A TINY Scottish island with massive sheer sea cliffs and beautiful blue waters is offering a rare job with a salary of almost £40,000.
The island of Foula is just 16 miles west of Shetland and 100 miles from the mainland and spans five square miles.
It’s home to around just 35 islanders, most of which are crofters who make a living from farming the rare and colourful Foula sheep.
The island was known in Roman times as ‘Ultima Thule,’ which roughly translates as ‘the edge of the world.’
And it was famous in 1936 after the classic movie of the same name was made there.
But today it’s still a haven for sea and moorland birds, including Great Skua, which divebomb anyone walking too close to their nests.
Foula is now looking for a full-time district nurse to join the population and handle emergencies alongside GPS and the ambulance service.
NHS Shetland is looking for someone who can “deliver truly person-centred care and support to individuals across the life span”.
This is an exciting and permanent job opportunity to live and work on a beautiful remote island, with resilient and friendly people, within a rural crofting community
Liz Peterson
And the job has a salary range of £37,831 to £46,100 – with added benefits including distant islands allowance and possible relocation assistance.
The new nurse would be the first point of contact on the isle.
Applications for the role are now open and will close on Sunday, June 23.
Islander Magnus Gear said the island is looking forward to welcoming a new resident.
He said: “It is vital for us to have a nurse in place.
“We are very lucky with Oscar Charlie [the coastguard search and rescue helicopter] and the other emergency services that will respond to us.
“But in health care, you have a limited time to have successful intervention so to have a nurse based here is of huge reassurance to the permanent population and also to visitors.”
And he explained that the island itself now boasts much-improved connectivity with superfast internet speeds.
Gear added: “The post advertised is not just for planned and emergency health care in Foula, which is important to the local population.
“But NHS Shetland also hopes to use the successful applicant’s skills on a remote working basis.”
STUNNING ISLAND
WHAT do you get in return for making the effort to get to Foula?
Guided walks are available from the Foula Ranger Service and Foula Heritage can also give you maps and information on self-guided walks.
It’s not big, at just five square miles, but it is dramatic, with one of the highest sheer sea cliffs in Britain, Da Kame, standing at an impressive 1,233ft.
If you are a keen diver, you’ll love Foula. It’s surrounded by shipwrecks including the RMS Oceanic, owned by the famous White Star Line, makers of the Titanic. Launched in 1899 as the ‘Queen of the Ocean’ it was drafted by the Navy during WW1 and ran aground three miles east of Foula, on its maiden Navy voyage.
Don’t miss seeing the Gaada Stack, a two-arched sea stack, supported on three legs, and the Sneck o da Smallie, a massive two-meter wide natural fissure in the rock that leads down to the sea.
You can get to Foula via a two-hour ferry crossing from Walls, on the mainland, which operates three times a week. It’s not a car ferry and booking is essential. Be prepared to stay as day trips are impossible by sea.
And here’s an interesting fact – Foula still uses the Julian calendar and celebrates Christmas Day on January 6 and New Year on January 13. Self-catering accommodation available from £55 a night see foulaheritage.com
Liz Peterson, a councillor for Shetland West, said it was an “exciting opportunity” for interested parties.
She said: “This is an exciting and permanent job opportunity to live and work on a beautiful remote island, with resilient and friendly people, within a rural crofting community.
“This job provides vital care for the islanders.
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“And is a unique post which ensures the Foula folk are able to be looked after, whilst continuing to live on their isle of unspoilt beauty.”
Anyone interested in applying for the job can find out more here.