Minutes: TVOC Club meeting: Final DRAFT Held at 8pm on Tuesday 15th September 2015 at The Merry Bells, Wheatley Present: Alun Jones (Chair), John Dalton (Secretary, minutes), Martin Ricketts (Treasurer and home-made biscuits), Neville Baker, John Thompson, Bob Beresford, Jon Wheatcroft Apologies for absence: Robin Bishop, Yvonne Hodson, Roger Baker, Carol Edwards, John Farren 1. Matters Arising from previous Club Meeting a) Planning Software Martin Ricketts to donate 100 to Purple Pen. ACTION COMPLETE b) Situations Vacant Equipment Officer o Gary Walford has been contacted in case he could take over. He declined as his garage is already used. o Currently, whole set of control kit is being passed on from Planner to Planner o Summer Series kit with with Andrew Chalmers, at risk of mice damage String Course Ben Green and his wife Yvonne have agreed to take it on without the expectation of one at every Saturday Series event c) Proposal for club jackets From Peter Riches: Waiting for final set of information on alternatives d) Aston and Crowell Bob Beresford has been to the area now he has obtained latest OCAD version of the map. A small part of the area is NT-owned. Definitely worth exploring in more detail. Some brambles, lots of tracks and some recent felling. Some new fences have arrived. A significant re-map would be necessary. The area would be suitable for another Level B event. John Farren commented that the last time he tried to get permission, there was a problem with the new owner who had just inherited from a deceased retired major [Colonel Clarke-Brown]. The reason she gave for refusing us at the time was because of the bird flu. Note that it is a shooting area, which would need to be taken into account for updating the map and the event date. ACTIONS: Neville to provide John Dalton with any details about land ownership that he has John Dalton to contact Matt Shrimpton at NT to find out who to seek permission from for the NT section John Dalton to contact Fred Ashford for his contacts John Dalton to seek permission from all land-owners e) Coaching (Ben Green) Ben Green plans to hold this at Shotover when the new university term starts and some students are available, and there's less vegetation. ACTION COMPLETE f) Orienteering at Waddesdon Manor, near Aylesbury. Yvonne Hodson Yvonne has negotiated with the NT support for orienteering at Waddesdon during February half term (Saturday 13 th February Sunday 21 st February 2016). Waddesdon have agreed to the following: NT to run orienteering activities themselves through the whole of half term week (Yvonne to provide support, Summer series kit to be used) Full Saturday Series event to be run by TVOC on Saturday February 20 th Some help and support from TVOC for this programme would be much appreciated where needed
ACTION: John Dalton to suggest to Yvonne that she starts to co-ordinate helpers for these activities Martin Ricketts is available to help if needed g) JK 2019 During the previous meeting, several possible options for areas were discussed. Alun emailed SCOA Chair and will discuss with her at forthcoming SCOA meeting. He will also mention potential area for JK Sprint (as suggested by Roger Thetford). h) Future of the SCOA League Feedback from parents has now been received - children are perhaps the ones most motivated by the League. ACTION: Comments to be passed back by Alun Jones to SCOA meeting. i) Proposed Questionnaire on what club members want from TVOC Alun reported the following: Great response, 87 individual answers, some of which are for entire families. Main conclusions are: Number of events o Well over 80% think we have the right number. o Level C and B events - 9% want more, 5% want less o Saturday Series - 8% want more, 6% want less o Summer Series - 1% want more, 10% want less Orienteering ability o 60% are experienced but still looking to improve, 22% are improving and 10% are beginners, yet... o 65% said they did not want any coaching o The other 35% was spread between wanting coaching alongside Saturday Series, on different Saturdays, or on weekday evenings. o Lack of time was a frequent reason for not wanting coaching What else do people want from TVOC? Two key themes - a lift-sharing facility and evening training runs. Are you in the right team? o 6% could do with a change o 14% don't think they are in a team o 18% cannot join a team at the moment Can you organise or plan an event Communication o Not surprisingly, T'Voice received very high marks - over 95% rated it Excellent or Good,... o as did Mike Shires' events email with over 80% (the others had never read it or did not know it existed) o Facebook pages received lower scores, with a lot of never read it or did not know it existed,... o As did the club Gmail facility. More in the next TVOiCe. 2. Determine 2016 club membership fees The following were AGREED as the 2016 TVOC club membership fees (no change): Individual: 8:00 Individual Junior: Free Family: 8:00 ACTIONS: Martin Ricketts to send John Dalton a cheque for 2016 TVOC club membershipfor British Orienteering John Dalton to inform British Orienteering of the above fees and submit annual club return
