🌟 A run around Lady Dixon Park last night, under a beautiful clear starry sky, concluded our Orienteering for the year. Thank you so much to the wonderful Baxter family for not only warming us with hot chocolate, cocktail sausages and other festive treats on a freezing night 🥶 but organising and planning the WENT series along with Stephen Gilmore who planned the Lisburn MapRuns.
👏 Thank you to every participant and member for supporting our club this year. It has been busy and full of excellent activities and events; I am sure we all have really enjoyable memories (and maybe some we’d prefer to forget). Thanks to all the volunteers who have helped, especially those who help plan and organise events and of course the committee and others whose work is often not seen – thank you!
📅 We already have the events calendar out for this coming year. As always to ensure a great programme we need great volunteers. Please have a look at what is coming up and put your hand up to help out – there is a job for everyone and anyone. Have a look here at the programme/roster: 📣LVO 2023 Events Roster – Lagan Valley Orienteers and let Mark Earnshaw know where you would like to help out at fixtures@lvo.org.uk.
🏆 The first activities planned for 2023 will be score training, preparing us for the NI Score Champs in early February. Anyone can take part but in any event, even Championships but to be deemed as competitive and eligible for a prize you must be a current LVO member. So, if you haven’t already done so, make sure you have renewed your annual membership before then! Join Us – Lagan Valley Orienteers (lvo.org.uk) Membership runs from 1 Jan to 31 Dec 2003.
🙁🙂 Unfortunately we struggled to arrange catering for a club Christmas do this year – however we are planning a club social event early in the new year which will include an Indoor O, meal, games/quiz and LVO prize giving. Not to be missed, so put Saturday 4 February in your diary now!
👀 Looking ahead, 2023 is going to be a very exciting year.
We will be supporting NIOA with hosting the British Sprint Champs and British Middle-Distance Championships on the weekend of May 5/6th. Six to seven hundred competitors from across the UK, Ireland and other European countries are expected to visit and enjoy our courses and hospitality.
Leading up to the British Champs, we have the Irish Championships in Wicklow the weekend before and there will also be mid-week events in the days between the two major Championship weekends – making up the Emerald Isle Festival – a first of its kind!
I know we can rely on the generosity of your support and a sprinkle of Irish luck to pull all this off 🍀
❓ What’s your New Year Res-O-lution?
🌳 Are you enjoying park orienteering and gaining confidence? – Why not take part in a NI Colour Series or Championship event – there are always courses for all levels of ability 🤍💛🧡💚💙🤎.
🚢 Fancy an adventure outside NI? – Join lots of other club members travelling to the JK 2023 (thejk.org.uk) in the Lake District this Easter. Let us know if you need to car/accommodation share.
💡 Wondering how to develop yourself or the club – LVO/NIOA will be organising some training for new planners, controllers and using the computers (SI Entries/Timing), so look out for this and get your name down if interested.
🎅To finish, on behalf of the LVO committee, I would like to wish all LVO members a very happy and healthy Christmas. Thanks again for all your support!
🍾Best wishes for the New Year, let’s hope make it a good one!
Take care,
Ric