise, however if it is declined for a higher offer, the money will then be used to support the John Muir Trust, People’s Trust for Endangered Species and Enable Scotland, who work with the environment, wildlife, endangered species, education and people with disabilities. This way, whether we succeed or not, ‘The Island Project’ will have a lasting positive impact for the causes we care about.
A little about the island
Inchconnachan is one of a few islands situated in Loch Lomond, which sits in the shadow of Ben Lomond, Scotland’s most southerly munro. The island is designated as a Area of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Area of Conservation and is in the Trossachs National Park.
It has the most beautiful forests of oak, birch and conifer trees, stretches of untouched sandy beaches, and is home to the endangered Capercaillie grouse, and very unique to scotland, a wild mob of red-necked wallabies!
The Island been owned by the Colquhoun family since the 14th century and the name of the island originates from the Gaelic Innis Chonachain, meaning The Colquhoun's Island. The 1920‘s wooden lodge which is now derelict, was built for the tea merchant Admiral Sullivan, and later became the holiday home of Lady Arran Colquhoun who originally introduced the wallabies to the island!
The 103 acre island has now come up for sale, and is being offered internationally, with planning permission to demolish the old cabin, and building a new private holiday home which can only be used 90 days of the year.
A little about us
I am Elise, the youngest of the three sisters who’s father lived on the island. I am a chartered architect with experience in both community and sustainable architecture, and have visions of a minimum impact use on the island, from raised woodland walkways ensuring no impact on the ground, to a beautiful eco lodge that can be a centre for the community industry we could host on the island. My partner has a background in outdoor education and activities, including kayaking, climbing and mountaineering, all of which are ideal to help set up this project.
My eldest sister Danielle and her husband run a daycare centre for adults with disabilities which would be a key knowledge for us to create an outstanding respite location on the island, this would be a unique and amazing space for individuals to use, her husband is a qualified construction manager and can oversee the construction work.
Jo, the third sister is our main cheerleader, she is currently fully occupied working as a sheep farmer, however Jo will be supporting us emotionally from the side lines and is fully supportive of this project.
We were the last people to live on the island, and even after our father moved away some 20 years ago, the island has remained very much a part of us. With all of us having regularly visited the island and the now dilapidated lodge where we used to stay, and always manage to spot the wallabies who were once so familiar. The local residents of Luss frequently recognize us arriving and have always helped provide boat access over to the island!
We don’t want to see the Island become privatised by an international buyer who holds no sentimental attachment, and instead we want to ensure the continued protection of the island, the heritage and the wildflife by establishing the island as a nature reserve. We also feel strongly that the community will benefit far more from our vision, than a privatized buyer making a glamorous and large holiday home for occasional use throughout the year.
Between us, we have an outstanding shared set of skills, from architecture and construction, ecology degree, to land and property management, which will enable us to set up, design, build and manage the project. We have experience in setting up and running businesses which will stand us in good stead to get this project off the ground. We are excited that the opportunity has finally arisen to purchase the neglected island, to give it the love and attention it deserves, and to share its unique offering with the community.
The Island Project
The aim is to purchase the island and set up a community orientated organisation to manage a new eco-retreat, which will offer educational teaching, disability respite holidays, adventure tours, nature walks, and a unique camping experience amongst the wild and beautiful surroundings.
We want to open the island to visitors, increasing tourism and business to the surrounding areas and in turn, support the local businesses, restaurants, hospitality offerings, and the local boat service.
Please note, due to the quick timescales of getting the proposal together and the closing date of the sale, we are taking advice on the best method of setting up and delivering the project should be we successful in our bid, from a Charity, Land Trust, CIC, Social Enterprise, Community Benefit Society etc.
The Eco-Hub
The 1920‘s Colonial-style timber lodge, although in a poor state of repair and earmarked to be demolished, has a history and charm to it, and of course a sentimentality, which we wish to respect and honour. Therefore it will be sensitively redesigned to fit in with the wild and remote setting.
The new lodge will be of Passiv design, and will aim to be fully self sufficient, harnessing its own electricity and heating using natural resources, collecting rainwater for use within, use sustainably resourced materials in the construction and have an overall positive impact on the environment.
Access to the island will be improved, with a rebuilt jetty, to allow public to safely visit the island from the local ferry. A rib will also be moored to increase safety of the island and surrounding waters.