3. Confirm arrangements for AGM Saturday 28 th November 2015 at Brill Village Hall AGM at 6:00pm, Dinner at 7:00pm Speaker: Helen Gristwood, Murphy s Law and World Championships Details for booking to be included in next issue of TVOiCe 4. Proposal for purchase of replacement equipment (Alun Jones) The following were all AGREED: 1. New laptop (~ 200). We purchased two new Toshibas last year, which have proved reliable. The third computer, a Dell running XP, is getting older and its keyboard no longer works so requires a separate keyboard to be plugged in, leaving just one other USB port for printers, etc. I therefore propose we purchase a third Toshiba. My intention is that the Dell be kept as a reserve, and for downloading the MTR0, with the Toshibas used for customer-facing jobs (Registration, allocating hired EMIT cards, download) 2. A second download printer (~ 180). This will give us resilience in case we have a fault with one printer. Also it should help to avoid download queues forming at large events (Chiltern Challenge). 3. A USB 250 reader (~ 120). The existing 250s need Serial ports. Modern computers only have USBs. 5. TVOC equipment insurance arrangements (Martin Ricketts) Martin highlighted some specific requirements our insurance company requires us to follow regarding equipment. This is particularly important if equipment is to be left out overnight (e.g. controls, toilets etc.). Organisers need to inform our insurance company when this is necessary (via Richard Weston). ACTION: Alun to update Organisers Checklist accordingly Martin explained that he is completing a kit list and associated storage locations for our insurance company. It is important to note that, in the absence of an Equipment Officer, all TVOC controls plus associated stakes, flags Start and Finish equipment etc. is being passed from planner-to-planner after each event. ACTION: Martin Ricketts to complete lists for insurance company accordingly 6. Recent Club Successes None to report. And certainly none from Scotland! 7. Past events RAL Urban Race, 31AUG15 o More than 300 entries o 289 runs on the day o More popular than recent Urban events we have held that weekend o Planners and Organisers all did a great job o It was very difficult to get the necessary levels of help. Why might this be? Bank Holiday weekend? Bank Holiday Monday? Urban nature of the event? 2016 event scheduled for the same August Bank Holiday Weekend ACTION: Consider different 2017 dates for equivalent event World Orienteering Championships (Inverness, Scotland, 31 July-7 August 2015) o Hard work, long days but good fun o Jon and Glynis Wheatcroft, Neville and Marie-Anne and Carol all committed an awful lot of time and effort before and during the event. o Many thanks to all who stepped in to help. o Good TV coverage! 8. Future Events: see http://tinyurl.com/tvoc-plans All events planned are listed below. 2015
a) Bradenham Woods (Sunday 13 th December 2015, Level C) Planner: Brian Palmer. Organiser: Marcin Krzysztofik. Controller: Eric Harper, BKO Parking now confirmed by Alun Jones with farmer Flyer produced. Draft courses have gone to the controller for review. Should all be fine. ACTION: John Dalton to remind Matt Shrimpton (NT) that he has provided us with the necessary permission Brian Palmer is using May 2015 version of Park Wood area. Andrew Chalmers await his advice on any changes needed as his planning progresses. 2016 b) RAF Halton (Sunday 3 rd January 2016, level C Urban event) Organiser: Chris Poole, Planner: Pete Priest, Controller: Steve Hardy, SMOC Unlikely to be selected for UKUL, but likely to be included for SEOUL. ACTION: Alun to check in with Chris Poole and Peter Priest Map updates already completed for RAFO event by Robin Bishop and Mark Thompson c) Christmas Common (Sunday 14 th February 2016, Level C) Organiser: tbc, Planner: tbc(offer now frommartin Ricketts), Controller: Tony Feltbower, OD Updates: Parking field booked by Alun Jones ( 2 per car, as field can cut up very badly in poor weather) We are still short of an Organiser and Planner for this event ACTIONS: John Dalton to bring John Farren up-to-date. ACTION COMPLETED Neville Baker to confirm to Martin Ricketts and John Farren when FC permission comes through ACTION COMPLETED John Farren can now confirm the additional permission necessary through Andrew Ingram Alun took some suggestions from the meeting to seek officials Martin Ricketts has offered to update the map d) Wendover (24 th April 2016, Chiltern Challenge, Level B). Organiser: John Dalton, Planner: Carol Edwards, Controller: Hedley Calderbank, HH All permissions in place verbally. Car park will be usual trig point field. John Dalton has provided Hedley Calderbank (controller) with an update To be done in Q4 by Mark Thompson e) Kingswood (Sunday June 5 th 2016, Level C) (Was documented as 6 th in error) Needs Organiser, Planner. Controller: Peter Riches Been some felling in recent times. We are still short of an Organiser and