Inclusivity is a fundamental principle of Sportscotland strategy and one which as a sport we are in terms of our funding are bound to promote. Having pulled together a group last year to discuss inclusivity within the sport and ways in which we could encourage the sport to be more inclusive we are looking to hear your views.
The fifth session in the SOA’s monthly online Community Conversations series this year took a deep dive into the future of Scotland’s flagship orienteering event — the Scottish 6 Days. This was a very timely discussion, as we look forward to Deeside 2025 whilst also needing to address the significant structural and demographic challenges to its sustainability, if events in 2027 and beyond are to continue successfully.
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The April session in the SOA’s monthly online Community Conversations series brought together club members from across Scotland to talk about coaching education and support. The session was introduced by Suzanne Robins-Bird, the SOA’s Coaching & Volunteer officer, with an open forum for questions and ideas submitted in advance as well as during the session.
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:
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.
The third installment of the 2025 Community Conversation programme is on Monday 3rd March at 1930 and you can now sign up to attend.
The discussion will be once again be on the theme of development, but this time the focus will be on how to retain and progress current members. Mary Williams, the Development Director, will be chairing the discussion. This will be a great opportunity to share experience, and discuss successes, challenges, and ideas for practical support that SOA could usefully provide for clubs. Perhaps you’ve come across some great tools that have helped achieve positive results, or have gained some valuable learning from things you’ve tried that would be of interest to other clubs.
Read More…On a club committee or have an interest in ensuring your club has a plan for its future? Tune in to the July Community Conversation where our development conversation will lead a discussion on club development plans. We have two clubs lined up to provide attendees with their experience of using a development plans and how they used them to drive their clubs forward. There will be time for lots of questions.
The session will be held online on Monday 3rd July at 7pm. To sign up please email nikki@scottish-orienteering.org for
May’s Community Conversation provided those who attended an insight into why the Making the Most of WOC 2024 Report was commissioned by the Scottish Orienteering Association and the British Orienteering Federation, how the consultants Baroudeur carried out their research and the conclusions drawn as a result of the research.
For those who were unable to attend, a copy of the slides can be found here
The next Community Conversation will be the SOA AGM on 5th June 2023. Those who wish to propose any matters of business to be heard at the AGM should contact nikki@scottish-orienteering.org
With the retiral of current board members there are several board positions which the SOA are looking to fill and we ask anyone interested to speak to a current board member or contact nikki@scottish-orienteering.org The board positions available at the AGM are President, Operations Director, Development Director, Marketing and Communications Director and Equality, Welfare and Diversity Director.
Our monthly series of Community Conversations is relaunching on Monday 3rd April with a conversation with our Treasurer about the SOA Finances. This topic will be looked at as part of the Club Conference being held on Saturday 15th April in Perth and if you have not yet signed up – then find out more here
The community conversations were launched as a means of ensuring that we hear the views of our members, through a virtual discussion on what was hoped to be a monthly basis. With a change of personnel and because we were aware that there was a overabundance of consultation projects going on through BOF and also the Making the Most of WOC 2024 project these were temporarily put on hold.
The learning gathered from the Making the Most of WOC 2024 project is being brought together into a project proposal by the consultants, Baroudeur, who will share their thoughts and findings at the Club Conference on 15th April.
Following on from that consultation with the SOA community, we are keen to be relaunch our Community Conversations. The first in the series will be a look at the SOA finances. Our treasurer, Ben Hartman, will explain how the SOA is financed, how the budget is spent and lead a discussion on the current financial position of the SOA. We are keen to hear from a diverse range of our members on their thoughts on how the SOA is financed and plans that need to be made for the future in terms of funding/ focus. Please register for the session on Monday 3rd April at 7pm by emailing Nikki Howard on nikki@scottish-orienteering.org
As ever, we would welcome any suggestions of topics for discussion but at the moment we have the following programme pencilled in so far:-