The offering
The eco-hub will function as a educational/visitor centre with a café offering of tea, coffee and the island's home grown blaeberry/bilberry pie!
Educational excursions will be run on the island and around the loch, for young children and adults. These will offer education on the history of the islands and lochs, education on the wildlife on the island, a back to nature experience with wild camping and wild cooking.
The island will also offer respite care to those with disabilities, creating safe and supportive spaces in seemingly wild and remote areas, and ensuring the island and its facilities are fully accessible to all. By offering respite holidays, we are hoping to create a unique offering in the heart of Scotland's National Park.
We will run nature walks via a designated, architectural designed boardwalk, which will weave through the island to showcase the magnificent forests of oak, birch and conifer trees, and the unique wildlife, opening up the beauties of the island to visitors, whilst maintaing a safe distance and as low an impact as possible.
The island can also run corporate team building weekends, for those city dwellers seeking a bit of a more of a wild and adventurous experience.
There will also be a selection of unique camping pods (subject to planning) for those wishing to visit the Trossachs and get ‘back to nature’ with a stay amongst one of Scotland's most remote landscapes. The pods will immerse residents fully with the islands surroundings, allowing for a complete remote experience, with ‘back to basics’ facilities, camp fire kitchens, beds under the stars and the sound of water lapping the sandy shores and wind rustling through the trees to send you to sleep, and perhaps the occasional thumping of a wallaby running by!
The loch itself is already popular for wake-boarding, sailing, kayaking and angling, which we would also encourage and support from the island, in collaboration with local adventure organisations.
Protection of the Island
We aim to work with a local environmental organisations to set up a woodland management program to maintain and enhance the abundant forests and ecology of the island.
We will also contact universities who provide Ecology and Environmental management degrees to work with their students, to gain greater understanding, while preserving and documenting the unique location. The camping pods can provide residential field trip opportunities for studies, something that all university students studying these degrees are required to undertake.
We also aim to work with the National Park biodiversity action plan, which identifies the need to conserve the native habitats and species that inhabit Luss Islands. With the help of local wildlife organisations, we aim to set up an ecosystem protection project for the local wildlife, especially the endangered Capercaillie grouse, and also the wallabies, who although not native to the island after being introduced at the end of the World War Two, have thrived happily, and with the sale could be legally removed from the island if the new owner wishes.
Please help us!
We need to raise a minimum of £500,000 to meet the sale starting offer, but based on the scottish sale system, we will need to enter the highest bid we can afford to stand a chance of surpassing other interested parties, which has been suggested at £1,000,000.
The closing date for the application is 12th August so we have 3 weeks to raise the funds to be in with a chance of creating this ambitious project!
We will offer a bid with whatever amount of funding we raise, however if it is declined for a higher offer, the money will then be used to support the John Muir Trust, People’s Trust for Endangered Species and Enable Scotland, who work with the environment, wildlife, endangered species, education and people with disabilities.
This way, whether we succeed or not, ‘The Island Project’ will have a lasting positive impact for the causes we care about.
We are also happy to offer the following unique experiences based on the project being successful.
- Donations up to £1000 A place in our hearts forever and special mention on the website inchconnachan.co.uk, and within the new eco-tourism hub.
- Donations of £1000+ Guided tours from the new visitor centre, around the island and a chance to see the infamous Wallabies.
- Donations of £5000+ A weekend camping, in the new uniquely designed camping facilities on the wild and remote island.
Thankyou for reading and wish us luck!!!
Help us save Inchconnachan, Scotlands own ‘wallaby’ island from being turned into a private holiday home, and support the opening up of the unique island to the community through an eco-retreat, complete with a new sensitively designed lodge which offers a visitor centre for nature walks and tours, educational excursions, respite holidays to people with disabilities, a small cafe offering and unique camping experiences.
Please note, due to the quick timescales of getting the proposal together and the closing date of the sale being the 12th August, we are taking advice on the best method of setting up and delivering the project should be we successful in our bid, from a Charity, Land Trust, CIC, Social Enterprise, Community Benefit Society etc.
Spearheading the project is Elise Wilkes-Brand, the youngest of three sisters whose father used to live on the island as a warden, this family are the “last people to live on the island” and know more than any others how precious this location is, and how important keeping it as a community location is.
