SSAGO Blog

Lauren Whittaker - Secretary 2017/18 Annual Report

Lauren Whittaker, Secretary 2017/18

Friday 30th of March 2018

Following the AGM, the national Exec decided to make sure their full annual reports were available to all the membership through our Exec blog!

• Email log introduced this year in order to ensure that emails are responded to and chased up where appropriate.

• Written minutes for Reps, Exec, AGM and Girlguiding meetings. Created a minutes template to use and will continue to use it this year.

• Ensured that club reps are up to date on the membership system, preparing questions for club reports, ensuring they are submitted (with the highest being 31 clubs) and responded to any questions from the reports.

• Sorted through the secretary folder back in the summer and found lots of old paperwork, which has since been digitised by Larah (Archivist) and uploaded to the website more recently.

• Moved to Glasgow part of the way through the year and have helped to spread the word of SSAGO in Scotland. Have set up a region in Scotland and had organised to meet up in Perth but is being rescheduled due to the snow. Helped Edinburgh and Dundee SSAGO get set up along with Anona (Membership Officer), meaning that there are now 3 clubs in Scotland! Supported Glasgow SSAGO and encouraged 4 to go to rally for the first time.

• Attended a Girlguiding meeting back in September in London with Josh.

• Attended both Gilwell Reunion and Wellies & Wristbands in order to promote SSAGO.

• Got re-elected at the AGM to continue on next year and looking forward to building on what I have learnt this year!

Anona Mann - Members Officer 2017/18 Annual Report

Anona Mann, Members Officer 2017/18

Friday 30th of March 2018

Following the AGM, the national Exec decided to make sure their full annual reports were available to all the membership through our Exec blog!

SSAGO Membership Overview Statistics for the Year

• End of 2017 saw 910 members part of SSAGO, and increase of 2% (19 members) from 2016.
• 645 members (71% of membership) have been active online over the past 12 months .
• 477 members (52% of membership) have attended at least 1 national event over the past 12 months
• 869 (95%) have Full Membership status
• 39 (4%) have Associate Membership
• 386 members (42% of membership) are involved with Scouting/Guiding at Higher Education/similar compared to 415 members (46% of membership) are involved at home.
• Gender spread of SSAGO is as follows: 37% male, 61% female and 2% other

Outlines from Manifesto

• Keep on top of club membership and payment, work to improve our ever growing overseas contact with similar SSAGO type clubs
  • Have successfully accomplished this, by to talk to clubs about membership submissions soon as the new academic year started in September, then kept posting and emailing clubs every month! I set a provisional deadline for membership lists for November Rally, however only a handle of clubs did this, but increasing the amount of posts and talking to individual clubs, most then got membership lists and payment in on time. I then worked even closer with the remaining clubs to make sure everyone knew what was needed to be done and assist with their enquiries
  • After last Feb rally, the position of International Officer was created as an Assistant role, this meant that they could work on making close bonds with international groups that were similar to SSAGO. This saw a group of Dutch contingent members attend reunion, as well as a few Dutch and Irish attending Witan in a Weekend.
• Creating strong links between clubs no matters their size or how long they have been part of SSAGO, to meet up outside of national events.
  • Admittedly this point was a lot harder than I thought it would be, I have received feedback from reps on regions and have managed to make the regions more defined, taking into the consideration of reps feedback. I had attended Northern Freshers with 50 people attending, with one even coming from as far as Edinburgh! Before hand over I aim to complete this, including creating a page with regions up on the website so that the information is available to all clubs and indie members alike. I hope this will encourage more and stronger inter-club events!
• To work closely with the Publicity Officer to increase membership.
  • I have attended several events with James as well as attending events such as Poacher and Gilwell Fun Days, when he was not able to. Also offered feedback on publicity material that contained club information so new clubs were not missed out.

What else has happened over the year

• Attended many SSAGO Suport events including: Oxonjam, Gilwell Fundays, Poacher and Gilwell Reunion, advertising SSAGO to Explores and promoting us to leaders as well as showing how helpful and reliable we can be to events.
• Caught up with new clubs from last year to see how their first year was and what their plans for the upcoming year was. Unfortunately in some cases clubs did not respond and after some investigation it had turned out they had become inactive.
• Made two very colourful spreadsheets, one running from April to August the other September to April, this was so I could easily see; what groups had submitted membership,paid, how many members of what type each club had, as well as highlighting new clubs and struggling clubs and other important comments. This really helped with the organisation and a visual key to the status of clubs.
• Worked very closely with the Indie Rep Lourna, helping to set up online payment through the website for Indie membership, creating a spreadsheet to allow them to also keep up to date with membership and payment statuses. Kept regular contact to make sure they were not struggling in the role and knew how to handle different situations.
• Set up multiple  new clubs, these are:
  • Lincoln Uni
  • Edinburgh (EEGS)
  • Trinity St Davids
  • Herts SSAGO
  • Dundee
  • In the process of setting up Cumbria SSAGO, Derby and restarting Warwick.
• Started to write up a fact sheet for new committees, however I hope to make this condensed and easy to follow, yet still have the information reps thought would be helpful- but there is a lot of information!
• Started helping Larah (SSAGO Archivist) read through  past material to find membership numbers!
• Attended a TSA and GirlGuiding meeting and wrote the minutes
• Helped to audit the accounts with Josh, and try to support throughout the finance issues that have occurred this year.
• Learnt how the behind the scenes of the shop worked while looking after Indie membership payments. As well as the membership system on how to approve clubs and to confirm their payments online.

