Berkshire Orienteers Club Newsletter March 2010 BKO Treasurer, Peter Entwistle, rushing back from the finish at the Concorde Chase to check the takings. PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.software-partners.co.uk Berkshire Orienteers 2010 AGM – Chairman’s report Eric Harper (outgoing Chair) receives the Derek Harding award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to BKO over the past year from Katy Stubbs our new Chair Events For the first time for several years, BKO was not involved in putting on any major events in 2009 although the club helped with the British Champs which were hosted by SCOA in the New Forest. The Concorde Chase in 2009, which I reported in detail last year was held at Yateley and Minley. In the spring we put on a district event at Cold Ash, planned by Andrew Graham and organised by me. In the autumn we held a District event at Swinley East planned by Dick Rae, and organised by Andrew Graham. This event was not without its problems as we had originally planned to have this at Hawley and had gone someway down the planning and organising activities when we were informed that we couldn’t use the area that day because of some planned army training Reg and Anne Parker have organised a New Years Day Score event for many years now. The 2009 one was held on Swinley East and this year’s on Swinley West. The snow before Christmas put this year’s event in doubt for a while. But, fortunately, the period between Christmas and New Year was good and the weather on the day itself was fantastic. We had an excellent turn out and just managed to produce enough maps. Reg’s on the day map production was put into use for the first time. Unfortunately we had one control stolen and also one EMIT unit failed. This is the first time that has happened. 2 PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.software-partners.co.uk Berkshire Orienteers This year’s Concorde Chase was held at Upper Star Posts on Jan 31. John Owens planned and I organised. Katy Stubbs produced an excellent update of the map. This event was not without its excitements. The heavy snow before and after Christmas affected the planning process as John and Tim Pugh, the controller, were not able to get out to tape and check the control sites until about 3 weeks beforehand. One week before the event, purely by chance as he was rechecking a site, Tim came across an area that was being fenced off in the middle of the area by a gang of workman. This area included one of the control sites. Tim went to ask what was going on and was told that they were setting up a film set and that by the time of the event the whole area would be fenced off and the set would be well under construction. We had been informed that there would be new preparation for filming the last of the Harry Potter films (there had been filming earlier on the year which had somewhat delayed Katy’s surveying) but we were told the filming was taking place in the west of the area and they would only be driving in tracks to prepare for the shooting later. We weren’t concerned about this as the proposed area did not really affect our courses. However, they had just changed their minds and the new shooting area was right in the middle of the competition area with some of the courses going straight through the proposed fenced off part of the forest. Tim went and spoke to the site manager who was very helpful in explaining what was going on and how there would be no problem with us going through the area on the day. However the fence meant some of the courses had to be slightly modified. Tim and I went out on the Friday before the event and, of course, what they had said was going to happen when Tim spoke to them the previous week was not actually what had occurred. There had been a lot of felling and the fenced area had increased to include a main ride that was used by the Yellow course. Again the people were very accommodating and agreed to open gates so that the Yellow course could still use the rides. On the day we put up some notices warning competitors and everything seemed to go to plan. The excellent weather meant that we had a very large EOD entry which exceeded our available maps so we had to recycle maps. Star Posts is one of our best areas but it is difficult for us to use for large events due to the Crown Estate land charges for these type of events. We normally use the Concorde Chase as a means of subsidising our other activities but this year we just about broke even on the event. The Saturday morning events carried on again with the usual band of helpers led by Reg and Anne Parker. We are starting to get a lot of people coming to these events – we had over 90 at the event at the Look Out last April. The events were originally aimed at beginners and improvers but we were starting to get a lot more experienced Orienteers coming so we decided, if the area was up to it, to start putting on a Blue type course as well. The summer evening events carried on with the help of the usual small group of helpers. Attendance at these events was good, mainly from members of other clubs: we had anything up to 60 people at these events. We held a first event in the grounds of Pangbourne College. The army put on a series of events on Wednesdays which quite a few of our members attend. They asked if they could have an event at Burghfield in January, and would we provide a planner. Ken Ricketts put on some excellent courses which were even more testing because of the overnight snow and the flooded ditches and streams. Martin Wilson again organised a BKO team to compete in a somewhat misty Dorset Coastal Path Relay in the summer. From Martin’s article in the newsletter in July, despite all the problems of following the correct path in almost no visibility I gather they enjoyed themselves. 3 PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.software-partners.co.uk Berkshire Orienteers The club still needs to find more people who are willing to organise and plan events – otherwise the events may not take place. At the moment it is only a small number of people who are doing both. Any person who volunteers will not just be left to get on with it with no support – there is a considerable amount of experience which is always willingly given. Schools Work The club’s involvement with schools orienteering has continued to expand, with ever more insets, after-school clubs, and school competitions delivered. As a result, BKO’s standing with Berkshire Sport continues to improve, and we are held in very high regard as a sport which from a very small volunteer base consistently supports schools work in the county to a high standard. A major part of BOF’s Whole Sport Plan is based on increasing participation, and to encourage clubs to put on short coaching series, Grow Participation grants have been offered on a regular basis. BKO has been very fortunate to be able to take advantage of these, and BKO coaches have now delivered after school clubs in 4 Bracknell primary schools, with 2 more due next term. Additionally Adventure Dolphin in Pangbourne have continued their sterling work running after school leagues in West Berkshire, with BKO taking along emit for a final event after each series. BKO has continued to provide the support for orienteering competitions in Berkshire schools. We held a very successful Berkshire Primary schools competition last April at St Andrew’s, which was a massive improvement in venue from the previous year at Bulmershe, and we are very grateful to Glyn Thomas for all his help. The good turnout of BKO volunteers for this was crucial to its success, so with the 2010 schools competition season now in full swing, please do volunteer to help where you can – details on the wall or ask Denise. Competitions are coming up in Bracknell, Newbury, and the final at Pangbourne. The success of the primary competitions has led to a request for us to also run a secondary competition, and to facilitate this a well attended training inset for secondary teachers was held at St Crispin’s in Wokingham, again with valuable help from BKO volunteers. We are hoping to run a secondary competition at Pangbourne College in summer, in conjunction with a club evening. Finally, Denise is in preliminary discussions to include orienteering in a secondary triathlon /adventure race style competition possibly next year, which we feel would be very attractive to those schools looking for a bit of excitement. The support of club members to run these events is a major factor in their success – as they probably would not run if left to the schools themselves to organise. Also there is more and more paid coaching work likely to be available in schools – so it is well worth considering if you are a coach or are interested in becoming one. Finances / Equipment The club finances are still very healthy. The use of Star Posts for this year’s Concorde Chase has meant that we won’t make any money out of the event.