Last Saturday saw a double day of club-development outreach action: hot on the heels of the Interlopers’ Parkrun Takeover and taster session at Holyrood Park in the morning, we ran another session to introduce newcomers to orienteering in the afternoon at Craigmillar Castle Park.  More rainbows and running for cover under the trees between showers, but also some lovely sun and autumn colour, and some lovely families who tried out their navigation skills, chatted about maps and went away enthused to do more ‘flag chasing’ in the words of one small and enthusiastic boy.  

Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust (ELGT) were holding their Autumn Celebration that day and invited us along to contribute a family-friendly activity.  Despite the wet start to the afternoon, quite a few came along to enjoy crafts, music and other activities.  The disco back-drop gave a nicely energetic vibe for orienteering and the micro-O activity with pin punching went down well.  It was an opportunity to let people know about the Craigmillar Castle Park permanent orienteering course and share maps with short courses exploring in different directions round the park from the main playground.

ELGT is highly active in Edinburgh greenspaces, promoting access and enjoyment of the outdoors for everyone, so as organisations we have a lot in common.  Following some initial involvement around the Family Festival they held in the park earlier in the year, we’ve been developing a productive partnership, and have recently been awarded Council grant funding for a joint project to reinvigorate the permanent orienteering courses this winter.  This will see repairs and additions to the set of marker posts and some new course maps, ready for wider use next year.  Watch this space for updates as the project unfolds.

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