UBOC is affiliated to British Orienteering , the South West Orienteering Association and the University of Bristol Students' Union .
The club is sponsored by both
Kinisi Run Hub, where
club members receive a 10% discount, and
Alpkit Bristol,
where members receive a 15% discount.
If you are an organisation interested in supporting the club in
its work please
get in touch.
UBOC has been the grateful recipient of grants from the Bristol
University Alumni Foundation and the British Orienteering
Development Fund. We are also very grateful for the constant
support of
Bristol Orienteering Klub, without whom we would not be able to host or attend so many
events.
The club initially contacted British Orienteering to see if they
had any funds or assistance that we could use. They gave use some
information about grants, but it was clear that the first step was
to form the club in the university's AU. We collected over 30
signatures supporting the proposal for an orienteering club (most,
admittedly, signed under duress) and prepared a proposal to
present to the Captain's Committee of the AU, a constitution and a
risk assessment. The presentation to the Captain's Committee was
successful so we were then an "associated club"- entitled to be an
AU club but with no access to annual grants, apart from a capital
grant at the start of the year, and a requirement to keep 30
members on the books. This lack of funding would be the case for 3
years. So we had a club with no members and no money. A committee
was elected (3 people), a logo designed and long-term planning
began.
We collected support through word-of-mouth, posters (Jo West and
Erinna Foley-Fisher, consecutive captains, met because Jo signed
her name on Erinna's poster), email, contacts in other AU clubs
and societies. The most difficult part was always transport: we
relied heavily on public transport for closer events, one club
member's car and BOK. BOK offered support in every way that they
could and without that, the club would have folded.
In 2007-2008, the club used its capital grant to buy mini training
controls, SI cards, compasses and whistles. Kit was also designed
and ordered, and sports clubs hoodies were made, mainly so that
there would be walking advertisements on the university campus. We
managed to plan trips to JK (multi-day events are the hardest to
cope with) and attracted quite a substantial core of new,
enthusiastic members.
This year (when?), we had to deal with a new system of membership
to AU clubs that required people to buy an AU membership card
(£30) before paying membership to any club. Obviously this put
many people off joining and means that we have to charge less for
entries. It should be noted that entrance to the AU is probably
different now, but at the time it was difficult. Finding 30
members when orienteering is a niche sport and having to survive
with no money to pay for e.g. equipment, transport is a major
hindrance for us still. The university is not used to dealing with
a sport like orienteering and frequently does not understand our
needs. It is a constant fight for survival and dependent mainly on
the enthusiasm of its members which has been incredible so far,
especially those who did not know the sport before coming to
university.