Tanera Mòr is the largest of the Summer Isles with a natural beauty and proud history that captivates all who have visited her shores. In her heyday she operated a bustling herring station which employed 120 people as part of the prosperous fishing industry on the west coast but ultimately fell in to decline and then ruin. The ongoing project has undertaken an island-wide restoration, including the derelict herring station, breathing new life into the structures and ruins that remained and to the ecology of the island.

This project is a model for sympathetic, authentic and ambitious restoration and repurposing. The ongoing focus is built around respect for the heritage of the island and the regeneration of communities and place. The approach is considered and appropriate and once complete will see the island become a centre of heritage and hospitality.

Such an impactful regeneration project in this rural area needs to be in long term secure ownership, and so the organisation delivering the regeneration is owned by a charitable trust. This enables the appropriate guardianship to be built around philanthropic goals and retain community at its heart.

To continue supporting the charitable objectives into the future, Tanera will ultimately have a commercial aspect to underwrite the outreach and charitable aims already at the core of the project.

The ongoing regeneration project is a substantial capital investment project engaging up to 150 people, and has brought considerable local regeneration and employment opportunities for many, including acting as a magnet for specialist trades and career enhancement for others. The charitable aims are generously supported by Ian Wace.

Tanera has three historical hubs which are being restored, and the project has sourced some building materials from the island itself reducing carbon impact considerably, with every property using restored and repurposed building materials, fixtures, fittings and furniture. It is this commitment to repurposing that contributes so much to the alchemy to Tanera.

It is the alchemy of place, time, resources, vision and people that makes the Tanera project so extraordinary. The project is being delivered discreetly and without fanfare, working closely with local communities, an approach wholly compatible with the values of Tanera.  Visitors to Tanera are captivated by the quality of the work and the warmth of the community that is embracing this project.