Assistant Update (SAGGA Rep)

I worked with Laura to help find a Returning Officer and see how she has been doing in her role.

Laura has spent the year attending a lot and a lot of SAGGA events and helped at alternative (SAGGA) rally, attended national support events such as OxonJam and Sparkle on Ice! Delivered lots of babies and ran Witan In a Weekend rally, and is excited to carry on her role in the next coming year.

Action points to work on between now and handover

• Further work out how to proceed with SSAGO regions, and work with the webmaster to get this up online
• Work with the webmaster to get access to see where indie members are studying to help guide them to nearby clubs and regions
• Condense the new ‘New Committee Guidance’ fact sheet
• Create a suggestions page that offers ideas for regular club meetings, this would help offer new and current clubs programme ideas.
• Finish the SSAGO bunting and complet fixing the SSAGO megaphone!
• Work with the elected Membership Officer to integrate them into the running of SSAGO in time for handover!
• Final check up on new groups and struggling groups to see how they want to move forward and how they would like supporting.

My 5 words I learned while on exec

• Exec (used to spell it Exsec)
• Membership (used to spell Membership and a variety of other ways)
• Whether (spelled anyway but the correct way)
• Committee (every possible way but not correctly)
• Certain (used to think that spelt curtain so spelt it sertain)

Thinking/Founders Day 2018

James Frith, National Publicity Officer

Thursday 22nd of February 2018

Today we celebrate the birth of both Lord and Lady Baden-Powell, and the founding of the movements of Scouting and Guiding that make up not just SSAGO, but such an important part of our lives, some of this year's Exec look back on their favourite Scouting and Guiding memories...

"I would like to share my experience of Girlguiding Centenary camp to the rest of SSAGO, which brings memories of international friends on Thinking day! Despite only being 14, I still remember counting down the days and driving my parents crazy – It is safe to say that my excitement levels before any Guide/Scout camp has certainly not changed. The weeks activities did not disappoint, with caving being my favourite activity of the week! Besides the action packed week I also enjoyed meeting so many international Guides (including Japan Girl Scouts) - sharing songs, swapping badges and learning about different cultures!"
- Lauren

"I don't have a favorite memory, because I've had so many good memories in the 5 years of Scouting I have had! But pre uni life, one of the best memories I have is from the Oxford Spires District camp, 3 of us had gone as our very brand new Network Group just out of Explorers and therefore spent the weekend with a lot of other explorer people who where in the school year below us, just having fun and messing about, I got into a flour fight with one explorer leaders who still till this day tries to get his own back when he sees me! During this event we had the district camp fire and while sat there with my friends and others I new, I realised that Scouting was where I fitted in and that those around me were like my second family and I would never be leaving! Best of all I learnt how to play Irish snap and it was possibly the funnest camp I can remember going on!"
- Anona

"'Favourite memory' seemed like such a good idea at the time, but it's so hard to pick one; I'm making new ones all the time!

I think one of my favourite Scouting but not SSAGO (shock horror) memories is when I took my 3rd Wallscourt Farm Cub Pack to Airhop at the end of the Summer term and presented my Cub of the year with a little Lego model of herself in uniform. She was over the moon and seeing just how happy this made her was an amazing feeling. About a year later I was able to present her with the Chief Scout Silver award round a campfire on my last meeting before Graduating and moving away, and again being able to see her and all my Cubs grow and achieve their potential was wonderful. I've been able to take so much from Scouting, but it's the difference I can make with what I give back that makes it truly a life changing adventure...

Obviously haven't included a photo of my Cubs, but here's a photo of me as a Cub!"
- James

The Change in Online Payments

Anona Mann (National Members Officer)

Thursday 15th of February 2018

In light of the Payment Service Directive (PSD2) law being introduced 13th January 2018 effecting the use of a surcharge to cover the card transaction charges, SSAGO has put on hold on the use of online payments for the shop and events.

Hello SSAGO

Unfortunately, the SSAGO Exec has had to take immediate action to suspend PayPal as a payment option for national SSAGO events, and the SSAGO shop due to a recent law change around the use of surcharges on card payments. The law makes it illegal for a business to charge extra for the use of online card payments (such as PayPal).  These charges are vital for SSAGO to allow us to cover the cost of card transaction fees for online paypal payments. 

