Hi to all.
Under normal circumstances I would have done this report for the AGM which would have been back in the summer. However due to government guidelines regarding social distancing, the club’s committee have been unable to stage this year’s AGM and therefore any newly appointed committee have not been able to discuss future events for the club. The existing committee members have had numerous discussions via telephone on how we might proceed through the pandemic.
Many larger mainland clubs were able to stage events after the initial lockdown but a lot were still cancelled. The army league started their regular Wednesday events through the summer and early autumn with restricted entry for non army personnel. Some of our B.O. members were able to take part. Anyone who took part had to pre- enter in advance and all the events used the electronic [touch free] punching system. WIGHTO events have always been entry on the day and we are still using needle punches on the kites, so therefore it is impossible for us to safely put on any events like we normally do.
We all welcome the news of the proposed vaccines but I cannot realistically see us being able to put on any events until late spring/early summer of next year. In the meantime I’d like to remind you all that the POC courses are still available free of charge to any paid up members of the club. Please take this opportunity of free orienteering and introduce your friends [when safe to do so] to the sport.
Forest Enterprise have increased their fees again this year. We struggle to break even when we stage events in our forest venues, so if you can encourage more people to take up the sport the better chance we’ll have of making a profit! Contact Brian on 403963 to obtain your maps.
In addition to this anyone who joined the club in 2020 will have their membership extended to the end of 2021.
What has happened in late 2019 through 2020?
We had 3 coloured coded & 2 score events through last winter. Most were well fielded but the Christmas event numbers had decreased from previous years. There was a very good turn out on the new venue at St Catherine’s Down the week before lockdown. A number of different running clubs took part and it was encouraging that they showed interest in returning for future events. We are in desperate need of some ‘new blood’ in the club, so I hope that they come again once we restart.
The 2 quiz walks this summer had a lot of participation. 15 teams of up to 6 took part on the Cowes in a Crisis during July & 25 teams of up to 6 took part on the Totland walk in August. These walks were free of charge, but many made a donation which totalled £120.00. Thank you for your donations & the money has been sent to the Mountbatten Hospice. As these walks have been popular I have decided to do another for around Easter but not sure where! And Glyn is looking at mapping & doing a quiz walk around Golden Hill Fort. These will be the same format as the walks last summer & will be advertised in the New Year.
Until then myself and the WIGHTO committee wish you all a healthy Covid free Christmas & New Year and look forward to seeing you all again sometime in 2021.
Peter Bartlett [ Chairman] Wighto.
