Raasay aims to boost locally-grown food production

Community development officer Tom Lusink said islanders hope to boost the availability of fruit and vegetables

Residents of a small Scottish island have plans to increase the amount of food grown locally to help the community be more sustainable.

Raasay, just off Skye, is home to about 150 people and has a community shop, but also depends on deliveries by ferry.

About 60 islanders already their own grow food, but an action plan is in place to boost production of fruit and vegetables further.

Proposals include bringing large Victorian-era greenhouses back into use, and also encouraging increased uptake of allotments.

Raasay is part of the Scottish government's Carbon Neutral Islands project launched in 2022.

Tom Lusink, one of two community development officers working on the project, said much of the community growing initiatives were centred on historic Raasay House.

Grapes and pineapples were once grown in the mansion's greenhouses.

Mr Lusink said: "The garden also has allotments so anyone from the community can grow here, and we’re running a series of get growing classes from seed to harvest to teach them how to grow and if they’d like they can get a plot here."

Raasay is home to about 150 people

The project has already seen improvements made to the island's community hall.

The building's faulty heating has been replaced by a new ground source heating system, and there are new wind and watertight doors.

There are also plans for solar panels and battery storage at the hall.