Please remember, we need your contributions to help celebrate our members and recognize their commitment to our sport. Deadline 29 May

Following the Scottish Government publication of Scotland’s route map from lockdown , we will now consider how each phase has implications for orienteering in Scotland. Today’s news is obviously very welcome however we would remind all members that until 28th May when we receive further guidance from the Scottish Government the current restrictions in Scotland remain in place.

We are delighted to announce an evening with Grace Molloy taking place on Wednesday 27th May at 7:00 pm 8:00pm.

Initial steps towards lifting some lockdown requirements recently announced in England and Scotland show some divergence in approaches. The Scottish Orienteering Association is aligned with the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland approach.  Hence the only change to date for Scotland is that exercising more than once per day is permitted.

Attention All Juniors!

This year in the absence of the Jamie Stevenson Trophy we are proposing an alternative that keeps the spirit of the event very much alive.

SOA workshop Tues 19th May, 7pm

We are all hopeful that full Lockdown restriction may shortly be eased to give some greater flexibility for people to take part in outdoor recreation, albeit initially on an individual or small group basis. I am sure everyone will be excited at the prospect of getting outdoors to take part in some real orienteering again in some format or other. The sport has lots to offer for this situation as we are naturally on our own for much of the time and social distancing can be integrated without great difficulty. The recent communication from BOF sets out how this might pan out as restrictions are gradually lifted. In preparation for this, it is worth planning for what resources can be made available for everyone to enjoy. On Tues 19th May, at 7pm, the SOA will host a Zoom workshop to discuss how clubs can use MapRunF to help play a part in this. Please sign up for the workshop here.

A warm welcome to Tim O’ Donoghue (SOLWAY) as he joins the Board of Directors in the newly created Safety Director role. Tim has been co-opted by the existing Directors and will stand for election at our AGM/EGM. Tim will be a familiar face to many, especially those who ran at last years Scottish Championships in Dalbeattie Forest where he fulfilled the role as event organiser.

Now we are into May we say a sincere thank you and fond farewell to our first Independent Director, Pamela Carvell, who has served her full term as a Director.

A new version of the smartphone orienteering app MapRunF (v4.8.8) was released last week. The updates include several new features which make it easy for anyone to set up a simple event for their own use.

Already a Planner? Let’s look at finessing your skills.