Notification of the AGM and what does the new lockdown mean for you and EckO?

Posted: Fri 8 Jan 2021

We wish all our EckO members a Happy New Year and we look forward to getting back to full orienteering activities as soon as Scottish Government Guidelines allow.

Our AGM which was due to be held at the Sailing Club, Oban will now be held via a Zoom meeting on Friday, 19th February 2021. Time and further details will be confirmed nearer the date. Please can we encourage as many of our members as possible to attend. All nominations for a position on the committee must be received by the secretary (John McLuckie) by Friday 5th February, 2021.

Membership subscriptions are now due. For more information on renewing or joining EckO click here.

We are now in lockdown until at least the end of the month. This is similar to the one we experienced last year from March to June.

Scottish Orienteering issued the following statement on Monday 4th January:

"In light of the First Minister's statement today, mainland Scotland will enter lockdown as of Tuesday 5th January. Club and organised orienteering events and activities are suspended with effect of midnight tonight. We will issue a full statement once we receive clarification
from sportscotland. For now we ask all members to stay safe, stay at home. Follow the Scottish Government Guidelines.

By law, in a level 4 area, you can only leave your home (or garden) for an essential purpose.

Included in an 'essential purpose' is:-

"local outdoor recreation, sport or exercise, walking, cycling, golf, or running that starts and finishes at the same place (which can be up to 5 miles from the boundary of your local authority area) as long as you abide by the rules on meeting other households. Travel no further than you need to reach to a safe, non-crowded place to exercise in a socially distanced way. Up to 2 people from 2 separate households can meet outdoors for sport, exercise or social interaction."

There is a really useful set of maps showing the boundaries of the Scottish local authorities.

As all local orienteering events are now suspended, what can EckO offer in the interim. We can still enjoy our orienteering individually so MapRun is still available and our area for January was going to be Dunstaffnage. Although the event is now cancelled we can still offer a ROMP for you to enjoy. Please remember that these courses are not official orienteering registered events or activities so participants take part at their own risk.