Knox Street Orienteering Walkers

History

 

Street Orienteering Groups Summary
Dates	Group	Days	Notes
July 2018 – date	Knox Street  Orienteering Walkers  Group  (KnoxSOW)	1st & 3rd Fridays  of the month	KnoxSOW  Organisers
May 2018 – June 2018		1st Friday  of the month
June 2014 – June 2018	Life Activities Club  Knox  (LACK)	3rd Friday  of the month	Street Orienteering Walkers  Activity Group Organisers
May 2005 – December 2013	Waverley Retirement  Activities Group  (WRAG)	Every Tuesday	Orienteering Walking  Activity Group Members
Days sometimes changed according to weather and holidays.  KnoxSOW was registered with the National Heart Foundation from May 2018 – December 2021.

The Beginning:
David and Glenys were first introduced to Street Orienteering by Wally Cavill and Stan & Sue Gurman in 2005.  They ran a weekly orienteering walk as part of the Waverley Retirement Activities Group in Glen Waverley.  We participated every Tuesday until we resigned from WRAG in Decemer 2013.

Glenys & David : 23 Dec 2008	Glenys & Sue : 17 Nov 2009
WRAG Walking Group : 17 Nov 2009	WRAG Walking Group : 12 Apr 2011
WRAG Walking Group : 30 Aug 2011

Life Activities Club Knox:
After moving to Knox in 2011 we joined the Life Activities Club Knox.  We held a 'trial' orienteering walk around Rowville for the Club's Friday Walkers Christmas Walk on 13th December 2013.  It was enjoyed by most walkers and David submitted a proposal to the LAC Knox Committee to set-up and subsidise a Street Orienteering Walkers Group as one of the Activity Groups.  It was accepted and we held the walks on the 3rd Friday every month.  The first walk was held in Bayswater North on 20th June 2014.

LAC Knox Group : 20 Jun 2014	LAC Knox walkers : 20 Jun 2014
LAC Knox Group :  17 Apr 2015	LAC Knox Group :  16 Oct 2015
LAC Knox Group :  21 Oct 2016	LAC Knox walkers :  21 Oct 2016

For the next three and a half years we had an average of 14 walkers each month.  At the beginning of 2018 more new walkers joined the group - 5 in February and another 5 in March.  (New walkers were allowed to try out up to 3 walks before having to join LAC Knox.)  In April 2018 we had 27 walkers.  The group was getting too large as many cafes were not big enough for so many people.

On 12th March 2018 the LAC Knox Committee advised us that they would no longer subsidise the SOW Activity Group.  In April we announced that we would be asking for a $1 donation from every walker to cover some of the groups expenses.  We also decided to register with the Heart Foundation and run an addtional walk on the first Friday of the month beginning in May.  This meant that the new walkers could continue to participate without having to join LAC Knox.  The walk on 4th May 2018 was the first Knox SOW walk.  This was available for everyone - new walkers and LAC Knox members.  The walks on the 3rd Fridays continued for LAC Knox members only.

We resigned as members of LAC Knox on 30th June 2018, as did some of our walkers as they were only members so they could participate in the SOW Activity Group.  Hence from July 2018 both monthly walks were run by Knox SOW.  We continue to have walkers that are members of local seniors groups such as LAC Knox and Probus.  Many are also members of other Heart Foundation walking groups.

Knox SOW:
Our Group was registered with Heart Foundation Walking in April 2018.  As mentioned above, we began as an independent walking group in May 2018.  Due to its popularity it soon became the largest Heart Foundation Walking group in the City of Knox and by the end of 2018 we had 48 members.

On 19th October 2018 we ran an event as part of the Knox Seniors Festival.  It was an outstanding success with 33 walkers including 7 new walkers.  Linda, the Knox Council's Seniors Support Officer, even came along.  With the 13 walkers on the first Friday in October, we achieved 46 walkers for the month - our most number of walkers to date.

Certficate from Mayor	Knox SOW Seniors Festival Event : 19 Oct 2018	Linda, Clue 10, Glenys & David

We now usually walk twice a month on the 1st and 3rd Fridays starting at the same location for the month.  We set 2 different courses (Course#1 on the 1st Friday and Course#2 on the 3rd Friday) to accomodate those walkers who wish to come on both days.

Virtual Orienteering:
On 1st April 2020 David introduced Virtual Orienteering so that walkers could still 'walk' without having to leave their house!  This involved downloading a map and using Google Maps Street View on a computer, tablet or phone to 'walk' around the streets and find the answers to the clues. The Maps listing was updated with a link to open Google Maps at the Start Location.

Suspensions:
The Pandemic Lockdowns suspended walks from April to July and August to mid-October.  We managed one walk in July before the second Lockdown.  With the relaxation of the pandemic rules, our walks recommenced in October 2020.  The Lockdowns in 2021 meant we could not walk in August, September and the first 3 weeks of October.  When Lockdown #6 ended at midnight on Thursday 21 October we walked 10 hours later!  This was a delayed 'Over 55s Zest4Life' event organised by the Knox Council.

Colchester Reserve, Boronia : 22 October 2021

Cancellations:
Our second walk in 2021 (Walk No.90 on 29th January) was rained out.  This was the first time ever that we had to abandon a walk and go to the cafe!  Would you believe that it rained on the next Friday too, so we had 2 cancellations in a row.  We eventually walked these 2 courses in December 2021.

Heart Foundation:
We cancelled our association with the National Heart Foundation in December 2021.  We had no new walkers via their website for 2 years.

www.knoxsow.fun