Currently, we are looking into how this law affects SSAGO. We are currently in a grey area while we sort out our CIO status, we a not a business or charity, instead, we are an unregistered organisation. So until the Exec are 100% sure that we are fine to carry on payments as they are, we have removed the option of paying via paypal for both shop and event bookings. However, in the last exec meeting, it was voted on as well that we will give event committees the option to use the online payments but have to absorb the surcharge into their contingency. Please note this is a short-term solution and we will be discussing it further with reps at Witan in A Weekend.

If you have any questions you would like to raise please don't hesitate to email us at [email protected].

Thank you for your patience, 
The Executive Committee

Manifesto for Treasurer

Edwin Burkinshaw, Treasurer

Wednesday 14th of February 2018

Hello SSAGO! For those of you who don't know me I'm Edwin, the current Social Sec and Rally Chair for Lancaster, as well as a former member of Aberystwyth!

As treasurer I'd love to see funding go to helping clubs run smaller inter-club activities that may not be possible without some financial help. It would also be great if we could get more of our clubs involved in things like varsity and I'd love to help with that. I would also love to see some more money going towards helping to get our international friends to more events! One of the biggest things I want for SSAGO is to push the boundaries and spread us beyond the UK to a more internationally involved society and the first step to that is helping expand the international groups with the funding they need to stay involved!

The other main thing I want to do is to make it clearer just what the development fund can be used for beyond flags and the occasional use by the Exec! If needs be I’d like to open it up for tweaking the conditions for its use to help make it a much more useful resource for clubs than getting some very pretty flags, as currently the conditions on it between it needing to last 3 years but also not being kit make it a little bit difficult to see what it can be used for!

I've been a scout since I was just 5 and a half, starting in beavers and going on up through the sections to being amongst the first young leaders in my district to earn the young leader belt, and then a leader for both a beaver and cubs unit before coming to university! I came to uni with no real intention of being part of SSAGO as I had no idea what it was, but it took one meeting for me to become enthralled so have now been in SSAGO for 3 years and really want to give something back after everything it's done for me! Last year I convinced Lancaster to bid for November rally this year and as rally chair I have already become familiar with certain aspects of the treasurers role as well as, rather sadly,  already having read a fair few of the factsheets. Furthermore I am a maths student who's probably going to end up in finance I know at thing or two about those number things! SSAGO is easily one of my favourite parts of coming to uni, and everything I can do to help make that experience for everyone I want to do!

Manifesto for Publicity Officer

Melissa Roberts, Publicity

Wednesday 14th of February 2018

Hi Guys! I’m Melissa/Mel/Milly and I would love to take over from the fabulous James as your next Publicity Officer. I’ve really enjoyed helping on the media team this year and writing articles for the website and would like to further my role in SSAGO.

If I was elected for Publicity Officer I would like to continue the amazing work that has been done this year. If elected I will:

• Expand the SSAGO Support team – this team has created a great bank of support for The Scout Association and Girlguiding at national events. I want to keep this work going and continue to help at more events and get even more people involved.
• Grow the Media Team - Many hands make light work and so many of you have brilliant ideas that we could utilise.
• Improve non-members perception of SSAGO – SSAGO has become like a family to me and I wish I could bottle this feeling and share it with those who can’t experience it. As I can’t do this I will improve media outside of our partner organisations so more people understand what it is we do.
• Get leaders of all sections talking about SSAGO – Too many leaders I talk to don’t know who we are, and if they don’t know they can’t tell the kids! I want to get us talked about on a local level as well as nationally so leaders get used to hearing about us. I also want to make some sort of activity pack that leaders can use in any section so that members aren’t finding out about us for the first time when they’re in The Senior Section or Explorers.
• Increase internal publicity – I want to create a termly newsletter a bit like those we have at rallies. This will help clubs know what others have been up to, and be a good way of sharing ideas for activities.

Girlguiding has been a part of my life since I joined brownies at 7. I worked my way up through being a Young Leader, Leader in Training, Assistant Leader and now I run a unit at uni with an amazing leadership team made up of other students. I can’t remember when I first heard about SSAGO, but I was talking to some of the Aber lot before I moved to uni and quickly fell in love with the society. I ended up on the committee after just a few weeks, as the SSAGO Rep and then held the role of VP last year. I loved my time on the committee and I’m one of those strange people that is much happier helping to organise and run an event or club than just attending it!

SSAGO has become such a family to me I would love to give something back. I want everyone; members, prospective members, and non-members to know how truly amazing this bunch of people is.

And no, I’m not just running so I can get an exec hoodie!

Manifesto for Secretary

Lauren Whittaker, Secretary

Wednesday 14th of February 2018

I wish to re-run for the position of Secretary after spending the past year in the role! I’m currently in my 4^th year of SSAGO, doing a surveying masters at the University of Glasgow but I was previously involved in Southampton SSAGO during my undergraduate degree.

Why I would be good for the role?

