Games to cost £1,000 for each competitor

IT WILL cost between £1,000 and £1,200 per person for Guernsey to compete in the 2005 NatWest Island Games in the Shetlands. That is before any grants and fund-raising.

John Hunt , chairman of the Guernsey Island Games Association, yesterday agreed with the approximate figure of £1,200 touted last week by the Jersey Island Games committee.

'The cost of staying on the cruise ship is £78 per person per day,' said Mr Hunt.

'It really depends on which way you are going to travel. If we charter flights, basically it means seven nights there, which will be around the £550 mark. If we go up on the boat, that will be another one or two nights, which pushes it up to around £700. That is for board and lodgings. Then you add the cost of getting there, which will be about £500, so overall you are looking at anything between £1,000 and £1,200.'

In the past, the island team has received 'grant in aid' from the States to cover 50% of the travel costs and Mr Hunt said such grants had to be taken into account.

'If that still applies, that would reduce the cost by a considerable amount.'

Even so, it will still turn out to be more expensive to visit the Shetlands than it was going to Gotland in 1999 and the Isle of Man in 2001.

But Mr Hunt emphasised that there were exceptional circumstances due to the Shetlands' isolation and that they should not be used as an excuse to reduce the size of teams. He added that the Shetlands were always prepared to travel to the Games and that is the spirit which should be applied by others.

national airport and is a popular tourist destination.

'But this is a one-off and I think it will be disappointing if the islands turned around and, because of the cost, said we are only taking a limited team. That would be a shame because that is not what the Games are about,' he said.

A decision on how the Guernsey team will travel to the Games will be made next Thursday when the GIGA holds its annual meeting. Staying on board a cruise liner is the only option with regard to accommodation.

Roy Martel, the Games director of Guernsey 2003, volunteered to look into the various modes and costs of getting to the Shetlands and there are several options open.

Included in those are travelling via Condor to England and then going by coach to Tilbury and cruising from there; flying to Aberdeen and ferrying across to the Shetlands; or even going by Condor to Weymouth and coaching up to Aberdeen and then ferrying to Shetland.

But Jersey have narrowed their travel options down to two and Mr Martel believes that those two will be the most likely options for Guernsey.

They will either charter flights direct from Jersey to Lerwick or fly to England and then cruise from Tilbury to the Shetlands.

Chairman of the Jersey IGA Derek Bernard felt that the proposed cost of £1,200 could be reduced considerably through money-spinning events.

Various plans have already been suggested including a breakfast talk with a guest speaker and the 1,000 Challenge. The latter involves every sport being invited to participate in a sponsored two-day event in which, for example, archers would shoot 1,000 arrows, hurdlers leap 1,000 hurdles and so on. The idea originated from Jersey being approximately 1,000km from the Shetlands.

'One of the advantages of this idea is that when we hold the event, every penny raised will go directly to the sport concerned. Those who work hardest will benefit most,' said Mr Bernard.

'In the past, we relied on Sport, Leisure and Recreation to pay up to 50 per cent of the travel costs. But in the current climate as the government is trying to put its house in order, what we will get in two years' time remains the unknown,' said Mr Bernard.

'If we all beaver away at fund-raising, I hope that we can bring the overall cost down by several hundred pounds. I might be sticking my neck out but I'd hope to bring it down to around £700 per competitor. That won't happen, though, without a great deal of hard work.'