Craftsman/manager Ronald John Maclean is enthusiastic about training at the Grimsay Boatshed. “It is preserving an important part of this island’s heritage, it provides an opportunity for young people to learn traditional skills which have relevance for today’s world, and it also provides a valuable service for the local community. We like to work with young people because they are enthusiastic. Boatbuilding gives them something they can really get involved in and improve their skills and concentration.”
Over the centuries the island of Grimsay, tucked between North Uist and Benbecula has depended on fishing and this industry itself was supported by a local boat-builders, principal among them being the Stewarts of Ceannairidh. But with the passing of the older builders, boat building declined and threatened to die out. However, with the establishment in 2003 of the Grimsay Boatshed Trust which Ronald John heads up, the outlook is altogether more promising. Ronald John leads the Grimsay training project whose name, An t-Ionnsachadh Og comes from an old Gaelic saying, an t-ionnsachadh òg, an t-ionnsachadh bòidheach (learning young is learning well) The Project has been able to provide a full-time pre-vocational training place for a young local man, Cailean MacAulay. He is apprenticed to Ronald John and from him is acquiring advanced joinery and specialist boat-building skills. Cailean in turn passes what he learns to secondary school pupils who attend the boatshed’s new  boat building centre.
When An t-Ionnsachadh Og started there were no traditional boatbuilding qualifications in Scotland. Encouraged by Sgoil Lionacleit, (the local high school) and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the Boatshed created a new course, Traditional Boatbuilding Skills , which is now an SQA-approved, two-year award for secondary school pupils. This is part of a move towards work-based learning combining local traditions with the future needs of young people and the community.

With the whole ethos of the Grimsay project being to build confidence and self-esteem among young folk through passing on traditional skills to a new generation, LEADER+ was able to provide support amounting to nearly £26,000 over the two-year project. Furthermore, not only is the project based in a peripheral area, but also it helps to sustain indigenous culture and makes a valuable contribution to the local economy. These also are attributes which accord well with the aims and aspirations of LEADER+
Secretary to the Grimsay Boat Trust is Mary Norton and she acknowledges the importance of this LEADER+ funding in establishing An t-Ionnsachadh Og. “Both LEADER+ and the Scottish Arts Council were crucial to this step in our development; they have been very supportive. The Boatshed combines community-based training, maintenance of the local fishing fleet, and Uist’s boatbuilding heritage. This is a dynamic balance which can change and develop in response to future needs.”
The Boatshed seems well-advance with plans and initiatives to build on the project and to make the transfer of these traditional skills to new generations sustainable in the longer term.