As individuals and as a partnership, Janet Morris and Barry Hanlon have for decades stimulated and supported the growth of orienteering in western Sydney in particular, and in NSW more generally.
As such they are very worthy winners of the ONSW Encouragement Award for 2020.
Barry is an expert at building maps and is working with Hamish Mackie as ONSW’s Mapping Technical Director. His expertise is evident in the excellent "How to create high quality orienteering base maps", available freely on the WHO website. It has been recommended highly by interstate experts in mapping.
Janet is the organiser for the annual Western Sydney Orienteering Series (WSOS) and was integral to establishing the series which was developed to attract newcomers and provide WHO members with the opportunity to set courses and organise / control minor events.
She also provides mapping support to The Hills Saturday Orienteering Series, a link that is helpful to WHO’s development and has proven to be an excellent bridge into more regular orienteering for people who often then join WHO or other orienteering clubs.
Both Janet and Barry enjoy mapping fieldwork. Between them since 2016 Janet and Barry have completed 21 school maps, while Barry developed 23 base maps in 2019-2020. These provide the field worker with an excellent basis for the next stage of mapping.
Janet and Barry contribute to every WHO event, helping in any capacity that they can, including setting courses, controlling or organising. They are always there early for setting up and wrapping up events. Together they scour the countryside far and wide for suitable bush maps for State League and visit all over greater Sydney seeking interesting urban maps, too.
Congratulations Janet and Barry!