I have experience of working on a variety of committees as a student, including Southampton SSGAO and on the National Exec. As part of my role as Secretary, I have experience of writing minutes, keeping track of emails to ensure they are repsonded to and followed up where neccesary as well as working with Girlguiding and The Scout Association to improve relations by attending meetings. Since moving to Glasgow I have brought my enthusiasm in order to build a new Scottish SSAGO region, by supporting new clubs, encouraging attendance at National events and organising events.

Not only do I wish to bring continuity and experience to the role but also my enthusiasm! I get excited about pretty much anything, but especially SSAGO! I have always had a passion for Guiding & Scouting stemming from joining Brownies at the age of 8, now volunteering at a local unit and being part of SSAGO as well as the exec has excelled this!

Aims:

• Regions - I’m keen to work with the Membership officer to continue their establishment elsewhere and bring them back. Regions would lead to greater number of joint events, for example in Scotland with an upcoming event in Perth.
• Badges - After the popularity of SSAGO Anniversary challenge badges, I would like to introduce either challenge or staged badges - who in SSAGO doesn't like badges!?
• Sharing ideas between clubs – Create a knowledge base for activity ideas which is easy for everyone to contribute to. Ideas would be especially useful for new clubs.
• Extension of Exec blog – Further improve communications of what the Exec is doing, rather than having to read through pages of minutes!
• Archive resources – Continue to work with Larah (Archivist) to publish more resources on the website such as club reports. Have learnt lots about the history of SSAGO this year and would be good to share more of this on the website!

Final comments

Joining Glasgow SSAGO this year has enabled me to see everything from a completely different perspective, as a smaller club finding its feet, compared to Southampton being a very active club. This year has demonstrated the importance of supporting new clubs and how little they may know about National SSAGO (understandably).

After enjoying being Secretary for the past year, I now have experience on the Exec and I’m keen to continue bringing my enthusiasm for SSAGO! I aim to build up on what I have learnt this year and pass onto new Exec members to ensure that SSAGO continues to grow stronger.

Manifesto for Chair

Joshua Smith, Chair

Wednesday 14th of February 2018

A Quick Introduction!

My names Joshua Smith and I’m your current national Chair. This past year has been a fantastic experience and together we have achieved so much. I’m standing to be your national Chair for a second year so we hit the ground running and really take SSAGO forward!

What Have I Actually Achieved So Far?

I set out to do a lot when you elected me last year! Here are some of the achievements I’m most proud of:

• Full Membership Survey:
  We surveyed the entire membership on every aspect of national SSAGO and used its results to directly shape SSAGO policy. You said you wanted better food at Rally so we increased the available budget for that! It also helped resolved questions around the kind of behaviour policy SSAGO wants.
• Event Feedback Forms:
  Every member of SSAGO now has the opportunity to give anonymous feedback on national events which is then used to improve future events. Beyond establishing SSAGO can't spell ‘ceilidh’, it’s highlighted a need for longer hikes to have bigger lunches and that SSAGO really likes discos and soap!
• Major Policy Overhauls:
  I created the Policy Fixers project group to review of SSAGO’s policies and together we’ve fixed elections, mascots and child protection policy!
• SSAGO 50th Reunion:
  During our 50th birthday year, I took a supporting role in our Reunion Camp to help ensure its success. It was a fantastic celebration of SSAGO’s past, present and future!
• Reps Representation:
  We tooks Reps voting out of the Reps meeting and had it take place online, giving clubs a chance to talk to their members before voting on issues and allowing clubs not able to attend Rally to have their say and vote. Our voting turnout this past year has been the largest ever recorded, with everyone being able to have a say!
• SSAGO as a Charity:
  I have laid the foundation for SSAGO to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. We’ve overcome the major hurdles, and although there is still a lot that needs doing we know what needs to be done to take it forward.
• Scout and Guide Relations:
  Our relations with Scouting and Guiding are now the best they’ve been in years! Not only are we in regular contact with both organisations, but we have drafted a new relationship agreement securing insurance and support from both organisations that benefit every SSAGO member.

Why I’m Rerunning?

This past year rather I’ve realised that SSAGO is stuck in an endless cycle the repeats and resets every year with the change of Exec. Stuff gets dropped, forgotten about or lost and the same issues come up time and time again holding us back and preventing anything longterm ever being achieved. The time has come to break the cycle, to permanently resolve our issues, and to look beyond a single Exec to map out together what we want the future of SSAGO to be!

What Will I actually Do?

Manifesto for Members Officer

Jimmy Austin, Members

Wednesday 14th of February 2018

For anyone who doesn't know me, I’m Jimmy,

Before coming to University I'd never heard of SSAGO, now a day hardly goes by where I don't have a conversation about it. Once I'd been introduced to SSAGO it became a massive part of my first year of university and last year I was elected as President of SLUGS.  During that year I helped organise the League of Midlands freshers camp, attended Fundays at Gilwell Park as SSAGO Supports and made sure SLUGS were represented at all the National events. I also helped support some of our members to set up SLUGS as an official society at De Montfort University. I really enjoyed being on the committee, it had its challenges but it reinforced in me the idea that you need to work as a team to solve problems. I believe these problems solving skills will put me in good stead for the exec.

