The first team of athletes to begin their journey to the Isle of Man for the Commonwealth Youth Games – St Helena – have already begun their journey. St Helena is a tiny volcanic Island in the South Atlantic Ocean and is part of the British Overseas Territories, which also includes Ascension Islands and the islands of Tristan da Cunha.Saint Helena measures about 16 by 8 kilometres (10 by 5 mi) and has a population of 4,255. The four athletes - Jessica Sim (15) Sarafina Yon (17) Tyrel Ellick (17) and Myles Henry (17) - are joined by 2 officials, Jeremy Roberts and Wendy Benjamin. They are travelling some 1200 miles south to Cape Town by ship before they can begin their 11hrs 30mins flight north to the UK, where travel will then be by coach and ferry before they reach their final destination of the Isle of Man. Because St Helena has no airport and it is serviced by only one ship,(the RMS ST. HELENA, the team is destined to be away from their island home for more that 5 weeks in order to attend the Games. The team are scheduled to arrive back on St Helena on 22nd September. “This is a fantastic effort by the young athletes”,said Eric Benjamin, Chairman of the National Amateur Sports Association of St Helena. “Some of them have not left their Island home previously except to visit the smaller sister Island of Ascension some 700 miles away. One of the athletes has never left the island at all. But distance and time is not going to thwart the courageous ambition of these young people to arrive in the Isle of Man on time for the Opening Ceremony of the Games.” The Falkland Islands team, who are due to arrive on the Isle of Man on 2nd September, are likely to be the first team on the Island, followed by New Zealand who are scheduled to arrive on the 4thSeptember. The majority of teams will be arriving on Wednesday 7thSeptember with all nations returning to their home countries on the 13th September. Every one of the 66 participating nations will have at least one local resident Team Liaison Officer, and two in the case of the larger nations, who are part of the Games Volunteer Programme and who will look after the teams when they arrive on the Isle of Man. Many of the Island’s schools have also participated in an ‘adopt a nation’ programme which has seen them learn about their chosen country. Geoff Karran, MBE, Chairman of the Isle of Man CYG 2011 Organising Committee commented: “This is a tremendous effort by St Helena to be part of the Games and epitomises the spirit and enthusiasm that pervades the event. We look forward to welcoming St Helena and all the other participating teams and giving them a traditional Manx welcome and showing them the excellent hospitality that the Isle of Man is known for.” Tickets for the Opening Ceremony and the sporting events can be purchased from the Welcome Centre, the Villa Marina or from the NSC reception. Tickets for the Opening Ceremony are ?15 and for sporting events range from ?10 to ?6 with concessions in certain sports for disabled and pensioners and juniors. ENDS