In brief: The Government of Jersey has awarded a £150,000 grant to help athletes cover travel and accommodation costs for the 2027 Island Games in the Faroe Islands. The one-off funding, distributed by Jersey Sport, comes from forecasted underspends in the Department for the Economy. Without support, competing was expected to cost each athlete more than £3,000.
The Price of Competing
Sending a team of 240 athletes to the Faroe Islands next summer was shaping up to be an expensive business. The BBC reports that participation costs had been expected to exceed £3,000 per person, raising genuine fears that Jersey would field a smaller squad than anticipated across the 14 sports on the programme. That figure is a notable step up even from the 2025 Island Games in Orkney, where travel and accommodation costs of around £2,000 per person were already causing concern among competitors.
The Faroe Islands, sitting in the north Atlantic between Iceland and the UK mainland, are not exactly on the budget-travel circuit. To tackle the logistics, Jersey, Guernsey and a number of other islands have been in discussions about chartering a plane from Southampton to fly athletes to the archipelago, a practical solution that could bring costs down considerably if it comes together.
Where the Money Comes From
The £150,000 grant has been made available as a result of forecasted underspends within Jersey’s Department for the Economy, according to the BBC. It will be distributed by Jersey Sport. The fact that this is described as a one-off grant is worth noting: athletes and sporting bodies should not bank on a similar lifeline appearing ahead of every future Games.
Senator Serena Kersten, Jersey’s Assistant Minister for Sustainable Economic Development and a former England netball captain elected to the States of Jersey earlier this year, welcomed the funding. “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,” she said. She added that she was concerned athletes might “miss a great opportunity to compete on an international stage simply because of affordability,” and argued that supporting athletes now was essential if Jersey is serious about hosting a future Island Games and inspiring the next generation.
Jersey’s Island Games Ambitions
The timing of this investment is not without strategic logic. Jersey came second in the medals table at the 2025 Island Games in Orkney, winning 30 gold, 25 silver and 20 bronze medals, a performance that underlines the island’s competitive credentials on the small-nations sporting stage. Jersey has previously hosted the Island Games in 1997 and 2015, and the BBC reports that it hopes to host the event again in 2035. Sending a full, competitive team to the Faroes in 2027 is, in that context, as much about maintaining the island’s reputation as a serious sporting community as it is about the athletes themselves.
The grant also reflects a broader point about the economics of small-island sport. When travel to a single event costs more than many people’s monthly salary, participation becomes a privilege rather than a right. Closing that gap, even partially, matters.
Source: BBC News