As part of my degree I've been on a full time work placement since June. This has meant I've had to take a step back from running the club, but I still try to keep involved with SSAGO. However, working full time has helped me in many ways - I'm now very good at sending and reading emails, (as this is all you seem to do when you get an adult job.) I've also become even more organised and time efficient, due to juggling working nearly 40 hours a week, scouting and other hobbies.

Scouting has been part of my life for the last 16 years, (I've just worked that number out and it's quite scary!) For nearly the last three, I've been an assistant section leader at an Explorer Unit in Leicester and taken an active role in the local Network, who help run scouting events in the county. This year I've also taken the role of Route Manager for a county walking event.

If Elected onto Exec I will:

Grow membership at existing clubs: 

Work with the Publicity Officer to add to the wealth of resources available to clubs to help recruit new members. I hope to achieve this by collecting information from clubs on what they have found works when trying to attract new members.

Formalise regional SSAGO Groups:

I will work with clubs to formalise the existing regional grouping into official regions. We only meet 4 times a year nationally but lots of clubs are only 30-40 miles apart, I want it to be easier for clubs to hold regional events during the year.

Develop new clubs:

Continue the work that has already be done in creating new clubs in the UK and abroad. I will work to update and produce support materials for new clubs.

Make travelling to SSAGO events easier:

Look at ways to make it easier for clubs, particularly smaller ones, to get to SSAGO events. I would achieve this by working with the webmaster to enhance the work he has already done on travel on the SSAGO website.

The three years I’ve spent in SSAGO have been amazing and have I fallen in love with Scouting all over again. Rallies have become the highlights of my year and the basis of an amazing group of friends. If elected onto Exec, I will strive to continue improving this amazing organisation so others can get as much enjoyment out of it as I have.

It's the final countdown...

James Frith, National Publicity Officer

Monday 12th of February 2018

Quick pre-AGM catch up with the National Exec and Assistants, everything since Christmas... 

Executive committee:

Joshua Smith - Chair

• Had a successful meeting with both The Scout Association and Girlguiding to finalise the Memorandum of Agreement which covers our how we work together and support each other. You find out more about that here! 
• Finalised the Service Agreement for a SSAGO Scout Active Support Unit which will exist as a separate entity to SSAGO and allow SSAGO members not part of The Scout Association to get suitable disclosure checks and volunteer at events with SSAGO Support. 
• Got the SSAGO elections system set up. Get involved here! 
• Prepared the Main Account and Development Fund accounts for auditing. 
• Started preparing the Event accounts for auditing. 
• Spent over 15 hours working with HSBC to resolve some historic SSAGO bank account issue in person and over the phone. 
• Used up all the call time on my phone talking to HSBC.
• Had catch up meetings with Witan in a Weekend Rally and Yule Ball. 
• Promoted SSAGO at both Gilwell Winter Camp and Sparkle and Ice with SSAGO Support.

Lauren Whittaker - Secretary

• Been to the Exec weekend away
• Encouraged members of Glasgow SSAGO to attend rally!
• Worked with Larah (Archivist) to upload old minutes onto the website
• Keeping the email log up to date
• Writing lots of minutes as usual...
• Helping Dundee SSAGO to get set up along with Anona
• Can't wait for rally!!

Anona Mann - Members Officer

• Chassed up many grouos to get them to submit membership
• Worked with Lorna to make sure all indis are payong membership though the shop, created a pretty spreadsheet to acumplish this!!
• Attended TSA and GirlGuiding meeting worh Josh and traviled to London to have a sleep over at Larahs house!
• Lots of exec meetings because od the vank related issues! 
• Spend new year writing up a new factsheet to help new committess
• Went to the exec team building weekend were we all played lots of board games!
• Read though spme archived material to help Larah find mention of membership numberd of SSAGO 
• Set up Herts SSAGO on the website and have started talking with Dundee to set them up to 
• Explained to sevral people that Harold is a mascot teddy bear not my boyfriend!! 
• Just spend most this year emailimg lots of people and eatting my weight on chocolate

James Frith - Publicity Officer

• Visited Our Chalet and Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switerzerland over New Years, took Percival with me, did a bit of SSAGO promoting, played boardgames with Glasgow SSAGO's Chair... oh, and proposed to my Kate in an igloo on top of an Alp!

• Continued to provide clubs with helpful publicity material (posted a banner to Dundee!)

• Bit of Witan Rally promotion through 'Top 10s', now the biggest Rally on record! Ball promotion to come... 

• New National SSAGO merch including Indie, Roverway, Media/Web/Archive team and general members clothing; all made available through the shop early last month, to be collected at Rally if ordered as such!

