Katie and Josh settle on Fair Isle as another house and croft is advertised
Katie and Josh have moved with their two children to Fair Isle, the UK's most remote inhabited island, where another house and croft is advertised.
How it was covered
- BBC One was the only channel found covering it, concentrating on a family's practical new life on Fair Isle and the advertised croft.
- Channel 5, BBC News, BBC Two, Channel 4, GB News, ITV and Sky News: not found in tracked broadcasts.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.
BBC News reported that Katie and Josh left their jobs and previous life in North Yorkshire to move with their two children to Fair Isle, the UK's most remote inhabited island. According to the same report, Katie, a former secondary teacher, and her partner Josh, an electrician, moved to the island with Teddy and Hetty three months ago.
BBC News reported that Fair Isle lies halfway between Orkney and Shetland and has a population of around 60. It said Katie's previous home was in Redcar, North Yorkshire. The report said she is now a crofter and also works in early years provision at the school, while Josh has been changing the island's batteries over to new lithium ones as part of efforts to make Fair Isle self-sufficient.
BBC News reported that Teddy and Hetty are two of the five pupils at the local primary school, meaning the school has just five pupils in total. Katie told BBC News that she looks after sheep and hens, bakes bread every morning and spends time with family. She told BBC News: 'You get a mortgage, you get a car, you book holidays and you have to work to keep that up. Coming here would just cut all that out and it's just back to what really matters and that is family time.'
BBC News reported that the island's owner, the National Trust for Scotland, has advertised another house and croft, and that the family are expecting new neighbours. According to the report, life there requires someone who is a jack of all trades, independent but also able to work in the community. The report said Katie and Josh plan to marry next year and have considered holding the wedding on Fair Isle. Katie told BBC News: 'We should do that here too and considering the church is literally next door, why not?' She added: 'This is our life now and we just feel really lucky.'
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| Fair Isle has a population of approximately 60. | |
| Katie's former home was in Redcar, North Yorkshire. | |
| The National Trust for Scotland advertised another house and croft on Fair Isle. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The BBC's report is a warm, human-interest profile of the family's first three months on Fair Isle, built around Katie's reflections on why they swapped a mortgage-bound life for crofting and community work. It gives practical detail on Josh's electrical work and the island's renewable energy, and uses the newly advertised house and croft as a forward-looking peg. There is no scrutiny of the relocation scheme or island housing policy.
- “You get a mortgage, you get a car, you book holidays and you have to work to keep that up.”
- “Coming here would just cut all that out and it's just back to what really matters and that is family time.”
- “We should do that here too and considering the church is literally next door, why not?”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.