At the 2025 Xmas 5 Day event ONSW President announced that Sue Froude had been awarded the ONSW Volunteer of the Year Award for 2025.
Long serving secretary of Illawarra Kareelah Orienteers (IKO) –15 years – Sue is well known, not only to IKO members, but to many of the NSW orienteering fraternity for her contribution to the sport.
As well as efficiently organising club meetings and coordinating our club committee activities Sue looks after the membership of IKO – encouraging newcomers to join the club and making them feel welcome. She is instrumental in planning the club’s annual event program and recruiting members to set/plan courses. She is well qualified to mentor new members in the latter activity having won course setter of the year for Sydney Summer Series events twice – in 2023 (Rushcutter’s Bay) and 2025 (Surry Hills). She was also instrumental in canvasing the inclusion of an IKO event in the SSS calendar.
When Sue isn’t working on her IKO secretary duties she is out and about working on new maps or checking out potential areas for new maps. Sue is a highly active mapper for our club, having produced numerous urban maps across Sydney. Some of her notable mapping projects include Surry Hills, Kings Cross, Queens Park, Double Bay and Darling Point, Yarra Bay, La Perouse, The Corridor (Kirrawee), Sutherland, and Bado-Berong Creek (Sans Souci).
Not content with volunteering a substantial amount of time on IKO club activities Sue has also, in the past, volunteered for ONSW helping out with administrative tasks.
Beyond her organisational and mapping efforts, Sue is prolific in managing the club’s Facebook page. She is especially active in advertising upcoming events, often infusing her posts with humour to engage members and promote club participation.
Congratulations Sue, you are a most deserving recipient of the award.