• Organised SSAGO attending GirlGuiding's Sparkle and Ice for the first time, we ended up running the campfire on Saturday night and have been invited back for following years (as well as back to Wellies and Wristbands in August!)

• Ran the first Training camp for my World Scout Jamboree units in Devon, as well as helped judge IST applicants at the South West selection camp... 20% of whom were SSAGO members! (Good luck all!)

• Posted way too much about the SSAGO AGM and election already, with more to come!

• Ordered some very exciting and shiny sets of badges...

• Continued planning for future SSAGO Support events, handover and other Publicity plans!

Executive Assistants:

Larah Korrison - Archivist

• Been in contact with several ex-members, including some with the help of Birmingham's Past Member Association 
• Working with volunteers on archive projects one including extracting club reports from past AGM minutes and SSAGO Journals 
• Helped Lauren to update resources page with: Club reports, AGM Minutes, Exec Minutes and Reps Minutes from the archive 
• Had a great time with the team at our weekend away, although it lead to my phone getting broken (note to self don't drop it in a puddle). 
• Had an exciting week visiting various archives in London such as: HSBC, Tate Britain, Wellcome Trust, Lambath Palace to name a few! 
• Looking forward to Witan in a Weekend

Laura Payne - SAGGA liason

• Attended the SAGGA Birmingham AGM to plan lots of awesome social and support days for this year (and ate way too much food!)
• Liaised with Larah about the best ways for SSAGO to contact SAGGA with regards to collecting people's stories for the archives
• Attended the SAGGA catch up weekend in Sheffield. Did lots of crafts, chatting and way too much eating (there's a bit of a theme going on here....)
• Lots and lots of planning for Rally!

Oliver Bills - Webmaster

• Improved the elections and online voting system
• Created new SSAGO events system
• Completely new way to manage events and create your booking process
• Added various new booking stages and types and processes
• Made it easier to get information out of the booking system
• Further improvements to the shop system
• Created crazy activity stuff for Witan in a Weekend Rally
• Fixed various membership bugs
• New way to create new admin events
• Made it easier for Lauren to set club reports
• Introduced SSAGO SMS texting as well as phone system

Vicky Sanderson – Notifications

• Attended the Exec Weekend at the beginning to January which was very productive about moving forwards. 
• Dealt with the influx of Nan forms over the past week.

Beatrice, forever the first SSAGO International Officer

James Frith, National Publicity Officer

Thursday 8th of February 2018

It's with a heavy heart that we announce SSAGO's first International Officer, Beatrice Phanjoo, has stepped down from her role due to study commitments with her law degree.

When asked to comment, Beatrice said; "After having an amazing year as an International Assistant, I have decided to resign to leave the space for someone else. I was passionate about my position and what I was doing and it is with regrets that I had to step down. So, if you are interested by researching SSAGO equivalent groups and organisations in other countries, reaching out, sharing and developing ties, this job is for you! If you want to organise events with international contingents or an SSAGO contingent to attend international events/camps, look no more, SSAGO needs you!"

We wish Beatrice all the best in her studies and for the future, and thank her for the legacy she's created as the first SSAGO International officer.

Applications for a new International officer will open after the AGM...

SSAGO Elections 2018

Joshua Smith (National SSAGO)

Thursday 1st of February 2018

Nominations for the National Exec positions and national events are open. Find out more about how to get involved here!

Hello SSAGO,

Hopefully you’ve all seen by now that nominations for the National Exec positions and national events are open! They will be closing on the 17th of February at 1pm.

As with last year all of the election processes will be run through the SSAGO website. You can access the elections page of the website here:

If you wish to run for any of the National Exec positions, you must nominate yourself online, supplying your manifesto, nominator and seconder. Nominations will be published on the 14th of February and will be printed and made publicly available for people to view and browse at Rally. Late nominations can still be submitted up to the 17th of February at 1pm.

If you wish to submit an event bid for any of the upcoming national events, these are also submitted online. You must provide a description of your event, those responsible for it and a seconder from another club to second your event. Bids are open for Spring, Summer and Autumn Rally, Ball and Witan.

As with last year, people not attending the AGM in person will be able to register to vote online and have their say. Registration to vote must be completed in advance of the 14th of February, and those attending will not be able to vote online.

The timeline for these elections are as follows:

• February 14th 23:59 - Nominations published
• February 14th 23:59 - Online voting registration closes
• February 17th 13:00 - Nominations close
• February 17th 13:00 - Online voting opens
• February 17th 23:59 - Online voting closes
• February 18th - Voting takes place at the AGM at Witan in a Weekend Rally

If you have any questions about running for an Exec position or bidding for an event, please feel free to get in touch with the exec at [email protected].

SAGGA have agreed to provide a returning officer for the election, which they are currently finalising. The returning officer will be there to answer any questions or queries you have about the elections process, and they can be reached at [email protected]. Any current queries will be passed on directly once SAGGA have confirmed their officer.

