This Is Islay

In May 2023, Jolyon interviewed Fiona Kalache MBE who manages Mid Argyll Youth Development Services, known as MAYDS. In this role, Fiona provides support and guidance to the programmes offered on Islay by the Mactaggart Youth and Community Outreach Services (MYCOS). MYCOS was formerly known as MYFOS and the Mactaggart Cyber Cafe in Port Ellen, but offers a broad range of services and activities for young people and other islandwide community groups.

Note: This is a companion episode to the interview with Lynn Johnstone, also with MAYDS, focussing on Mental Health Support and first released in October 2023.

More information can be found at:

In this episode Jolyon Thurgood and Glen Roberts talk with Lesley McCall, Secretary of the Fèis Ìle Committee, as she and her colleagues get ready for the Islay Festival which takes place from May 26th to June 3rd 2023.

Fèis Ìle - The Islay Festival - is a gathering of whisky and Islay fans from across the globe.In the last week of May, we celebrate Islay, her culture and her spirit, in a ten day event that defines the whisky calendar.

Glen and Tom look back over This Is Islay's activities and podcasts during 2022, a year of transition after restrictions imposed by COVID.  We published 9 episodes and expanded our reach to 17 countries.  In addition, we continue to spread the word around Islay and Jura.

We thank you our listeners as well as the various guests and supporters who have made the podcasting journey so enjoyable over the past 3 years.

It's the end of the year, Christmas is coming very soon, and we present our last episode of 2022.  Glen talks with Maureen MacDonald, Headteacher of Port Ellen Primary School - Gold Award winner  Primary School of the Year (UK) from Pearson National Teaching Awards, and recently featured on BBC One's ONE Show.  Glen and Jolyon spread a little good cheer for the season, with a festive greeting from Marion McGregor at the Gaelic Centre.

Islay's new ferries are eagerly awaited.  In this episode, a conversation with Nasir Udin, Senior Civil Engineer with CMAL – Caledonian Maritime Assets – and This Is Islay's Glen Roberts, discussing the upcoming port improvements which will take place in Port Ellen as well as Port Askaig, Colonsay and Kennacraig, all in preparation for two new ferries under construction in Turkey and scheduled for service in late 2024 and early 2025.

Glen speaks with Angus Rice about the recent updates at Bruichladdich Hall, and upcoming events planned for the Hall.  Angus Rice is the Chairman of the Bruichladdich Hall Committee.  Many thanks to the various teams of volunteers and contractors who assisted with the work, including the efforts of Islay Development Initiative.

This Is Islay is a volunteer-led podcast celebrating the people, places, events and connections which shape the Islay and Jura communities.

Introduced by Jolyon Thurgood, this episode highlights the upcoming music events on Islay and Jura:

An interview with David McArthur, President of the Islay, Jura and Colonsay Agricultural Association.  This Is Islay is a community-led podcast celebrating the people, places and events of Islay and Jura.

This is Episode 15 of This Is Islay, a volunteer-led podcast celebrating the people, places, events and connections of Islay and Jura.

This episode is hosted by Jolyon Thurgood and Glen Roberts, and production was led by Tom O'Farrell .

Thanks to the Port Charlotte Hotel for hosting our Rhinns recording studio.

The goal of This Is Islay is to use podcasting to foster community involvement, education and training, providing resources and facilities to research, produce and promote content for a worldwide audience. We collaborate with Islay High School through the support of their staff and access to their recording facilities, and are working closely with MYFOS to involve the young people of Islay in digital media and podcasting.

This is Episode 14 of This Is Islay, a volunteer-led podcast celebrating the people, places, events and connections of Islay and Jura.

We’re excited to welcome Florence Grey as co-host to this episode, assisted by Jolyon Thurgood.

The goal of This Is Islay is to use podcasting to foster community involvement, education and training, providing resources and facilities to research, produce and promote content for a worldwide audience. We collaborate with Islay High School through the support of their staff and access to their recording facilities, and are working closely with MYFOS to involve the young people of Islay in digital media and podcasting. This episode was recorded at Cyber Sounds Studio in Port Ellen and at the Gaelic Centre (ICCI) near Bowmore.

