West Midlands JK 2018 donation
We are very grateful for a significant donation from several of the clubs involved in staging the JK 2018 in the West Midlands.
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We are the Orienteering Foundation, a charity that promotes and supports orienteering, to bring all the benefits this amazing sport has to offer the people of the UK, and to ensure that our sport is here for the enjoyment of generations to come.
But the future of our sport is at risk. Only 10% of our orienteering community is aged between 20-34 and in 2017 nearly 10,000 school children participated in our grassroots schemes. Worryingly despite this good work we are seeing drop out rates of 70-80% in those crucial skill building years of ages 13-21.
And our volunteers are getting tired. Last year there was a 4% drop in the number of events run, but a 7% increase in competitors. The demands outside events also continue to rise. We know people want to participate in our sport but we are in danger of burning out our volunteers.
Technology in the sport provides massive opportunity but we need to invest. We have all seen major changes over the past twenty years with the emergence of electronic punching and tracking systems, mapping software, and online analysis tools.
With your support the Orienteering Foundation works to tackle emerging issues. We currently fund junior programmes, invest in elites, support adult coaching opportunities, support those developing tools and techniques to alleviate volunteer workloads, and sponsor projects which look to exploit new technologies in our sport. With your help we can do more.
News stories
Orienteering Runners of Exeter (OROX)
It is great to see a new orienteering club at Exeter University springing into life, and we are proud to be supporting their development.
Streathearn Schools Development Project
We are excited to be funding this project led by Tayside Orienteers to support orienteering development work with schools and local communities in the Strathearn area in the lead in to the Scottish 6 Days 2019.
Coaching day review Nov 2018
We were very pleased to support a second Orienteering Foundation coaching day in the Lake District in November 2018, kindly organised by Derek Allison.
Launch of the 1%er Legacy Programme
The future of our sport is in jeopardy. With shrinking junior numbers, diminishing pools of experienced volunteers, increases in costs of running events and problems with access to some of our best technical areas, orienteering is under increasing pressure. The Orienteering Foundation is here to help ensure that our favourite sport continues to be a great source of adventure, challenge and community spirit. This month we launch the 1%er Legacy Programme, which asks "Would you be willing to gift just 1% of your estate to the future of orienteering?" Read more here.
Saxons donation
The Orienteering Foundation is most appreciative of a generous donation of £500 from Saxons Orienteering club.
Scottish Orienteering Youth Leader award
Today saw the launch of the Scottish Orienteering Youth Leader (SOYL) award in Perth, supported by a grant from the Orienteering Foundation
Lagganlia 2018 video report
Jonathon Hooton has created an excellent video showing what goes on at the JROS (Junior Regional Orienteering Squads) Lagganlia training camp in Scotland. You can watch the video here.
The Orienteering Foundation is proud to have supported JROS and the Lagganlia camp for many years, often with a particular focus on young coach development at the camp, and it is great to see this brought to life by the video.