What a year 2024 has been…Christmas reflections at WildLuing.

What a year it has been! A year of continuing to grow on our foundations of 2023, and also to trial new events and activities. Thank you for the continued support of guests, locals and followers, we really appreciate you being part of the WildLuing journey.

March:

·         We welcomed Rob Wainwright, Mark Beaumont and other fundraisers for the My Name5 Doddie Foundation. The team of cyclists stayed at WildLuing and continued their journey to Italy to the Six Nations rugby match. It was great to cheer them on and see them raise so much money for Motor Neurone Disease.

May:

·         Violet Stopford Yoga held a yoga retreat at WildLuing.

June:

·         Hosting a small American group at WildLuing including a farm tour and trying local Luing produce.

·         Santosha Scotland hosted a yoga retreat on site.

July:

·         We hosted a whisky and gin tasting evening with Ooshka Bar. This was attended by 16 locals and visitors to the island. Ooshka Bar were very knowledgeable, and everyone enjoyed cocktails and drams overlooking Torsa Bay on a sunny summer evening.

August:

·         We held our first Tastes of WildLuing with The Wild Cooke event. This packed weekend included a foraging walk, a farm tour with Jack and Emily, a beautiful homemade lunch by Kitty and Lucy, harp and Gaelic song led by Mary-Ann, a ‘Drink like a Forager’ cocktail afternoon session  and an evening meal for 17 people using foraged and local produce.

·         Scotland’s Farm Advisory Service held their meeting on Luing including having a farm tour and talk about conservation grazing on Luing with the Luing cattle and ‘no fence collars’ to manage grazing and increase biodiversity. Also highlighted was the new wetland habitat creation and restoration of peatland on the farmland.

September:

·         We hosted our 2nd press trip and highlighted all the great things Luing and neighbouring Scarba have to offer.

·         The annual beach clean with Scottish Coastal Clean Up took place this month as well and we cleared an area of Blackmill Bay including conducting a litter survey and a drone survey. Thank you so much for coming to do this Kerrie and Vicki.

October:

·         We hosted our autumnal weekend with Ballintaggart and Nc’nean Distillery. This included afternoon whisky with Amy from Nc’nean, a beautiful evening feast for 16 people with Ballintaggart and a Sunday morning seafood CookSchool Masterclass.

·         NatureScot visited Scarba to see the progress of woodland restoration as part of the Turning the Tide project.

It was lovely to have been able to support both the Mod when it came to Oban in October and also the World Stone Skimming Championships hosted on Easdale with sponsorship and prizes. Both of these events are linked to our own slate island and its local area.

This year we have been featured in:

Mail on Sunday, The Scottish Field, Scotland Magazine, The Guardian, The Observer Magazine, Conde Nast Traveller, BBC Argyll, British Travel Journal, The Scotsman, Luxury Lifestyle Magazine, Metro, NI Travel News, Tie the Knot, The Executive Magazine, The I Paper, The National, The List, Suitcase Magazine, The Olive Magazine and Travel Curator amongst others.

On another separate note - If you are wanting Luing beef for Christmas do check our socials for information and prices to order in the next week. Delivery is available locally or collection.

What is coming up in 2025…

Lots of things to look forward to in 2025 including our onsite sauna, new and returning events. Please sign up to our monthly newsletter, Instagram and Facebook page to get our newest updates and event details.

Again, thank you for all the love for WildLuing this year and now for a short rest over the seasonal period.