This is Episode 12+1 of This Is Islay, a volunteer-led podcast celebrating the people, places, events and connections of Islay and Jura.

This is Episode 11 of This Is Islay, a volunteer-led podcast celebrating the people, places, events and connections which shape the Hebridean island communities of Islay and Jura.

This is a special COP26 episode hosted by Tom O'Farrell and Jolyon Thurgood and features:

· Glen Roberts in conversation with the founders of the Islay Times, a newspaper project based at Islay High School .

· Glen Roberts talking with Islay High School students about their school class project

· Jolyon Thurgood in conversation with Dietmar Finger discussing the recent exhibit at the Gaelic Centre in Bowmore, triggered by the COP26 event in Glasgow and Dietmar's own interest in environmental issues.

The goal of This Is Islay is to use podcasting to foster community involvement, education and training, providing resources and facilities to research, produce and promote content for a worldwide audience. We collaborate with Islay High School through the support of their staff and access to their recording facilities, and are working closely with MYFOS to involve the young people of Islay in digital media and podcasting.

This is Episode 10 of This Is Islay, a volunteer-led podcast celebrating the people, places, events and connections which shape the Hebridean island communities of Islay and Jura.

This month’s podcast is hosted by Jasmine Middleton and Jolyon Thurgood and features:

· Glen Roberts in conversation with Georgina Reid, Corporate Affairs Regional Manager for Scottish Water, discussing their major project on Islay which will update and replace water mains in Bowmore over the next 15 months.

· Conversations with the organiser Laura MacInnes and with participants in the Run the Runway event which took place on October 3 2021 at Islay Airport, and which raised funds in support of Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance.

· An update on the official opening of the Lochindaal Way, the dual-use pathway between Port Charlotte and Bruichladdich, and

· Updates on upcoming events on Islay and Jura.

The goal of This Is Islay is to use podcasting to foster community involvement, education and training, providing resources and facilities to research, produce and promote content for a worldwide audience. We collaborate with Islay High School through the support of their staff and access to their recording facilities, and are working closely with MYFOS to involve the young people of Islay in digital media and podcasting.

This is Episode 9 of This Is Islay, a volunteer-led podcast celebrating the people, places, events and connections which shape the Hebridean island communities of Islay and Jura.

This month’s podcast is hosted by Larah McKay and Jasmine Middleton and features:

· Glen Roberts in conversation with Lord George Robertson of Port Ellen about his new book of photography “Islay – A Personal Portrait of the Island”,

· News of the partnership between This Is Islay and Mactaggart Youth and Families Outreach Services (MYFOS) to involve young people of Islay, and

· A special mini-podcast put together by MYFOS participants, featuring local music and recorded at the Cyber Sounds studio in the Cyber building in Port Ellen.

The goal of This Is Islay is to use podcasting to foster community involvement, education and training, providing resources and facilities to research, produce and promote content for a worldwide audience. We collaborate with Islay High School through the support of their staff and access to their recording facilities, and are working closely with MYFOS to involve the young people of Islay in digital media and podcasting.

This is Episode 8 of This Is Islay, a volunteer-led podcast celebrating the people, places, events and connections of Islay and Jura.

This month’s podcast is hosted by Jolyon Thurgood and features:

· An update from Cantilena – chamber music on Islay – as the 2021 Cantilena Festival goes online,

· A conversation with Les Wilson about his new book “Putting the Tea in Britain”.

The goal of This Is Islay is to use podcasting to foster community involvement, education and training, providing resources and facilities to research, produce and promote content for a worldwide audience. We collaborate with Islay High School through the support of their staff and access to their recording facilities.

This is Episode 7 of This Is Islay, a volunteer-led podcast celebrating the people, places, events and connections of Islay and Jura.

