It’s 3pm on a Friday, and the village hall is humming with a special kind of energy. I’m stationed at the front door, a stamp in one hand and a raffle book in the other, welcoming day trippers, locals and overnight guests alike into our community space.

The group that has just entered, I had spoken to them not 40 minutes beforehand, showing them to their rooms and beds within the island’s Bunkhouse and showing them where to find the recycling bins. And they quickly made their way here, to the heart of the village, to join us in a momentous celebration.

Fifteen years ago, our village became community owned. And last week, we marked that anniversary together - residents, returning faces, a few curious visitors, gathered to celebrate not just a date on the calendar, but everything the purpose has come to mean.

For the last few days, a bunch of us have been hunched over in the village hall, cutting out 16-point stars with facts about the village and painting mismatched signs to hang around the exhibition we’ve been planning for months. There’s something grounding about setting out chairs and trays of home baking, testing out the hot water urns (and fixing the last minute leaks), and stocking up on fresh milk from the shop. There was a buzz to the planning, and it had all led to Friday’s get together.

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