ESOC Volunteers are featured today. See who shines brightly for ESOC..
Eleanor Pyrah – Eleanor has been put forward for many reasons. She is an energetic strength within the club and for many years has organised the Monday evening ladies runs for ESOC. She encourages reluctant runners to give it a go and giving us all a good social get-together. Eleanor is one of the top W75 orienteers in Britain and represents the club far and wide with great aplomb. Eleanor has performed a wide variety of roles for the club over a many years. In recent times Eleanor has been a map custodian and consistently helps and takes on key roles at all levels of events. She is always extending her skills and has embraced Si Timing, learning how to run the timing and results at local events. She is always a willing volunteer and a friendly, encouraging and supportive member of the club. During the current Lockdown she has been a support to so many orienteers in Edinburgh through the Ladies Running Group. Using her email list of the ladies from the running group which includes members from ESOC, INT and ELO she set up a support network, checking in daily and encouraging everyone to keep in touch and share stories of their lockdown adventures. We have been treated to tales of cygnets, wildflowers, MapRuns, baking, puzzles, quizzes and much more. The community spirit and friendship provided by the group has been a great support to many. Thank you Eleanor. Eleanor truly deserves to receive this recognition.
Craig Nolan – Craig has been a member of ESOC for many years, but having moved West he hasn’t attended as many ESOC events recently. However, during the Lockdown, when virtual orienteering came to fore he has played a fantastic role in bringing orienteers together in the virtual world through Catching Features. He set up a Scottish Catching Features League providing maps and a competitive league with a range of events. These were enjoyed by people from all over the world. When Lockdown Orienteering started he set up the Catching Features elements for this and even provided Scottish Orienteers with their own club tops for their avatars to wear in the virtual world. So ESOC tops (and those of other Scottish Clubs) were seen orienteering in South Africa, Chile, New Zealand, Norway, USA and Japan – without ever leaving their homes. Thanks Craig – you helped brighten up Lockdown.
Edinburgh Evening News about Craig and Catching Features.https://www.facebook.com/esocweb/photos/a.817448065007380/3177217299030433/?type=3&theater
David Robertson David (and his family) support ESOC and the promotion of orienteering in many different ways. David looks after social media for ESOC and has used social media very successfully to promote the club’s activities and successes, this has led to an increased attendance of newcomers at events as well as creating a great club spirit with the celebration of club achievements and during the recent Lockdown to provide entertainment and access to online orienteering opportunities. He fills many roles for the club – Child protection and Welfare Officer, social media guru, press secretary, planner, volunteer and friend to everyone.
He has embraced the new MapRun technology and created Postbox Orienteering courses for all the larger towns within the area to help promote orienteering from the school hubs as we move out of Lockdown.
As a volunteer with ASN groups he has provided orienteering opportunities within local parks for these groups. Also as a volunteer he runs weekly after school orienteering clubs through Active Schools, delivering and developing a range of fun orienteering games and exercises.
He is always there to help and his cheerful, friendly and approachable manner is a great asset. He makes everyone feel welcome and appreciated. He quietly gets on with any task that needs to be done, and is often one of the last to leave ensuring that he can do everything possible to help.
A Big Shout out for these three outstanding volunteers with ESOC
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