FVO club development report
We previously awarded a grant to Forth Valley Orienteers to help fund a club development officer position, with the club's goal of making it a self-sustaining position over 4 years. Here we bring you a report at the end of their third year.
Staffing
The FVO CDO position has been passed between several people, originally Chris Smithard (prior to the Orienteering Foundation funding), then Kieran Watts, then Dan Graves, but it has been held by Mairi Eades since January 2024.
Update on CDO achievements
During the third year, Mairi has progressed the following activities:
- Continued to work on a partnership with Donaldsons Trust (national body for neurodiversity in Scotland), having set up a Permanent Orienteering Course in their grounds, with bespoke maps and control plaques catering for a number of specific needs. Delivered sessions for teachers and students.
- Creating two new Permanent Orienteering Courses in Falkirk (Callandar Park and the Helix), and lining up two further POCs in Callander and Dunblane (sadly currently held up by a lack of ranger support with Stirling Council).
- Identifying new areas for mapping in Falkirk area, utilising a grant awarded to that end to deliver maps at Zetland Park, Dollar Park, Bo’ness Foreshore, Westquarter Glen, an extension of the Falkirk Wheel map and a larger area map at Limerigg. These have been used for a local event at Bo’ness Foreshore (with a fantastic 160 competitors) and a SOL at Limerigg (which met with enthusiastic support from the local community, who hosted the event in the village hall and used the opportunity to provide hot and cold drinks and food to raise funds for the hall upkeep).
- Taking the first step to further develop orienteering in Falkirk, which is the largest urban centre in the FVO catchment area but has next to no members based there. Mairi initiated a newcomer series throughout the spring, to attract and retain new participants by developing their skills and confidence each time. 8 enthusiastic families regularly attended. FVO also teamed up with Beat the Street Falkirk West, as orienteering is a great follow-on from their activity scheme.
- Continuing to liase with STUOC (Stirling University) to identify how to support the club, which has seen a transition in membership due to several of the current strong cohort of student members graduating and moving on.
Current focus for the CDO
One focus for the CDO continues to be on attracting newcomer families through dedicated sessions in FVO's key hubs - Dunblane, Linlithgow and Callander, as well as developing Falkirk. Using the "funnel approach", they are then feeding these newcomers into the FVO Stars/SWAT pipeline, which appears to work well and is run by club volunteers. The Falkirk newcomer series combination with Beat The Street was a testbed strategy to appeal to newcomers in the 20-30 age group bracket and/or a different social-demographic (C1/C2). They are reviewing the outcomes of that series and continue to look for possible new ideas to break into that demographic.
Whilst to date the primary focus of the CDO - and measure of the role’s success - has been to build club membership, less attention has been paid to ensuring that the experience offered to those new members - and, indeed, all existing members - is rewarding, offering plenty of opportunities to develop their competitive and volunteering skills, and provide a welcoming, sociable environment that encourages people to stay. The club is in the process of developing its new 5-year strategy, and this has been identified as at least of equal importance as membership growth. They anticipate that the CDO role will now also encompass identifying and delivering an approach to build out the club experience for existing members.
Lessons learnt
It can be challenging to get continuity with a CDO (or even find one in the first place, as some other clubs have found!). FVO have seen several holding the FVO CDO post in the last 5 years. Since the start of 2024 they have been lucky to find Mairi, but a one- or two-day per week job, which is what most CDOs are, is only ever going to appeal as a mid- to long-term employment prospect for a certain group of individuals. It may often be supplemented with other roles, as is the case with Mairi, for example she also does CDO work for Interlopers, and is pursuing her own competitive aspirations in the sport). On the plus side, CDO roles can have flexible working hours to accommodate other jobs or activities.
Having a CDO is definitely not a one-way street for a club paying a CDO to just get on with it. It requires time commitment from the club to manage such a professional officer, and this should not be underestimated by any club thinking of taking one on. In addition to the attention that needs to be paid to day-to-day tasks, it’s also important to have a firm understanding of the club’s long-term goals towards which all the smaller tasks are leading.
We wish FVO and Mairi every success as they continue on their club development journey.