Jersey's government to give £150,000 for Island Games travel

Jersey's government has given a grant of £150,000 to help sports people with their travel and accommodation expenses for the 2027 Island Games.

Competing in the week-long event in the Faroe Islands next summer had been expected to cost more than £3,000 per person.

It had led to fears that Jersey could send a smaller team from the anticipated 240 that had been expected to compete over 14 sports.

It is expected that the one-off grant will help lower those costs and will be distributed by Jersey Sport.

It has been made available as a result of forecasted underspends within Jersey's Department for the Economy.

Jersey, Guernsey and a number of other islands have been in talks about the possibility of coming together to charter a plane from Southampton to fly athletes to the Faroes, which lie in-between Iceland and the UK mainland in the north Atlantic ocean.

"Reducing barriers in sport is crucial to the long-term health of our Island and I'm really pleased that we've been able to assist for 2027," said Senator Serena Kersten, Jersey's Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development.

"I'm concerned that our athletes might miss a great opportunity to compete on an international stage simply because of affordability," added former England netball captain Kersten, who was elected to the States of Jersey earlier this year and has ministerial responsibility for sport.

"If we are serious about hosting another Island Games in the future and inspiring the next generation, we have to support our athletes now and help them realise their dreams."

Jersey came second in the medals table at the 2025 Island Games in Orkney, winning 30 gold, 25 silver and 20 bronze medals.

But that games saw concerns from sports people at costs of around £2,000 to travel and stay in Orkney.

Jersey hopes to host the 2035 Island Games, having previously been the home to the event in 1997 and 2015.