Resources to help club officials stage events
Here we share the recommended guidance from DVO to support organisers and planners of events.
British Orienteering also has additional guidance that may be helpful, but you won’t need to read all of it!
- British Orienteering Resource Library for Organisers and Planners – the organiser’s checklist is the most useful
Note that to access some of the British Orienteering Safety and other information you need to be signed into the British Orienteering website. To sign-in, click the sign-in button top-right, choose Forgotten Password/Username and enter your British Orienteering member number. You will then be able to set your password. There are other benefits of signing in, e.g.
- See results for all events you have attended and your ranking points (Under My Account)
- View webinars to learn how to improve your orienteering or how to volunteer for your club (Under Member Zone)
DVO guidance for event organisers
Event safety information
Since safety is a key responsibility of all event officials, we have a separate page on this summarising the process of managing competitor safety through the risk assessment – See our Event Safety page.
Qualified first aiders are: Dai & Karen Bedwell, Rex Bleakman, Sal Chaffey, Darren Cooke, Ann-Marie Duckworth, Judith Holt, Val Johnson, Anne Kayley-Burgess, Ranald Macdonald, Chris Millard, Stuart Swalwell. Please let us know if you would like to become qualified, or renew your certificate. The Club will reimburse your training costs in full.
Guidance for organisers from DVO (PDF downloads):
- Notes for Event Co-ordinators – for Level C and above events – includes recommendations for individual team leaders for events
- Notes for Organisers of Level D Events
- Signing for an event
- Covid-related Documents
- Configuration details for SI Mini Printers (Martel MCP7830)
Templates for printing – mainly Word documents for amending:
- British Orienteering Risk assessment form – to be completed for each event and signed-off by controller
- Event Flyer Template – Optional for Level C events; more useful for Level A & B
- Informal Level D Event Flyer Template – Not usually used since event details added directly to event database
- Competitor registration Slips (PDF)
- Expenses Claim Form (Word document – updated October 2021)
DVO guidance for Planners and controllers
Rules governing orienteering competitions:
- Latest British Orienteering Rules – Essential to consult Competition Rules PDF, especially Appendix B: Course Planning
For reference, if needed:
- International Specification for Control Descriptions – From the International Orienteering Federation (IOF)
- International Specification for Orienteering Maps (ISOM) – from the IOF. Sprint guidance also available also includes Sprint and Urban Maps (ISSOM/ISSprOM)
Additional planning guidance:
- Notes for Level C and D Planners – DVO guidance for first-time planners
- Course planning guide – Explains the planning process, with useful examples (Graham Nilsen’s guide updated by Hilary Quick)
- White courses, Yellow courses, Orange courses, Light green courses, Green-black courses – Barry Elkington’s course-specific guides give more guidance and examples of individual courses and are particularly useful for easier courses
- Purple Pen for Planners – A guide to the recommending planning software by Mike Godfree of DVO
- MapRun Planners guidance – Nov 2020 – see also Video showing how to create a MapRun event on a smartphone. You will need a map image from
