The Future of the Scottish 6 Days Events? Join the Next Members’ Community Conversation (Mon 5th May)
The next members’ monthly online Community Conversation is on Monday 5th May (7.30-8.30pm), and you can now sign up to attend by signing up here.
This time the subject will be the Future of the Scottish Six Days – the flagship Scottish Orienteering event. The Scottish 6 Days is a vital part of Scottish Orienteering, providing not just high class orienteering and international competition on our home turf but also a key source of revenue to support Scottish Orienteering and clubs and members.
However, we are facing some challenges. Over the last few years finding a club to be the central organising team has proved difficult. Deeside 2025 will be the 4th time in the last 6 events that we have had to pull together a central organising team from across Scotland and often the same volunteers are filling the same roles in successive events or the same faces are filling multiple roles. The same applies to the major day roles. It is also becoming increasingly difficult to find areas that have sufficient locations with a combination of great competition and parking for hundreds of cars.
We had a great conversation with club chairs in early April and there is still fantastic support for the 6 Days. But we need to urgently look at the delivery model. Some discussion questions include:
- Does the 6 Days concept still work or does it need to change?
- How could the 6 Days be formatted/structured/ staffed?
- What would help the clubs/members give it more support and commitment?
So please take this opportunity to share your thoughts. The session will be introduced and hosted by Dave Kershaw, Chair of the Scottish 6 Days company (which is wholly owned by and accountable to the Scottish Orienteering Association). Everyone is very welcome, and younger orienteers are particularly encouraged to contribute their perspectives and ideas.
To sign up, please register with the email address you will be using on the night by signing up here by 5pm on 5th May 2025. A link will be sent out to registered participants before the session.
If you can’t attend the session but would like to be involved in shaping future thinking for the Scottish 6 Days, a write-up and recording will be available via the Community Conversation Page. You can also contact Dave via chair@scottish6days.com or Richard Oxlade, the SOA Chair via president@scottish-orienteering.org.
For any queries on the Community Conversations sessions, contact Nikki Howard, COO, via nikki@scottish-orienteering.org.