‘A dream come true’: Our Fair-play Summer Fund prize winner on the trip of a lifetime
“I feel like I've been to another planet.” In August 2026, Hayley Hayes visited Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago (or collection of islands) between mainland Norway and the North Pole, where she spent an entire week as the winner of giffgaff’s Fair-play Summer Fund bespoke prize.
For those not in the know, Svalbard is one of the northernmost inhabited areas in the world — so far north it’s polar bear territory. Signs mark the perimeter of Longyearbyen, the largest town, reminding people it’s illegal to leave without a firearm or other deterrent to scare bears away.
Summer in Svalbard means 24-hour daylight. Restaurants try to mimic the feeling of nighttime with low lighting, explains Hayley, likening the experience to leaving a dark cinema in the afternoon. The ground is snow-free, revealing the orange-hued tundra, while the terrain reminded her of growing up in Wales, only there were no trees or bushes in Svalbard.
Our Fair-play Summer Fund bespoke prize
giffgaff’s Fair-play Summer Fund competition invited applicants to share their summer sting for a chance to win a prize. Hayley hasn’t been on a summertime getaway for almost a decade, with her holiday plans often dictated by her husband’s passion for sports.
They’re not the only ones. One fifth (21%) of holidaymakers regularly check the sporting calendars before booking a trip, while a quarter (24%) have returned home early so they don’t miss a sporting event.
Nearly half of UK adults (45%) experience summer FOMO, with one in two (53%) claiming that missing out on plans, events or experiences stops them from fully enjoying the season.
When the couple does travel, they tend to choose somewhere hot, but Hayley has been longing for a cold getaway for years. A jam-packed trip to Svalbard with her long-term friend Rebecca ticked all her boxes.
“I was literally both bouncing up and down, and crying with excitement when I found out that I’d won and would be going on a cold weather summer holiday I could only previously dream about,” says Hayley. “Since my husband absolutely does not tolerate the cold, a wintry weather trip was never going to be on the cards for us, so this prize delivers on two fronts.”
The trip of a lifetime
Unlike anything she’d ever done before, she described the trip as “a dream come true”. “I never thought I could go somewhere like that and experience that,” she adds. ”It was absolutely overwhelming.”
Hayley was over the moon to see minke whales, beluga whales, dolphins, an Arctic fox, reindeer and puffins. “It was like living in a David Attenborough documentary,” she says. Polar bears were nowhere to be seen, however, as they head further north in the summer months. Probably for the best.
Seeing a pod of white beluga whales was a pinch-me moment, she says: “I actually cried and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m really in the Arctic’. That was the moment I started to believe I was there.”
As a huge wildlife fan, Hayley and her husband plan trips around which animal they want to see. They’ve seen tigers in India, sharks in Florida and orangutans in Borneo.
Staying connected with giffgaff
When co-ordinating activity-heavy trips abroad, it’s important for Hayley to stay connected to keep things running smoothly.
With giffgaff, standard UK packages cover 37 EU countries and data roaming add-ons are available for multiple non-EU countries. “When we're in Europe, we use our phones exactly the same as you use at home,” she says. “Everything works exactly the same.”
This connectivity is essential for making the most of a holiday, however you spend it. You can navigate your way around somewhere new, book tickets to local attractions and discover things to do. All of these things are important to Hayley, as well as keeping in touch with family over FaceTime.
Why travel matters
Travel is really important to Hayley. Seeing the world and experiencing different cultures gives her life satisfaction: “If you travel, you learn things without knowing you're learning them — about the currency, the politics, the geographical situation or the wildlife — and you enjoy learning it because you haven't realised you've learned it.”
It’s also about experiencing food and culture, and cherishing those memories long after you’ve returned home. For Hayley, the memories of their adventures in Svalbard will last a lifetime, and in like-minded Rebecca, she’s discovered a new person to travel with. They’re already planning their next cold weather getaway together.
Hayley’s top travel tips
Do your research:
“Don't believe everything you see on Instagram,” she says, adding that people often only show the best of a place. She prefers to read online reviews for honest experiences without the filter, and watches travel programmes for tips.
Cherish your memories:
When Hayley returns home from a trip, she creates a physical photo book, so she can relive the memories rather than having thousands of photos stuck on your phone. On a rainy day, she’ll browse through photos of past trips, a ritual that helps her remember the finest details vividly. “For me, it's the joy of reliving it. You don't just go somewhere for a week and it's over. Svalbard will be part of me forever.”
Stay connected:
With giffgaff’s EU roaming built into every plan, European travel has never been easier. Hayley uses her phone while abroad to plan day trips and navigate new destinations. Travelling further afield? You can purchase a travel data add-on for many non-EU destinations or boost EU data allowance. Find out more here.
Plan in advance:
Have a bucket list full of destinations you’ve always wanted to visit. Add more whenever inspiration strikes; that could be watching nature documentaries or hearing about a friend’s trip. Research the best time to book flights and accommodation (usually the earlier, the better), and use loyalty schemes and cashback to make your money go further.
Try a new travel partner:
Hayley visited Svalbard with Rebecca, a friend she’d never travelled with before. “We just laughed from start to finish,“ she says. Traveling with someone new opens you up to experiences you might not try otherwise.
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1 Research of 2,000 UK holidaygoers conducted by OnePoll between 17th to 18th August 2026.
2 Research of 2,000 UK adults conducted by OnePoll between 3rd to 5th June 2026