Our desire to save the island stems from the strong emotional attachment we share with the island, we remember spending our childhood on the island, swimming in the loch, exploring the islands beautiful forests and beaches and playing with the local wallabies.
We can’t bear to see the island sold off and turned into a private holiday home, so instead, we have a grand plan to restore the island and its lodge to its former glory, to open it up and share its beauty with the public.
We would love to make our dreams become a reality, so please help us raise enough money to purchase the land and fund the new eco-tourism hub, which is being offered internationally at a starting bid of £500,000 but is expected to sell for at approximately £1,000,000.
The closing date for the application is 12th August so we have 3 weeks to raise the funds to be in with a chance of turning this dream into a reality!
We will offer a bid with whatever amount of funding we raise, however if it is declined for a higher offer, the money will then be used to support the John Muir Trust, People’s Trust for Endangered Species and Enable Scotland, who work with the environment, wildlife, endangered species, education and people with disabilities. This way, whether we succeed or not, ‘The Island Project’ will have a lasting positive impact for the causes we care about.
A little about the island
Inchconnachan is one of a few islands situated in Loch Lomond, which sits in the shadow of Ben Lomond, Scotland’s most southerly munro. The island is designated as a Area of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Area of Conservation and is in the Trossachs National Park.
It has the most beautiful forests of oak, birch and conifer trees, stretches of untouched sandy beaches, and is home to the endangered Capercaillie grouse, and very unique to scotland, a wild mob of red-necked wallabies!
The Island been owned by the Colquhoun family since the 14th century and the name of the island originates from the Gaelic Innis Chonachain, meaning The Colquhoun's Island. The 1920‘s wooden lodge which is now derelict, was built for the tea merchant Admiral Sullivan, and later became the holiday home of Lady Arran Colquhoun who originally introduced the wallabies to the island!
The 103 acre island has now come up for sale, and is being offered internationally, with planning permission to demolish the old cabin, and building a new private holiday home which can only be used 90 days of the year.
A little about us
I am Elise, the youngest of the three sisters who’s father lived on the island. I am a chartered architect with experience in both community and sustainable architecture, and have visions of a minimum impact use on the island, from raised woodland walkways ensuring no impact on the ground, to a beautiful eco lodge that can be a centre for the community industry we could host on the island. My partner has a background in outdoor education and activities, including kayaking, climbing and mountaineering, all of which are ideal to help set up this project.
My eldest sister Danielle and her husband run a daycare centre for adults with disabilities which would be a key knowledge for us to create an outstanding respite location on the island, this would be a unique and amazing space for individuals to use, her husband is a qualified construction manager and can oversee the construction work.
Jo, the third sister is our main cheerleader, she is currently fully occupied working as a sheep farmer, however Jo will be supporting us emotionally from the side lines and is fully supportive of this project.
We were the last people to live on the island, and even after our father moved away some 20 years ago, the island has remained very much a part of us. With all of us having regularly visited the island and the now dilapidated lodge where we used to stay, and always manage to spot the wallabies who were once so familiar. The local residents of Luss frequently recognize us arriving and have always helped provide boat access over to the island!
We don’t want to see the Island become privatised by an international buyer who holds no sentimental attachment, and instead we want to ensure the continued protection of the island, the heritage and the wildflife by establishing the island as a nature reserve. We also feel strongly that the community will benefit far more from our vision, than a privatized buyer making a glamorous and large holiday home for occasional use throughout the year.
Between us, we have an outstanding shared set of skills, from architecture and construction, ecology degree, to land and property management, which will enable us to set up, design, build and manage the project. We have experience in setting up and running businesses which will stand us in good stead to get this project off the ground. We are excited that the opportunity has finally arisen to purchase the neglected island, to give it the love and attention it deserves, and to share its unique offering with the community.
The Island Project
The aim is to purchase the island and set up a community orientated organisation to manage a new eco-retreat, which will offer educational teaching, disability respite holidays, adventure tours, nature walks, and a unique camping experience amongst the wild and beautiful surroundings.
We want to open the island to visitors, increasing tourism and business to the surrounding areas and in turn, support the local businesses, restaurants, hospitality offerings, and the local boat service.
