SELOC adult and family projects
We are pleased to award grants to South East Lancashire Orienteering Club (SELOC) for two projects, one focussed on adults and one on families.
SELOC membership has been static for several years of between 50 and 60 members. This has put a strain on the volunteers who do the bulk of the work for the club. In the long term this is not sustainable, and the risk is that membership will slowly decline in the future. To address this, the club are developing two projects to grow the club - one targeting adults and one for families. Together they hope these will not only encourage more people to experience our wonderful sport, but provide a solid base in which to increase the membership of SELOC and in turn, provide more future volunteers.
Adult "Run 5" project
This project introduce a new adult focused event format targeted at runners of all abilities as a way of introducing them to orienteering. The funding covers a project officer to develop the concept, engage local running and community groups, market the initiative, and deliver a series of five events between April and June 2024. The "Run 5" concept is based around running 5km, so familiar to many through parkrun, and achievable for those with basic fitness. Participants get a map or can use MapRun, and have 5 checkpoints to all be visited in any order, before returning to the finish, in the quickest time (although more emphasis is on taking part than competing).
These events will target adults new to the sport (but also available to existing club orienteers to ensure a mix of experience and knowledge). To make things more sociable, events will be based at a pub/bar as the event centre, with a screen or laptop to compare tracks and discuss the routes taken. A mini-website will be set up to enhance the events, and aim to keep new adults engaged via a mailing list, and photo and video sharing.
If successful, there is potential to launch a longer Run 10 format, same idea but with 10 checkpoints and 10km optimum route.
Family project
This funding covers a project officer to lead the engagement of the Find Your Way Project with family focused activities in North Manchester boroughs, and building links with North Manchester councils, other sports partnerships and community groups. The focus is to increase opportunities for families to take part in orienteering through a variety of fun and engaging orienteering activities. Such might include in introductory activities such as a maze, use of Xplorer markers, any time Map Run courses, new permanent courses using Map Run, and various other ideas, all with a focus on families with fun and exciting activities for both young and older children, as well as opportunities for parents to challenge themselves on courses.
The project officer will also cultivate links with local councils and work with community groups. Activities may be delivered alongside existing community events, as standalone orienteering activities, or as part of existing SELOC events. The councils and community groups will provide greater reach through their social media outlets and promotional channels.
We wish SELOC every success with both projects, and look forward to hearing how they get on!