Organising Committee

Following a long and varied 30-year career in Policing which started in London in the late 80’s, Gordon, a native of Orkney, retired from the position of Orkney’s Police Area Commander in 2017. His years of experience in the planning and policing of major events and incidents across both the UK Mainland and more recently in Orkney, along with his strong leadership qualities attracted the attention of the Island Games Bid Committee which he joined in 2017 before taking on the role of Organising Committee Chair following the award of the (now 2025) Games to Orkney. In his younger days growing up in Orkney, Gordon was a keen swimmer, competing and medaling for Orkney in the North District Championships. Over the years he engaged in a wide range of sports including football, squash, cycling, and sailing and now runs a successful local Tour Operator business which he set up in 2019.

Beccy's involvement with the International Island Games began way back in 2004 when she managed the cycling team going to the Shetland Island Games of 2005, where she also competed for the first time. Since that time, she has sat on the Orkney Island Games Association Committee in various roles, from Cycling and Triathlon Team Manager to Treasurer and latterly as Orkney 2025 Representative.

She was involved from the first stages of planning and putting together Orkney's Bid to host the Island Games, and since that success, has stepped onto the Orkney 2025 Board as we prepare for our Games in 2025. She brings with her specialisms from her day job as a Human Resource Manager for the largest Independent Community Pharmacy business in the North of Scotland, as well as a creative mindset and a problem-solving attitude.

Ryan is a director of Scholes CA, where he started back in 2011, and went on to complete his qualifications to become part of the leadership team in 2021. Ryan has years of experience helping SME’s across Orkney, Shetland and mainland Scotland.

A keen footballer and follower of sport locally, Ryan has followed Orkney’s involvement at previous Games and is excited to be part of organising what is sure to be an amazing event for Orkney in 2025.

Robbie is a former radio producer/presenter for the BBC in Orkney. During his 20-year career, he reported from all the Island Games since 2003 right up to 2019. This sparked his interest in the event, and he joined the Orkney Island Games Committee in 2013 as Vice Chairman, taking over the top job the following year. He was also secretary of the committee which was successful in the Orkney bid.

Over those years he has built up a large circle of friends within the Games family. Robbie’s main sports were football and badminton. He is looking forward to his role on the Board, and meeting friends old and new.

Kirsty began her career in hospitality, working for Hilton International, before specialising in events. Having worked across the UK and Europe, she brings with her a wealth of vital knowledge and skills, with over 20 years of Events Management experience. Kirsty has previously been involved in such prestigious events as the London Olympics in 2012, the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, the 2018 European Championships, and 2019 European Indoor Athletics Championships, as well as a variety of festivals, conferences and conventions.

She is delighted to be part of the Island Games family and working to make the 2025 International Island Games a huge success for Orkney.

Previously employed at Amazon's corporate office in Edinburgh and before that, a former Warfare and Air Traffic Control Officer in the Royal Navy, Jo has plenty of both operational and event-specific experience to bring to the role of Deputy Games Director.

She moved with her family to Orkney in September 2021 to manage the Covid Testing Centre in Kirkwall and is now honoured to be able to represent Orkney in delivering what promises to be a fantastic International Island Games in 2025.

Bev Clubley was head teacher of a 3-16 school in South Yorkshire and chair of the board of directors of a multi-academy trust. She
is chair of the Orkney College Management Council and vice chair of University of the Highlands and Islands Regional Strategic Committee. With all that done she moved, with her husband, Richard, for a very different life in Orkney.

Bev loves working with both adults and children. As a teacher she specialised in English and drama and her greatest joys came from directing large scale (record 400 children) musical theatre productions. She’s hoping some of those skills will be useful to the Island Games in Orkney in 2025, and can’t wait to get stuck in.

After working for nearly 30 years in various IT and digital roles with Orkney Islands Council, Sweyn has recently become an independent digital and IT consultant. Although a bit of digital jack-of-all-trades, he has special interests in online and hybrid live events, improving digital connectivity and skills for everyone, especially in Orkney, and the design and implementation of systems to be both user-friendly, and simple to support and maintain. Voluntary roles have included technical and live-streaming support for Orkney International Science Festival, administrative roles (many years ago) with the St Magnus Festival, and various roles with local theatre groups, including Stromness Drama Club, The West End Theatre Company, Kirkwall Arts Club, and others.

Sweyn is delighted to join the Orkney 2025 team, confident that the Games will be a great “festival of sport”, and keen to make sure that the technical aspects of what is required are designed to a high standard, and support all the competitors, officials and supporters who will come from around the world to take part.

Naomi’s background is in transport policy, planning and management. Naomi first came to Orkney to take up the post of Head of Transportation with Orkney Islands Council back in 2006. Formerly and subsequently, Naomi has worked in a consultancy capacity specialising in transport and wider community aspects. She is a Non-Councillor Board Member of the Regional Transport Partnership, HITRANS.

Naomi has always been involved in sport, and since being in Orkney has played both netball, as well as rugby for Orkney Dragons, and is a regular runner. Naomi lives on Stronsay, and is an expert in navigating transport timetables to get her family and the Stronsay junior netball team to sports training and matches! Naomi is looking forward to using her knowledge around transport and contacts in the county and beyond to support the successful movement around and for the games.

Liz has lived in Orkney since 1983 and became a principal in a veterinary practice in 2002 and has been involved in running and developing this business till 2019. She has held several volunteer posts in the community such as School Boards and Community Council as well at the Orkney 2025 Board from its inception.

Liz has also been involved in the sporting community all this time primarily as a hockey player. Her three children have all been involved with sport in the county and have attended various Island Games.

Liz will use her knowledge and contacts in the county to recruit and train the large number of volunteers required to run a successful Island Games in 2025