Best Regards,

SSAGO Exec 2017/18

Joint Meetings: Why Do They Matter?

Joshua Smith (National SSAGO)

Sunday 28th of January 2018

A lot is said about the SSAGO Exec meeting with The Scout Association, Girlguiding and something called the Memorandum of Agreement. But what does it actually all mean and why is it so important?

Recently the National Exec met with representatives from both The Scout Association and Girlguiding in two significant meetings to discuss our relationship and how we support each other. These meetings were the first time in almost a decade that all three organisations have met together in one room.

But what does this actually all mean for SSAGO and why does it matter so much?

The Story So Far

Remarkably these discussions have being going on across three different National Execs over the past three years. It's fundamentally about a shared core set of values where SSAGO provides a programme and opportunity for people to continue their journey through Scouting and Guiding while at university.

Discussions begun initially in 2015 with The Scout Association about renewing and reformalising our relationship with them in writing as the original version of an agreement, as of the 1990s had been lost. Everyone knew SSAGO was an Associate Organisation to The Scout Association but no one quite knew what that actually meant.

By 2016 a first draft was complete which became known as the Memorandum of Agreement. At this point the discussions were expanded to include Girlguiding and it evolved to include all three organisations. This past year the current National Exec has met with both The Scout Association and Girlguiding to finalise the Memorandum of Agreement and have it ready for review by Reps.

The Memorandum of Agreement

The agreement is not actually one but rather two linked documents which reference each other. One for our relationship with The Scout Association and another for our relationship with Girlguiding. Both agreements cover many aspects of SSAGO which are important to every member.

At a glance, the agreement covers the following areas:

• Fundamental Values
• What They Offer SSAGO
• What SSAGO Provides Them
• Personal Liability Insurance
• Public Liability Insurance
• Safeguarding
• Disclosure Checks
• Incident Reporting
• Emergency Procedures
• Continuity and Communication

One of the big topics in this agreement is that every member of SSAGO who is also a member of The Scout Association or Girlguiding is insured for their activities in SSAGO through their respective organisation.

What Still Needs to be Done

The Memorandum of Agreement is in the process of being updated to a final draft which will then be taken to SSAGO’s next Reps meeting meeting in February. Here representatives of every club will discuss the agreement, any necessary alterations will be made and vote taken to implement it into official SSAGO policy.

Final Remarks

If you have any questions or comments this agreement please do get in touch. We’ve included below links to the relevant minutes and documents relating everything mentioned above. The drafts of the agreement are old now, but when new final versions are ready these will be emailed out to clubs and made available on the SSAGO website.

Merry Christmas from the Exec!

James Frith, National Publicity Officer

Saturday 23rd of December 2017

Quick (not quite) monthly catch up with the National Exec... also Merry Christmas!

Quick monthly catch up with the national exec... also Merry Christmas!

Executive committee:

Joshua Smith - Chair

• Had the first joint meeting for almost a decade with The Scout Association, Girlguiding and SSAGO all together in one room to discuss our relationship.
• Redrafted the Memorandum of Agreement which covers how SSAGO, The Scout Association and Girlguiding work together and support each other (such as insurance, safeguarding, etc...).
• Continued to have the largest recorded turnout in the Plymouth Rally Reps vote with total of 33 clubs voting.
• Successfully implemented a new Safeguarding Policy with 94% Reps approval and a new Electioneering Code of Conduct Policy with 92% Reps approval.
• Updated the Mascot Kidnapping Policy with 92% Reps approval.
• Exchanged numerous communications with HSBC by email, phone and in person to resolve some historic bank account issues.
• Assisted Plymouth Rally with bank account access for their Rally.
• Set up Witan in a Weekend Rally with bank account access for their Rally.

Lauren Whittaker - Secretary

• ‎Set up Scottish SSAGO facebook group and helping to plan a trip to Perth for all members of Scotish SSAGO in the new year.
• Sadly missed rally but I'm certainly going to be at the next along with some Scottish SSSAGOers!
• Been pretty busy with end of semester coursework and exams!
• Merry Christmas SSAGO!

Anona Mann - Members Officer

• Took a very long car travel down to Rally! As co pilot I took the car North at one point not South
• I've sent lots of emails and set up Edignbour on the SSAGO website
• Took Harold to cub camp where we made a SSAGO themed Christmas stocking and ate lots of yummy food
• Signed for a house for next year!!
• Messaged and posted lots about club membership
• Rejected more clubs then I have approved for membership due to it not being complete!!
• Ralph (and Vicky) have been round a few times to play bored games and eat food
• Wrote up minuets from reps meeting 
• Sorted out my appointment for January to finally get my modules signed of for my wood beads
• Written a lot of Christmas cards

James Frith - Publicity Officer

• Went to South West Freshers camp (very briefly)

• Attending World Scout Jamboree UK Contingent leader breifing, and lead a Q&A session and Bowling night with all Devon's selected Young People

• Went to the amazing 90s Rally, ate lots of cake on the cafe crawl, produced 'Woody's roundup' with the Media team

• Designed new National SSAGO merch including Indie, Roverway, Media/Web/Archive team and general members clothing; all soon to be available on the shop

• Sorting out SSAGO Brand booklet, Support events (including Wintercamp, Sparkle and Ice, etc), Roverrail proposal, staged badges, more...

