ORIENTEERING FOUNDATION

Newcomer Retention

Brodie Castle CATI day - this is an orienteering map!
Brodie Castle CATI day - this is an orienteering map!

Attracting and retaining newcomers in orienteering is often a challenge to many clubs. To help address this, in 2021 the Orienteering Foundation formed a "Newcomer Retention Group" to look at the problem and make recommendations to clubs.

The group's remit was as follows:

The group was established consisting of the following members:

They covered a variety of perspectives, backgrounds, and demographics, and their collective experience included being a club chair, dealing with newcomers at schools, using social media, running a university club, researching what attracts people to try orienteering and to stay involved, and being a membership secretary.

The group published its final report in late 2021. A copy was to the chair of each open club in British Orienteering, but you can also download a copy here. The report has 14 pages plus 10 pages of Appendices and includes:

The chair of the Newcomer Retention Group, Neil Cameron, said:

The Group hope that the report will encourage clubs to review their approach to dealing with newcomers/beginners and make changes where appropriate.

The chair of the Orienteering Foundation, Andrew Evans, went on to add:

This is a hugely worthwhile contribution to the development of orienteering in an area which appears absolutely fundamental to us all. I commend the skill and dedication by which the NRG group has proceeded, and for developing the high quality final report.
Last updated: Sun 15 Dec 2024

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