Thank you so much for giving us your ideas and thoughts as to how we can all mark the 25th anniversary of the community ownership of the Isle of Gigha.
Below you will find a summary of the ideas – some we already intend to progress, and others we are looking to the Gigha community to help us decide which option(s) to prioritise. Please review the questions below and return your answers to us by paper, email or the online survey by 12 noon on Saturday 14th November 2026.
Overall, the feeling from those that we’ve heard from is that there should be an official ceremony with flag raising and speeches (and more!), there should be a ceilidh, a legacy or memorial should be installed and we should take the opportunity to reflect on and record the last 25 years and the time leading up to the Buy-Out. There is also interest in commissioning commemorative items, involving other island organisations and looking to the future.

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1. Please confirm you are a resident of the Isle of Gigha and provide your postcode.

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2. The first area that we have heard different views on is how the celebration should be organised. We had originally suggested a 3-day event, but there has been some preference to keep it to 1-day so that it is all contained and not over-complicated.

Which of the following options do you think is the best way to celebrate the 25th anniversary? Rank them in order of your preferred to least preferred options.

For the Official Ceremony part of the celebration, we feel that all of the suggestions made are achievable and will make a great day for everyone attending. The suggestions we are looking to progress (subject to funding and availability) are:

· Invite the right people (we are working with members of the community to finalise the invite list – if you have any suggestions, please send them to admin@gigha.org.uk)

· Ensure the day is completely accessible to enable anyone to attend

· Raising the flag

· Pipe band

· Speeches (ensure everyone who wants to can hear them)

· Musical performance of A New Dawn by community members

· School children present their projects

· The legacy/monument is unveiled

· The reflection piece is included/presented

· Launch commemorative items

· Present the Horlick Tractor (renovated by a community team)

· Plant a native oak tree (donated by a community member)

· A John Wood painting is unveiled with an accompanying flag (donated by a community member)

· The Achamore Gardens quilt made by the Ladies of Gigha is raffled off in aid of Achamore Gardens (donated by a community member)

· Launch a “Friends of Gigha” offering

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3. Do you have any thoughts on the plans for the official ceremony described above?

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4. It became clear during our engagement that there is a desire to reflect on the last 25 years, for new islanders to learn from those that were here during the Buy-Out, to review and map how things have changed and to celebrate the successes and reflect on the difficulties. We hope to be able to seek funding and commission a researcher to lead this project, working with the community to gather information, facilitate Q&A sessions and collate material before presenting a final product. We realise that this is likely to be a big project that may not be completed by the 15th March, but could be well-underway and activities could be included in the day as part of the project.

What do you think should be produced as the final output from such a project? Rank the following:

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5. Everyone seemed keen that there should be some sort of lasting memorial, and there were lots of ideas about how that might look – from a simple plaque, to something living, to some sort of artwork.

Which of the following do you prefer - select up to 3

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6. We also had a lot of ideas about commemorative items that could be created for the event, and for sale after the event. Perhaps we could have one higher value item, and a more affordable item. The income from the sale of such items would be ringfenced for specific future projects (e.g. a heritage trail/space).

Select up to 3 of your favourite ideas

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7. As part of the engagement exercise, we asked whether the 25th anniversary should include an element of looking to the future and making plans.

Which of the following activities would you like to see take place in 2027 as a starting point for thinking about the next 25 years? Select all that apply

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8. Finally, a range of additional activities/ideas have been suggested, that don’t quite fit in as part of the official celebration, but could be included around it and could be delivered by other parties.

Please let us know which of these you think should be a part of the celebration weekend:

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9. Thank you for taking the time to let us know your thoughts on the ideas and suggestions.

We will collate all of the responses, communicate the outcome and progress the preferred ways of celebrating. In some cases we may find that we come against barriers that we are unable to overcome, such as high costs, unavailable funding, reliance on external parties, and may need to progress the next best preferred option. We will communicate and any barriers/related topics via membership communications and on the IGHT website.

In addition to the activities above, the community may choose to celebrate in other ways and IGHT are open to having collaborative talks to see how we can integrate and support your further suggestions, even if your business or community group are wholly delivering the outcome.

If you have any further comments please use this space:

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