26 athletes from Northern Ireland set to take part in British Transplant Games 2026

A total of 26 athletes from Northern Ireland will represent the country at the Games, which takes place in Sheffield from August 6-9.

The Games attract around 1,000 athletes and over 1,700 supporters each year, including donor families, healthcare professionals, and volunteers. Team NI will be joining athletes from up to 60 other teams from across the UK for the four days of action.

Running for over 45 years and often referred to as a "celebration of life", the Games consists of 26 high-exertion, low-impact sports alongside a wide programme of social and cultural events, catering to both elite and social athletes.

However, it also promotes the deeper message of organ donation and encourages more people across the world to register and support donation, and to help recipients improve their health and fitness around their transplanted organ.

The Northern Ireland team at this week's Games includes 20 transplanted patients, along with six living kidney donors, three of whom donated to a stranger.

The patients, who have had their lives transformed through donation and transplantation, come from all across Northern Ireland and are taking part in a wide range of sports including swimming, cycling, golf, archery, petanque, bowling, and track and field.

The Northern Ireland team is coordinated by Transplant Sport Northern Ireland (TSNI), a charity which encourages and facilitates sporting and recreational activities to help rehabilitate transplant patients.

TSNI sees the benefits that attendance at the Games has on new transplantees: in many cases, sport becomes a regular part of their transplant rehabilitation, with members joining local sports clubs and setting new sporting challenges. This has a lasting impact on patients' overall health and wellbeing, and in many cases helps maintain stable graft function.

Public Health Agency Organ Donation Promotion Manager Catherine McKeown passed on a good luck message, saying: "We wish all the athletes every success in this year's British Transplant Games and hope they enjoy an unforgettable experience.

"They have committed to a rigorous training schedule, and last year the team achieved unbelievable medal success at the World Transplant Games, finishing 11th out of 51 countries in the medal table and bringing home a remarkable 18 Gold, 9 Silver and 8 Bronze medals.

"These inspirational athletes, both transplant recipients and living donors, are a testament to the gift of life given through organ donation."

The Public Health Agency says that support for organ donation in Northern Ireland remains high at 90%, with 61% of people having also recorded their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register, the highest of the UK regions.

Last year in Northern Ireland, 54 families supported the gift of organ donation, enabling 146 life-saving transplants across the UK.

Catherine added: "The Games help to demonstrate the benefits of transplantation while increasing public awareness of the need for more people to join the NHS Organ Donation Register and discuss their organ donation decision with their families."