Island hopes the beach and home working will lure young back

A Welsh island is hoping working from home and its miles of beach will stop its "unsustainable" exodus of young people.

A high-powered remote meeting in the morning and a quick paddleboard at lunch is the work-life balance dream Anglesey is advocating as it tries to lure back a generation that moved away for work.

The county off the coast of north-west Wales has seen one of the UK's sharpest birth-rate drops and "concerned" islanders are figuring out how to stop their "brain drain".

But local MP Llinos Medi said: "People can come back to Ynys Môn (Welsh for Anglesey), working for a company based in London or Cardiff."

The tranquility of Anglesey makes it attractive for those that have retired but the exodus of young people in the opposite direction is "worrying".

Census data already showed the population, which is about 70,000 people, was declining and now only four other areas in England and Wales have seen a bigger drop in birth-rates than Anglesey.

So their fight back has begun in the hope the same natural beauty that attracts more than a million tourists a year might bring more islanders who can work remotely, like Will Matthews, back home.

The 35-year-old moved back from London to run holiday cottages on the island's west coast at Rhosneigr - 20 minutes from where he grew up in Llanddaniel Fab - with his brother Jack.

"We could run our business from anywhere but we choose to run it from here," said Mr Matthews, who thinks Anglesey is a nicer place to bring up his child Cosmo with wife Emily.

"Since Covid, companies are happier hiring people without being dependant on location and that's the big shift in my eyes.

"To gain those skills, unfortunately you do have to leave, but a lot of people can then come back and stay in their preferred location.

"I can finish work and can be out on the water in five minutes, or up on the mountains."

However, for those unable to work from home, big and well-paid employers, like the Wylfa nuclear power plant, have closed so some have left in search of employment.

"The clearest way to try and buck the trend is to secure investment and see more high quality job opportunities being paid on the island," said Anglesey council's chief executive Dylan Williams.

"In professional areas we don't have enough high-quality jobs with high salaries and career progression opportunities."

The average home on the island costs £243,158 compared with the UK average of £268,087 and there are long but direct trains to London, Cardiff and Birmingham, as well as the port of Holyhead.

"We're a connected island and have digital connectivity," said Medi.

"We live in such a nice area. That work-life balance is something employers need to think about."

Birth rates on Anglesey have dropped more than a third from 763 babies in 2013 to 486 in 2023 and the median age has risen to 48 - above the Welsh average of 42.

"Its quite a worrying trajectory we're on," Medi said.

The island hoped more than 1,000 well-paid jobs would be created at a new nuclear power station next to the now decommissioned old one, but 16 years since it was first proposed, Wylfa Newydd is still on the drawing board.

That affected some of the island's youngsters like Sion Emlyn Lloyd who planned for a career 30 minutes from home but has now moved 300 miles away for work.

The 25-year-old was a Wylfa Newydd apprentice before the plan was initially shelved but landed another chance at the Hinckley Point nuclear site in Somerset.

"It was difficult moving to somewhere you don't know and leaving your family and friends" said Sion.

"Around half of my friends from school have left the island, everyone's going across the border to England.

"I don't think there are enough opportunities, we need more high skilled jobs in the area. There's a risk of a brain drain and it almost becoming a retirement island."

Jacob, Freddy and Oli, all live in the port town of Holyhead, but all plan to move away because of the lack of opportunities and don't know if they will return.

"There's not a lot of opportunities for young people," said Jacob, who wants to work in engineering.

"For a more ambitious job you have to move away, there's not a lot of big jobs on the island with Wylfa shutting down."

Like Jacob, Oli is also at Ysgol Uwchradd Bodedern and wants to do a culinary course at university and doesn't know if he will return.

"It's quite boring...there's nothing to do," he said. "Most places here are nice but just out of the way."

Daisy, however, plans to go away to study an apprenticeship but wants to return to the island's RAF's base at Valley, where Prince William was stationed.

"People say there's nothing to do here," said the 17-year-old. "But there's nothing to do if you don't go out and look for it.

"My mum works for a massive company in Cardiff but does it here because its the place she loves and where she's lived her whole life."

One primary school shut last year after only nine pupils were left on the register and some school registers have fallen "dramatically", so much so the council has held a public consultation over the future of its sixth form provision.

While Medi said the trend is "worrying", she feels "there are opportunities".

The island was given freeport status in 2023 and there are tidal schemes in the pipeline off the Holyhead coast.

"We need to make sure we don't feed the wrong message to our young people," said Medi

"A lot of young people have been told from a very young age that there are no opportunities here but when I meet businesses, they tell me they can't fill the jobs. We maybe need to change that mindset."