News

Gearing up for the Island Games

With just a month to go until the International Island Games 2025 takes place in Orkney, we’re stepping up our activities as we look to build a lasting legacy of memories. 

Earlier this year, we announced that thanks to support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund Scotland, we would be teaming up with Orkney 2025 and Orkney Islands Council to create two new Clubs in Orkney as well as a project which will aim to capture memories from not only the upcoming Island Games, but memories from the past 40 years of competition.

What’s happening over the next month

As we build up to the competition starting on 12 July, Sporting Memories will be engaging all of its current Clubs about the Island Games with a specially designed activity pack.

The resource will provide Clubs with information on the history of the Island Games, the island nations participating as well as a range of activities that they can partake in their regular sessions.

If you are a Sporting Club volunteer or facilitator, please visit the Learning Zone on our website to download the activity pack or email contact@sportingmemories.uk to receive your pack directly.

We’ll also be sharing how our Clubs are focusing on the Island Games across our social media channels – so keep your eyes peeled on X, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Sporting Memories Clubs can download our Island Games pack here. 

Post-Games activities

A lot of our activities for the Island Games will focus on developing a longer-term legacy on Orkney.

We will have two Sporting Memories Clubs open following the conclusion of the Games in Orkney, at Kirkwall and Stromness respectively, with the former being hosted at the Pickaquoy Centre, whilst the latter will happen at the Stromness Library.

The Clubs will welcome all Orcadians aged 50+ who want to come along and chat about sport, so if you or a loved one are interested in joining, please get in touch with elaine.harcus@orkney.gov.uk

Over the course of the next few weeks and beyond, we will also be capturing Island Games memories as part of a planned exhibition in Orkney to show the value of the competition as well as sport in Orkney.

How you can get involved

We are currently looking for volunteers in a range of capacity to help us with our upcoming projects on Orkney. These include:

• Volunteers to support the running of our new Clubs in Kirkwall and Stromness
• Volunteers can become ‘Oral Historians’ for us, by capturing memories and anecdotes from those with Island Games memories in Orkney, through conducting and transcribing interviews – more on that here.

If you are interested in potentially volunteering for Sporting Memories in one of these roles, please do get in touch with us and we can provide further information to support your journey with us. Simple email contact@sportingmemories.uk to find out more.