Latest News (December 2000)

Sailing Sponsorship
THE sailing events in next year's NatWest Island Games have received a major sponsorship boost. Manx Telecom has donated £20,000 towards the purchase of 20 International Laser Class dinghies. This will ensure that every competitor will be supplied with a brand new boat for the first time.

After the Island Games, the dinghies will be used to train young sailors in the Island for future international competition.
Peter Whipp, co-ordinator for sailing at the Games, said: 'This very kind sponsorship from Manx Telecom has made my dream of everybody competing in identical new boats a reality. '
'As a bonus, the boats offer local young sailors a unique opportunity to train for future Games and should transform the sport in the Island in years to come.'

The £20,000 cheque was handed over by Mike Cook, director of customer services at Manx Telecom.

Volunteers Wanted!
THE organisers of next year's NatWest Island Games are looking for 1,000 volunteers to help make the event a success.

Organising committee executive chairman Canon Brian Partington said: 'The Isle of Man has a tremendous history of backing events, not least the TT. We need ordinary people to make this happen. People to steward, sell things to make sure where everyone is going.'
Committee games director Mike Ball, Department of Tourism and Leisure director of leisure, added: 'It is a major event. The logistics are absolutely enormous. We have a very strong organisation committee. 'What we are asking for is the community to pull in behind the games, to give their time as they did so generously in 1985, to make our visitors welcome.'

Games administrator and sports co-ordinator Gary Jakeman said: 'As the organising committee we are appealing to the population to come forward to act as volunteers in a myriad of ways.' Representatives of 22 islands from as far afield as Greenland, on the edge of the Arctic Circle, to the Falklands in the south Atlantic, will travel to the Isle of Man to compete in 15 sports from July 7-13. Some 2,500 sportsmen and woman will make the journey, and with officials, other team members and supporters the total number of visitors is expected to be 5,000. Mr Jakeman said: 'It is mind-boggling. Thankfully we don't need 47,000 volunteers like the Sydney Olympics nor the 15,000 Manchester is in the process of recruiting for the Commonwealth Games, but we are hoping for an all out effort from the Isle of Man.'
Mr Partington added: 'There could be people who are involved in football who find themselves in swimming. Equally some people may wish to say they only want to be involved in football.'

Volunteers are needed to act as drivers, computer operators, first aid providers and catering staff. The committee also needs administration staff, marshals, information staff, security, linguists and announcers. If you want to volunteer you can pick up an application form from the National Sports Centre, Douglas, or call the hotline on 665933.

Or you can view the Volunteer form by clicking here - it will open into Internet Explorer or Netscape in a new window and so click on the File option at the top of the window and select Save As.. - it will automatically have the name VolunteerForm.doc - save it into My Documents, or a folder of your choosing.

You will need to have Microsoft Word installed to properly read and edit this document.
Once you have filled in the form you can then send an e-mail to Gary Jakeman ( enquiries@jakeman.enterprise-plc.com ) and attach the document to the e-mail.
Here are some brief instructions on how to attach a document to an e-mail in Microsoft Outlook and Hotmail ( as these are two of the most commonly used ).

Microsoft Outlook - Click the new button on the top left to open a new e-mail window, enter Gary's e-mail address ( enquiries@jakeman.enterprise-plc.com ) then click on the paper clip symbol on the menubar above ( between the picture of a hand writing on a piece of paper and the library book ), this will then open an insert file window from where you select the volunteer document from My Documents ( if you saved it there of course! ). The file should then appear in the e-mail main window - you can then write any text you want and then click send.

Hotmail - Select the Compose button near the top of the screen, enter Gary's e-mail address ( enquiries@jakeman.enterprise-plc.com ) and then click the Attachments button, this then opens the Attachments screen where you have to browse for the file - you may have to double click on my computer in the choose file window and move to the My Documents folder and select the Volunteer form. Once you have done that, click Attach to Message and wait for the Volunteer Form to attach to the e-mail. Once it is attached it should show in the Message Attachments window at the bottom, now click on Done. You can now enter any text you want into the main e-mail window and click on Send.

Accommodation
Although many premises are now fully booked by competitors and officials for the NatWest Island Games next July, there is still a wide variety of accommodation available to visiting supporters. There are vacancies in hotels, bed and breakfast, self catering and campsites.

For up to date information on accommodation please contact the Isle of Man Department of Tourism:
Tel: 01624 686766
Fax: 01624 686800
Website: http://www.gov.im/tourism
E-mail: tourism@gov.im

As an alternative the Isle of Man Department of Tourism have organised the popular Homestay Scheme to operate during the period of the Games.



Homestay
The Homestay scheme has successfully operated for a period of over ten years to accommodate the many additional tourists who come over to the Isle of Man every June for the TT Motorbike festival.
The scheme provides for tourists to be accommodated in private homes on a bed and breakfast or self catering basis.
Information and listings of Homestay premises will be available in January 2001 on the NatWest Island Games website.

John Christal (2001 Results Co-ordinator)

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