Orienteering
County Adviser: Carol Lovegrove
Orienteering is a fast-paced activity combining navigation, map reading and physical exercise
Carol can give advice on all aspects of orienteering. A permanent orienteering course is available at Bentley Copse, supported by British Orienteering, maps are available from the site office.
Equipment is available for loan, including control flags and punches, plus 1km of string on a reel (which can be used to provide a string course suitable for Beaver Scouts to follow, as an introduction to orienteering). There are also several permanent orienteering courses around the county, ideal for a troop or unit activity (see list below).
Carol can also help to arrange:
- Orienteering taster sessions – run by trained British Orienteering coaches, for Scout units or at District, Division or County days or camps;
- British Orienteering Coach courses for Scout Leaders to learn how to teach orienteering skills to young people;
- Mapping of camps and local parks – so groups can do simple orienteering exercises in a secure, enclosed environment;
- Orienteering Young Leader Award training courses.
Permanent Orienteering Courses
- Beddington Park, near Wallington
- Horton Country Park, Epsom
- Redhill Common, Redhill
- Oaks Park, Sutton
- Norbury Park, Leatherhead
- Leechpool & Owlbeech Woods, Horsham
- Buchan Country Park, Crawley
Maps for the above are downloadable from www.mvoc.org
- Newlands Corner, 4 miles east of Guildford
Map packs for a small fee from the information point at Newlands Corner or contact Guildford Orienteers www.guildfordorienteers.co.uk
- Alice Holt Forest, south of Farnham
Map packs are available from the Visitor Centre
- Blackland Farm, East Grinstead
Contact www.blacklandfarm.org.uk Tel: 01342 810493
- Wimbledon Park, Wimbledon. Kings meadow, Kingston upon Thames
Events
Orienteering events are held nearly every weekend throughout the year in the south-east of England. At all events there are courses suitable for young people and adult novices, with experienced orienteers on hand to offer advice. For a list of events go to the South-East Orienteering Association website and click on Events.
Clubs
Local orienteering clubs may be able to help with running taster sessions, providing maps of local parks etc. Visit the South-East Orienteering Association website www.seoa.org.uk for details of your local club.
Orienteering is essentially finding your way around a course and can be adapted in a wide variety of ways and scale from indoor to cross country. There will be a course for all ages or you can design your own simple course inside or outside your HQ. Contact the County Adviser for more advice.