Could you be our CDO?

We have now started our search for the Club Development Officer and hope to have someone in place early in the New Year. We are particularly grateful for the grant awarded to us by the Orienteering Foundation. 

The OD CDO position will be for up to 500 hours per annum at a contract rate of £7500 for the full hours. Actual weekly involvement will vary according to activities over the year although it equates to an average of around 1.5 days per week after holidays and other breaks. The CDO will need to be within reach of our area in order to support activities on the ground, particularly those aimed at newcomers to the club.

A fuller description of what we want the CDO to do is on our development pages on this site. However, in summary, the CDO’s main focus will be to increase membership, offer a wider range of events and activities to existing and potential members and to modernise the club’s use of social media and communications. A significant part of the role will be to become the friendly welcoming face of OD to newcomers and beginners. It will also cover the reinvigoration of communication and social activity within the club so the person taking the position will need to have strong inter-personal and social skills.

Though they will need to attend activities and events in OD’s area at various times, many aspects of the role can be done remotely at a convenient time for the person doing the role. The ideal candidate would have some orienteering background and experience although the club would consider appointing someone from outside the sport who is otherwise perfect for the role.

For further details or to discuss the possibility a little further contact Keith Willdig at chair@octavian-droobers.org

Droober successes across the age-classes

The two major orienteering leagues concluded last weekend with 8 Droobers featuring in the top 3 places in their respectives classes. Leading the field, and demonstrating why he has been selected for the UK Performance Squad was Nathan Lawson who took 1st place in the UK Orienteering League senior category. Other Droobers taking 1st place were Kirsten Strain, Sheila Carey and Pete Carey with Hilary Simpson taking 3rd place in her age class. In the UK Urban League there were 1st places for Sheila Carey and Keith Willdig with Pete Carey taking 3rd place.

This year, performance in the UKOL was based on the best 8 scores out of 26 possible events over the year whilst the UKUL was based on the best 7 scores out of a possible 21 events across the country. The UKOL also has a club league with Droobers taking 9th place out of the 115 clubs who registered a score. Club performance is heavily dependent on the number of competitors who travel around the country to compete in a league event.

UKOL events are predominantly drawn from the big multi-day events across the country plus the various British Championship distances. UKUL events this year ranged from Stirling down to Thamesmead picking up events in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Sheffield and many on including our own Stratford on Avon event.

It is probably worth keeping an eye out for the 2025 calendars of both leagues because they are a great opportunity to see how you compare with other competitors and, given that both leagues are nationwide, there will be one within reach of Droober territory.

Hope to see many more of you at one of these events next year.