Island Games fever takes hold in transformed Orkney

A huge transformation has taken place in Orkney to make it the setting for the largest international multi-sport event to take place in the UK this year - the Island Games.

Hundreds of volunteers, businesses and accommodation providers have spent much of the past week making final preparations before the opening ceremony on Saturday.

The event is comparable in size, in terms of competitor numbers, to the Winter Olympics but has been planned by and will be delivered mainly by volunteers - with just three people employed by Orkney 2025.

Hardly anyone in the area will be unaffected by the arrival of more than 2,000 athletes and officials alongside thousands of spectators.

One of the biggest challenges has been accommodation and some hotels are already full with spectators and regular visitors.

Classrooms and gym halls in four schools - Stromness Academy, Stromness Primary, Papdale Primary and Kirkwall Grammar School - have been turned into dormitories.

Craig Hewison, from Orkney Builders, was among the workers who inflated and made up more than 800 beds in total.

"The teachers - they did a grand job - they'd tidied up all the stuff in there, so we came in, put everything into storage and blew up the beds," he said.

"I am quite impressed with the beds, I was a bit dubious, but once they are all blown up they are actually quite good - I have slept on much worse."

The school canteens will open to provide meals round the clock for people staying there and additional cooks have been recruited.

Another 200 competitors will stay in units that arrived flat-packed from the Netherlands and were then assembled using a crane.

The rest are staying in hotels, bed and breakfasts and hostels with a small number doing home stays.

Shops and businesses have been preparing by decorating their windows and putting up bunting.

The Kirkwall Business Improvement District (Kirkwall BID) has a 'games on the green' event with fun activities for people to enjoy.

Manager Morgan Maxton-Walls said: "There is a really good atmosphere and really good feel around the street."

She added: "The Games haven't even started and the town is really busy, everyone has got into the spirit of things.

"You can look around the street and see that all the local businesses have really put in a lot of effort into decorating, having special things for the Games, it is just a really wonderful feeling."

On Friday, Kirkwall Airport will have one of its busiest days on record.

Some 572 competitors and officials are arriving in Orkney by plane - 265 are coming by ferry from Aberdeen and 843 from Caithness.

Some have chartered direct flights - but they have been limited by the size of plane which can land on the relatively short runway.

Orkney's athletes are busy preparing too with lawn bowls being held at the Games for the first time.

Four members of the Rendall family will be taking part across the singles, pairs and triples matches - juggling their commitments with running their bakery.

Husband and wife George, 61, and Ruth, 64, will be joined, by their son Greg, 34, and his wife Isla, 30.

Isla - who is an optician - said: "There is a fair bit of bowls talk at the minute - it is inescapable really.

"I have joked with the other side of my family if you need to see me, come to the green or book an appointment with me."

Anna Tait was Orkney's golden girl back at the Gotland Games in 2017.

She won both the 1,500m and the 5,000m setting two Games record in the process.

Since then she has moved to San Francisco and been hampered by injuries but is back for her home games.

"I've got a lot more racing experience under my belt I would say and I think a different appreciation for the sport," she said.

"Pressure is a privilege as Serena Williams says, there is nothing like running on your home track with all of your people around you.

"It is so nice, being able to hop out the gate at my house, get on my bike and roll down to Picky (the local name for the Pickaquoy Centre)."

There is a musical aspect to the Games too, with a performance planned at the opening ceremony.

Primary school pupils have adapted Peat and Diesel's hit song My Island to include lyrics about Orkney and the other islands involved.

Another piece composed by secondary pupils from Stromness Academy and Kirkwall Grammar School called Aurora Orcadia will also be premiered.

It will then be used for the medal ceremonies throughout Orkney's spectacular sporting week.