Planner for this event ACTION: Alun took some suggestions from the meeting to seek officials Martin Rickets will update the map (and will also do a quick update prior to Saturday Series 19SEP15) f) Grove and Wantage (Monday 29 th August 2016, Urban Level C) Organiser: Luke McNeill, Planner: Neville Baker. Needs Controller ACTION: Neville will see if Luke McNeill would be interested in organising Martin Ricketts will map Luke McNeill will kindly organise g) Hodgemoor (October 23rd 2016, Level C) EVENT WITHDRAWN FROM CALENDAR h) Shotover (December 18th 2016) Organisers: Gary Mills/Ali Kempson, Planner: tbc, Controller: tbc ACTION: Neville Baker to explore with Richard Sharp whether a November date might work better (particularly given the withdrawal from the October Hodgemoor event)
John Farren is happy to map. He plans a look-see in Spring 2016 and an update in Autumn 16. He will assume that we are talking about the full map - S and Brasenose. 2017 i) Great Hampden (March 2017, Chiltern Challenge, Level B) Organiser: Needed soon, Planner: tbc, Controller tbc Need to avoid shooting season and February. Bussing will be necessary for this level B event. Parking in Princes Risborough has not been explored in detail. j) Penn Woods (Nov/Dec 2017, Southern Night Championships) Organiser: tbc, Planner: tbc, Controller tbc Would be good preparation for 2020 British Nights. A building would be useful to have available. Could consider Penn Village Hall as an under-cover area as an alternative to the loading bay. Will need updating. Bob Beresford offered 2020 k) Hambleden (Late Feb/Early Mar necessary for any night event). Neville has confirmed with Richard Sharp that joint events of a British Nights and a Southern Champs combined cannot happen as holding two Level A events on the same area is against BO rules. We therefore have to consider other options: 1. British Nights (Level A) followed by Chiltern Challenge (Level B). This requires another club to step in to run the Southern Champs 2. British Nights organised by another club on another area followed by Southern Champs (Level A) ACTION: Alun to discuss these options at forthcoming SCOA meeting 9. Saturday Series We are still very short of organisers for 2016 10. Summer Series 2015 Alun Jones to formally thank Chris Poole for his efforts last year. ACTION COMPLETE 11. Other Mapping Topics TVOC to consider worthy maps to propose for recognition by British Orienteering Wormsley: Does anyone have any contacts that might be able to help us get in there? ACTION: Alun Jones offered to write to the club for anyone with a suitable contact there Martin Ricketts is in the process of combining the RAL and Harwell maps into a single map The meeting discussed other possible areas to use, map or re-map. For example: Deangarden Woods: Still horrible SW corner of High Wycombe / Sands Cornbury Park (between Oxford and Banbury) More Urban areas Northern bit of Nettlebed Stonor ACTION: Jon Wheatcroft, Bob Beresford and Neville Baker to review old maps and lists of areas to see what the potential is 12. Officers Reports Chairman: Thursday is the next SCOA meeting. Treasurer: In process of completing 2014/15 accounts. Annual surplus likely to be around 1,700 Secretary:
I have received the following request: 1 Regt RLC have relocated to St David s Barracks in Bicester from Germany. The unit are very keen on Orienteering and are looking at hosting an event for the Military League South. Would it be possible to use a TVOC area on Wed 02DEC15 or early next year? The venue would need to cater for the following course lengths: Brown, Blue, Green, Orange Start times for the event are 1100 1400. The unit would organise the event with a Planner & Controller from qualified Army or Civilian personnel. Dalton Barracks was suggested. ACTION: John Dalton to share suggestion with 1Regt RLC Captain: Nothing to report 13. Any Other Business Chiltern Society: Andrew Chalmers Captain's Wood map now on their website - it uses their OS registration number. See http://www.chilternsociety.org.uk/about-orienteering-cptnswd.htm Andrew had a meeting with CS on 5.9.15. He shall revisit Bottom Wood, Marlow Common North and Whiteleaf with Brush Hill in October to check up on these 3 maps which were done Spring 2014. Chiltern Society will probably go ahead with Permanent Courses on these areas later this Autumn/Winter with assistance from their volunteers to place posts. Jon Wheatcroft requested authorization to purchase some fluorescent jackets and more tape for the Start. AGREED Cutteslowe and Shotover POCs (on behalf of Roger Baker) These areas both need babysitting after Mark Collis s relocation. Morten Lennholm has offered to help out at Cutteslowe. Ben Green has also recently visited all the sites at Shotover Cutteslowe, The meeting was very happy for Roger to coordinate with both Morten and Ben to see if both areas could be covered between them. ACTION: John Dalton to inform Roger Baker of this information. Date of next meeting: Confirmed as 8pm on Tuesday 17 th November 2015 at The Merry Bells, Wheatley.