TWELVE map-reading masters will find their way to Sicily this spring for the World Schools Orienteering Championships.

Ulverston Victoria High School's delighted dozen will line up against some of the best young orienteers on the planet to battle it out for the global title.

UVHS will send full teams of five to represent Great Britain in the junior and senior girls events in Palermo, between April 21 and 29. There will also be two boys making the trip as part of their senior squad.

They will take on teams from more than 20 other countries, including Spain, China, New Zealand, Latvia and Sweden.

All 12 qualified after impressive performances from the sport hotspot at the British Schools Orienteering Championships in Sutton Park, Birmingham.

UVHS claimed several team successes in the Midlands, while being ranked as the second-best school overall in the country, with the 12 pupils ready to fly out to Italy being the cream of their crop.

Ellie Simmonds, Merryn Stangroom, Alice Wood, Jess Ensoll and Lucy Gibson will make up the junior girls team of 13 and 14-year-olds, with Sophie Evans as the reserve.

In the senior girls team, made up of pupils aged between 15 and 17, Megan Bartlett, Fiona Newby, Daisy Fletcher-Cooney, Catherine Bloom and Anna Lister represent GB, with Polly Allen the reserve.

Senior boys Harry Scott and Stuart Allison, both 17, are part of a larger Great Britain squad in their event, with UVHS sending 30 per cent of the 40 competitors picked for the national teams across all events.

The World Championships are a week-long event ,with the focus on three competitions – individual long and middle-distance races and friendship relay, where mixed nationality teams of three work together to complete the course.

The friendship relay can be a test of an athlete’s miming skills as they try to overcome the language barrier against the clock.

Beyond the orienteering and development of the inherent running and navigational skills in a high-class arena, the tournament is designed as an opportunity for the children to interact with students from countries around the world, with whom they share an interest in the sport.

There is a cultural day on which each country presents a stall and puts on a performance, with UVHS and the rest of the GB team morris dancing).

The UVHS orienteering club is self-funded and run with the support of volunteer coaches and parents.

The team need to raise £8,500 to cover the costs of the flights, purchase of England kit, food, insurance and accommodation in Sicily for the team plus two coaches.

They have been busy fundraising, bag packing, holding cake stalls, and raffles, and have also set up a Just Giving page where donations can be made to help them with their trip. It can be found at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/UVHS-WSOC