Guest blog: We love where we live – but unjust added costs can push people into poverty in rural areas

This great introduction was used by Izzy at the first ever Taking Action on Rural Poverty national event.

Hello everyone, I am Izzy and I live in Lochgilphead, a small town in Argyll and Bute. I have been asked to tell you about some of the challenges we face living in rural Scotland on a low income.

I have been participating on the Argyll and Bute panel discussing the unjust costs of rural living. The panel has brought together people from all areas of Argyll and Bute and from different ages and stages of life giving us as broad a take on the topic as is possible.

I spent most of my life living in the village of Tayvallich so it was a big move coming to live in the town. If I run out of milk or anything else, I just pop down the hill to get some right up to 10 pm. In the village, though we did have a wee shop it's hours were limited so when new folk moved to the village they quickly learned not to run out of the essentials.

Small local shops are a godsend to remote areas but they are a very expensive way to shop. Even here in Lochgilphead with easy access to a Co-op, a Tesco Express, a Morrisons Daily and a Spar, shopping is more expensive.

These shops are smaller than the supermarkets many of you will use and as a result they stock a smaller range and it seems that it is the cheaper and own brands that are missing.

I could go to Oban, where I can choose from Aldi and Lidl as well as the Big Tesco or even fill my freezer at Farmfoods. This involves an 80 mile round trip which will cost me about £15 in fuel. To go by public transport is not a viable option if you want to do a big shop but also you would either have a very limited time there or you have to make it a day trip so any money saved by taking the bus is negated by having to buy a meal.

Others on the panel face similar issues with access to affordable grocery shops and with public transport not meeting their needs.

Travel is also a big issue to us living here when we need to go to hospital appointments. These are most often in Glasgow and for me usually at the Royal Infirmary which is 90 miles away. This takes over 2 hours and sometimes longer if The Rest and Be Thankful is closed. The consultation often lasts 10 minutes then you get back in the car for the return journey. Of course we stop at the big supermarket to fill the boot and the fuel tank, hopefully saving a few pennies. Since the trip is an all day affair you need to buy a meal adding more to an already expensive trip.

A lot of these appointments could be done locally. We have heard of people driving to Glasgow for a pre-op appointment which involves having your weight, height and blood pressure taken. These could be done at a local hospital.

Now these trips are bad enough for me but for those living on islands the challenge is even greater with the added cost of a return ferry trip and an even longer time away which sometimes involves an overnight stay. If someone has children they will also have to arrange childcare which is not only expensive but not easy to find.

On that subject, childcare is a real problem here. The lack of places, the cost the hours available and possibly additional travel. Some villages have early years provision which of course runs the same hours as the primary schools. There are nurseries and child minders in the towns but places are hard to get and expensive too.

Many of the jobs in this area are tourism or health care related and these jobs are not 9 to 3, nevermind 9 to 5 - so before and after school care is problematic at best.

Don't be put off living in rural Scotland by all these issues, where I live is beautiful and I really could not imagine living anywhere else. However don't think moving here is easy, Argyll and Bute were one of the 1st local authorities to declare a housing emergency. Here we have the highest rate of second homes in Scotland. This depletes the available housing and pushes up prices beyond the reach of most locals.

Social housing is increasingly difficult to come by and waiting lists are long. Private let's are not plentiful either and these rents are rising faster than wages.

Properties here are not on the gas grid so are traditionally heated by electricity or oil, both expensive options, and not all properties are able to be retro fitted for air source heating or even insulated to todays standards. When you listen to the weather man telling us the temperatures to expect overnight listen to how often he says " but these will be lower in rural areas " . This means our heating is on for longer every year adding more to these already high costs.

Over the months on the panel we have discussed all these issues and more. It has been easy to find out what the problems are and although we all see things slightly differently we are all struggling to make ends meet one way or another. Most, likely me, love where we live but we need understanding of the additional costs to living here and we need to get that message out.

Poverty in rural Scotland exists just as it does in the town and cities but we have additional costs here that push people further into poverty.

Thank you for reading my rural rant.