8 months ago, British Orienteering undertook the Find Your Way Project funded by Sport England, with the project’s aim being to introduce Virtual Orienteering as an ‘On Demand’ activity for the young people and families in the most at-need communities across England. Much work has gone on behind the scenes to get this project up and running with months of hard work from British Orienteering, orienteering clubs, and community partners.

Year 1 has seen the introduction of schemes, activities, and training in seven regions around England, with nine clubs being involved. Funding has been made available for clubs to receive new equipment such as feather flags and park banners, map multiple new areas in their locality, course creation, map printing, and social media promotion. On a national level, the Find Your Way Project has dedicated social media sites on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (@findyourwayvo), a website is soon to be completed and a video highlighting the benefits of virtual orienteering.

Kay Hawke, Project Lead says: “Over the past few months the Project has gone from strength to strength. Across England, we have built up meaningful and lasting relationships with community partners such as Local Authorities, NHS, Active and School Sports Partnerships, Natural England, and more. These connections alongside the magnificent work by our Find Your Way clubs have created some never seen before opportunities for our clubs in regards to being able to reach local communities. We are also reaping the wider benefits of having better relationships with these authorities in terms of easier access allowance, and the permission of mapping areas for clubs, which will widen the opportunities for orienteering not only for the local community but for club members too. As ever, none of the success would be possible without the dedication and passion of our club’s volunteers, and thanks go out to them, and the clubs involved for sharing the forward vision of the Project.”