The next Scottish Orienteering 6-Day event is due to be held in the Deeside area in 2025. The Scottish Orienteering 6-Day Event Co Ltd (6-Day Company) is seeking a Coordinator for this event.
The Coordinator will play a key role in the successful delivery of the event, through the coordination of a team of volunteers and paid-for services as appropriate.
The management and running of the event is delegated by the 6-Day Company to a Central Organising Team (COT). The COT is led by the Coordinator, and is supported by the Events & Operations Manager of the Scottish Orienteering Association who is appointed as Assistant Coordinator. A Director of the 6-Day Company will also sit on the COT to give advice where necessary. The Coordinator will be responsible for appointing members of the COT which can either be from one club or drawn from several clubs of the SOA, as considered appropriate.
Deeside 2025 will be the 25th staging of the Scottish 6 Days, and there is a wealth of experience within the Scottish Orienteering community to help deliver this biennial event.
The Coordinator will be appointed by the Board of Directors of the Scottish Orienteering 6-Day Event Co Ltd.
With less than a week to Moray 2023 we are looking for a motivated and enthusiastic individual with experience in event delivery to fulfill the role of Events and Operations Manager. The Events and Operations Manager role provides support to clubs and the Scottish Orienteering Association to ensure that event calendar runs smoothly as well as supporting the organisation of the biannual Scottish 6 Days Event and the very exciting World Orienteering Championships in Edinburgh in 2024.
With a competitive salary package and the ability to be located anywhere in Scotland this is 4 day a week role worth investigating further.
Closing date for applications is 14th August 2023 and the role description being found here. For any queries on the role please contact Nikki Howard at nikki@scottish-orienteering.org
In theory – Trail orienteering ( Trail) is sold as an accessible form of orienteering.
TrailO provides an orienteering competition for people of all levels of physical ability, including those who are physically challenged and may be confined to wheelchairs.
Trail orienteering as it currently stands is only for those with competent map skills and who essentially are existing orienteers. The events on offer in the UK are aimed at people with high level skills – TD 3 and above. You need to be able to interpret contours and be familiar with descriptions and the nuances of directions etc. There are almost no young people involved in Trail orienteering and certainly none in Scotland.
Lots of changes and improvements to MapRun have happened in the past few years so we are delighted to be able to offer a practical workshop August 19th in Edinburgh run by Sarah Dunn.
This will be at SportScotland Caledonia House, 1 Redheughs Rigg, South Gyle, Edinburgh EH12 9DQ
Below is the report from the club priorities exercise carried out earlier this year.
Summary of key themes, priorities and issues
Most clubs are back up to pre-covid levels of activity hosting a range of events, socials and activities. Clubs not back up to pre-covid activity levels tend to be those who had areas devastated by Storm Arwen or clubs with little or no activity in covid. Some clubs found new energy and revisited what they were doing.
Generally communication is targeted at members rather than newcomers and people who may want to find out more about orienteering. Clubs see an important role for SOA/BOF here ensuring wider external communication.
Key priorities for clubs are: growing membership focussed on young people and families; consolidation – both keeping the long term members they have and retaining new members; getting local events up and running again; encouraging travel beyond the local; participation in training not just events.
Succession planning is highlighted as a key area of concern and an area requiring support.
In the last two years Kingdom of Fife Orienteers (KFO) have tripled their membership. In this good practice article we explore how the club has attracted and welcomed so many newcomers into our sport.
KFO Chair Claire Duncan successfully obtained a grant from Persimmon Homes to organise beginner orienteering sessions at Duloch. Being a small club with a limited volunteer base at the time, the grant money allowed KFO to hire a coach and try holding activities they wouldn’t normally have the capacity for. Outside, coach Kieran Watts led two sets of three introductory sessions for 12 juniors in April and May 2022, followed by an additional set in the autumn. These sessions, supported by KFO members, attracted numerous juniors and their families. This resulted in juniors and their families joining the club.
Juniors with their certificates after the first junior coaching series
This month’s community conversation focused on development plans. During the conversation we discussed the purpose of developments and explored how different clubs use their development plans. A number of clubs offered to share their development plans so we could see a wide range of approaches and potentially take some inspiration from other clubs.
Imagine our sport thriving with lots of young adults swelling our numbers. Can we be more attractive?
Newcomers enjoy Orienteering Edinburgh
We know we have demographic deficit with numbers dropping off in the late teens and not picking up until the 40 plus age group . Orienteering Edinburgh was an attempt to make the sport more attractive to a younger demographic. A trial approach to recruiting younger people into the sport through offering a simplified and united approach from clubs across the city of Edinburgh.