Please note, due to the quick timescales of getting the proposal together and the closing date of the sale, we are taking advice on the best method of setting up and delivering the project should be we successful in our bid, from a Charity, Land Trust, CIC, Social Enterprise, Community Benefit Society etc.
The Eco-Hub
The 1920‘s Colonial-style timber lodge, although in a poor state of repair and earmarked to be demolished, has a history and charm to it, and of course a sentimentality, which we wish to respect and honour. Therefore it will be sensitively redesigned to fit in with the wild and remote setting.
The new lodge will be of Passiv design, and will aim to be fully self sufficient, harnessing its own electricity and heating using natural resources, collecting rainwater for use within, use sustainably resourced materials in the construction and have an overall positive impact on the environment.
Access to the island will be improved, with a rebuilt jetty, to allow public to safely visit the island from the local ferry. A rib will also be moored to increase safety of the island and surrounding waters.
The offering
The eco-hub will function as a educational/visitor centre with a café offering of tea, coffee and the island's home grown blaeberry/bilberry pie!
Educational excursions will be run on the island and around the loch, for young children and adults. These will offer education on the history of the islands and lochs, education on the wildlife on the island, a back to nature experience with wild camping and wild cooking.
The island will also offer respite care to those with disabilities, creating safe and supportive spaces in seemingly wild and remote areas, and ensuring the island and its facilities are fully accessible to all. By offering respite holidays, we are hoping to create a unique offering in the heart of Scotland's National Park.
We will run nature walks via a designated, architectural designed boardwalk, which will weave through the island to showcase the magnificent forests of oak, birch and conifer trees, and the unique wildlife, opening up the beauties of the island to visitors, whilst maintaing a safe distance and as low an impact as possible.
The island can also run corporate team building weekends, for those city dwellers seeking a bit of a more of a wild and adventurous experience.
There will also be a selection of unique camping pods (subject to planning) for those wishing to visit the Trossachs and get ‘back to nature’ with a stay amongst one of Scotland's most remote landscapes. The pods will immerse residents fully with the islands surroundings, allowing for a complete remote experience, with ‘back to basics’ facilities, camp fire kitchens, beds under the stars and the sound of water lapping the sandy shores and wind rustling through the trees to send you to sleep, and perhaps the occasional thumping of a wallaby running by!
The loch itself is already popular for wake-boarding, sailing, kayaking and angling, which we would also encourage and support from the island, in collaboration with local adventure organisations.
Protection of the Island
We aim to work with a local environmental organisations to set up a woodland management program to maintain and enhance the abundant forests and ecology of the island.
We will also contact universities who provide Ecology and Environmental management degrees to work with their students, to gain greater understanding, while preserving and documenting the unique location. The camping pods can provide residential field trip opportunities for studies, something that all university students studying these degrees are required to undertake.
We also aim to work with the National Park biodiversity action plan, which identifies the need to conserve the native habitats and species that inhabit Luss Islands. With the help of local wildlife organisations, we aim to set up an ecosystem protection project for the local wildlife, especially the endangered Capercaillie grouse, and also the wallabies, who although not native to the island after being introduced at the end of the World War Two, have thrived happily, and with the sale could be legally removed from the island if the new owner wishes.
Please help us!
We need to raise a minimum of £500,000 to meet the sale starting offer, but based on the scottish sale system, we will need to enter the highest bid we can afford to stand a chance of surpassing other interested parties, which has been suggested at £1,000,000.
The closing date for the application is 12th August so we have 3 weeks to raise the funds to be in with a chance of creating this ambitious project!
We will offer a bid with whatever amount of funding we raise, however if it is declined for a higher offer, the money will then be used to support the John Muir Trust, People’s Trust for Endangered Species and Enable Scotland, who work with the environment, wildlife, endangered species, education and people with disabilities.
This way, whether we succeed or not, ‘The Island Project’ will have a lasting positive impact for the causes we care about.
We are also happy to offer the following unique experiences based on the project being successful.
- Donations up to £1000 A place in our hearts forever and special mention on the website inchconnachan.co.uk, and within the new eco-tourism hub.
- Donations of £1000+ Guided tours from the new visitor centre, around the island and a chance to see the infamous Wallabies.
- Donations of £5000+ A weekend camping, in the new uniquely designed camping facilities on the wild and remote island.
Thankyou for reading and wish us luck!!!
Organizer
Elise Wilkes-Brand
Organizer