News

‘Memories of 25’ Winners announced

We’re delighted to announce the winners of its ‘Memories of 25’ competition, which invited young people to share their most cherished experiences of the Island Games hosted on Orkney last year.

Our competition received over 70 entries from young people, ranging from the ages of five to 19, where they shared their personal and colourful memories from last year’s incredible Games, which brought so much joy and sporting passion to Orkney. These included poems and written descriptions of the events young people saw, as well as a range of brilliant drawings which brought what they saw during the week of competition in July 2025 to life.

These memories have also been collated and are on display through the Replay Memories website and app, ensuring a long-lasting legacy for the Games, providing Orcadians with the chance to have a library of memories they can fondly look back upon.

The winning entries were displayed at the recent Orkney Sports Awards, which you can see below and are now on show at the Orkney Library and Archive in Kirkwall until the middle of February. 

We’re delighted to announce the prize winners of each category as listed below:

Primary P1 - P3 (Ages 5 – 7)           

Winner - Finlay Harcus

Runner-Up - Leyla Harvey          

Third Place - Florence Keldie               

Primary P4 - P5 (Ages 8 – 9)              

Winner - Cara Harcus  

Runner-Up - Lana Morris              

Third Place - Murray Kennedy            

Primary P6 - P7 (Ages 10 – 11)           

Winner - Evie Bain

Runner-Up - Ivy Garson

Third Place - Alfie Cromarty

Young Adults  (Ages 12+)

Winner - Jody Groundwater

Honourable Mention - Elly Burns

Other highly commended entries across all categories

Livvy Shearer
Elena MacPherson
Isabella Scott
Olly Mackay
Finlay Griffiths
Amelia Anderson
Corla Spence
Haylay
Joni
Kalli
Ruby Joanne Paterson
Jenna Eunson
Nicol Learmonth
Bryn Gibson
Leighton Kevin Groundwater

Thank you from our CEO

Chris Wilkins MBE, Co-Founder and CEO of Sporting Memories, was thrilled with the competition and the amazing memories shared by young people of Orkney.

“We’d like to thank all of the young people across Orkney who entered our ‘Memories of 25’ competition. We were overwhelmed with the high quality of entries, with many capturing the brilliant spirit and positive reactions the Games received during the week of sporting action.

“We are also grateful for the support of the Orcadian with this competition, allowing us to share the details across Orkney and encouraging young people to submit their entries.

“The decision-making process was tough, but ultimately we are thrilled to announce the winners of the competition and also invite everyone to visit our Replay Memories website, where all the competitions entries will be permanently displayed.”