I first came to Skellefteå in the summer of 2023 to provide holiday cover for Paul Connolly at the then recently started Norran English. There was a definite air of something big happening in this small but rapidly growing town. Two years ago there was a weekly massive influx of people from all over the world and a lot of the stories that garnered interest was about housing as the local developers were chanceless in building fast enough for the demand.
One could feel the optimism, the unequivocal pride in the town and the warm welcoming atmosphere from the locals of all newcomers. I giggled a little bit to myself when every second person on the street was wearing a t-shirt or cap representing their local area but it also felt completely justified – they should be proud of this place.
One also got the niggling feeling that if this for whatever reason doesn’t work out it will be completely devastating for the whole town.
I’ve recently spoken to people who have been interviewed over the last year to get an update about them. All of their stories are equally heartbreaking and interesting. I’m sure I'm not the only one curious to find out how they are doing now. There are some common threads through these people’s stories, how they’ve fallen in love with the beauty and tranquillity of the place, how their children have quickly rooted themselves, found friends and learned the language.
They all now also tell similar stories of the town becoming emptier, their neighbours disappearing, online marketplaces filled up with entire households that need to be got rid of, the green dream that they invested so much in crumbling.
There is also impressive optimism, both for a buyer taking over and restarting the factory and for everything turning out alright for their families even though their immediate futures are still very uncertain. I can’t help feeling that it is those who are under the most pressure, the non-Europeans under tight deadlines, that exude most optimism and take great care to not be seen complaining even though they have every right to do so.
It has been completely devastating for many but with the type of resilience expressed there is every hope that it will eventually be fine in the end.
If you want to know more about these human stories; read all parts of the series Where are they now.
This is a column and the views are the author's own.