This month’s podcast is hosted by Jolyon Thurgood and features:

· Glen Roberts with Pat McGrann, an update on Islay Community Access Group’s Bruichladdich to Port Charlotte path,

· Russell Pollock interviewing Kathryn MacPherson on all aspects of lambing,

· Dietmar Finger discussing his “Islay Faces” portrait exhibition at the Gaelic Centre in Bowmore.

The goal of This Is Islay is to use podcasting to foster community involvement, education and training, providing resources and facilities to research, produce and promote content for a worldwide audience. We collaborate with Islay High School through the support of their staff and access to their recording facilities.

This is Episode 6 of This Is Islay, a volunteer-led podcast celebrating the people, places, events and connections of Islay and Jura.  This month’s podcast is hosted by Gemma MacLean and Jolyon Thurgood and features:

1. Glen Roberts with Larah McKay, Manager at the Mactaggart Youth Community Cybercafe (the "Cyber") together with Orla Campbell and Mara McGillivray of the Youth Forum

2. The Òrain Ìleach Project: Gaelic Songs of Islay by Lynn McDonald and Kenneth Thomson, featuring:

· "Ò Albainn Caoidh" performed by Còisir Ghàidhlig Ìle Islay Gaelic Choir

· Lynn McDonald and Kenneth Thomson in conversation

· "Bheir mi cliu don'eilean mhor" performed by the late Donald MacLeod

3. This month's factoid: National Mòd Gold Medallists

The goal of This Is Islay is to use podcasting to foster community involvement, education and training, providing resources and facilities to research, produce and promote content for a worldwide audience.

This is Episode 5 of This Is Islay, a volunteer-led podcast celebrating the people, places, events and connections of Islay and Jura.  This month’s podcast is hosted by Gemma MacLean and Jolyon Thurgood and features:

1. Nicholas Bowman and Jenny Featherstone describing their lockdown journey around Islay - on foot and by kayak - to bag all 34 trig points,

2. Glen Roberts in conversation with Iain Gibson discussing Robert Burns, Burns Night, “Address to a Haggis” and much more,

3. Mairi McGillivray’s music, a track from her EP “In My Mind” – ”Tha Fadachd orm Fhìn” , and

4. This month’s factoid: what is a trig point?

The goal of This Is Islay is to use podcasting to foster community involvement, education and training, providing resources and facilities to research, produce and promote content for a worldwide audience. We collaborate with Islay High School through the support of their staff and access to their recording facilities.

This is Episode 3 of This Is Islay, a community podcast celebrating the people, places, events and connections of Islay and Jura, hosted this month by Jolyon Thurgood and Tom O’Farrell, featuring: 

1. Glen Roberts in conversation with Dr Pat McGrann of the Islay Community Access Group,

2. Greig Shaw with the Fraser Shaw Trust, music from the Islay Sessioneers: David Foley, Jack Smedley, Jenn Butterworth, and Maeve Mackinnon, and

3. This month’s factoid.

The goal of This Is Islay is to use podcasting to foster community involvement, education and training, providing resources and facilities to research, produce and promote content for a worldwide audience.

This is Episode 2 of This Is Islay, a community podcast celebrating the people, places, events and connections of Islay and Jura.

This podcast features the voices of Greig Barker, Sharon McHarrie, Glen Roberts and Jolyon Thurgood in conversation with each other, with Dougie McFadzean and Gill Chasemore of the Islay Resilience Group, and with the (former) students of Islay High School - Helena, Maisie, Russell and Samantha - recalling their trip to India in 2019.

The goal of This Is Islay is to use podcasting to foster community involvement, education and training, providing resources and facilities to research, produce and promote content for a worldwide audience. We collaborate with Islay High School through the support of their staff and access to their recording facilities. 

This is the first episode of This Is Islay, a community podcast celebrating the people, places, events and connections which shape the Hebridean island communities of Islay and Jura. 

This podcast features the voices of Greig Barker, Sharon McHarrie, Glen Roberts and Jolyon Thurgood in conversation with each other and with Brendan O'Hara, Iain Gibson and Ella Edgar.