Executive Assistants:

Beatrice Phanjoo - International Officer

• Went to Rally and had so much fun
• Discussing with potential Witan in a Weekend’s International contingents
• Gone back home and currently enjoying some sun 

Larah Korrison - Archivist

• Finished inventory of Aber SSAGO archives with the help of coursemates and club members
• Met with University Archivist to discuss how we can move forward and prepare the records for deposit 
• SSAGO took part in 'Explore Your Archive' (See the playlist here: goo.gl/qFu26B) 
• Had a great time with Aber SSAGO at PLUGS rally 
• Contacted an ex-member of Aber SSAGO and discovered a third necker design
• Added an ex-member's memory write up to our growing collection

Laura Payne - SAGGA liason

• I went to Rally which was AMAZING and have done a few bits and pieces for the upcoming Witan Rally.
• I also booked annual leave so I can attend SAGGA's "Winter Reunion" weekend next year which I'm really excited about!
• Other than that I have had a surprisingly SSAGO- and SAGGA-free month!

Oliver Bills - Webmaster

• Made a new SSAGO phone system for the exec, events and first aid
• Further developed the reps system at reps.ssago.org
• Lots of bug fixing
• Rebuilt the shop admin interface
• Upgraded the SSAGO server infrastructure
• Attended a meeting with Girlguiding with Josh to help provide Exec continuity

Vicky Sanderson – Notifications

• Saved some forms
• Visited Durham
• Saw Anona
• Didn't go to rally
• Busy with work

Reps: Voting Results

Joshua Smith (National SSAGO)

Friday 22nd of December 2017

A record number of clubs voted on the issues discussed at our most recent Reps meeting at Plymouth Rally in November. Here are the voting results and what they mean going forward.

Hello SSAGO,

Thank you to every club that voted on the issues discussed in our most recent Reps meeting and everyone who got involved in the process. Once again we had an amazing 33 clubs making the past two Reps votes which is the highest turnouts on record.

A breakdown of the voting results is now available on the SSAGO website for every member to see along with how every club voted. This is linked to below along with the meeting minutes and other referenced materials.

The Key Outcomes Are:

The ‘Child Protection’ policy has been replaced by a new ‘Safeguarding’ policy (94% Approve, 3% Reject, 3% Abstain). This new policy covers disclosure checks, working with young people and brings us in line with current UK law.

The ‘Code of Conduct For Electioneering’ policy has been replaced by a new ‘Electioneering Code of Conduct’ policy (92% Approve, 0% Reject, 8% Abstain). This brings SSAGO’s current electioneering policy in line with how our elections are actually run.

The ‘Mascot Kidnapping’ policy has been updated from the 2008 version to a new 2017 version (92% Approve, 3% Reject, 6% Abstain). This restructures the original policy and makes mascots of regional event host clubs and at events where SSAGO members are volunteering or providing service unstealable.

A development fund for application from the Exec to purchase hi vis jackets to be used at SSAGO events and when supporting Scouting or Guiding events to promote SSAGO and increase our visibility was approved by Reps. (83% Approve, 9% Reject, 9% Abstain)

It was fantastic to see the amount of engagement we had from members around SSAGO in this process. We will continue to use your feedback to improve it. If you think of any other improvements we can make on the system please do get in contact.

What Next?

The next National Exec meeting will be on Thursday the 28th of December. If you would like anything discussed in this meeting, or to raise any issues then please let us know. The Exec can be contacted on: [email protected]

Best Regards,
Joshua Smith
SSAGO Chair 2017/18

Reps: What Happens Next?

Joshua Smith (National SSAGO)

Friday 1st of December 2017

This is how we will be moving forward with Reps voting.

Hello SSAGO,

Thank you to everyone who attended and took part in our most recent Reps meeting at Plymouth Rally. Voting for the policies and issues discussed will commence on Monday the 4th of December.

Every Club can get involved with the next step in this process and vote regardless of whether or not they could attend the meeting! Please can clubs make sure that their Club Rep is up to date on the membership system. (Select Rep Here)

From the meeting we have the following proposed votes:

1. Replace SSAGO’s current Child Protection Policy with the proposed Safeguarding Policy.
2. Replace SSAGO’s current Code of Conduct for Electioneering Policy with the proposed Electioneering Code of Conduct Policy.
3. Update the Mascot Kidnapping Policy from the 2008 version to the proposed 2017 updated version.
4. Development Fund Bid: SSAGO Hi Vis Jackets

Now the Reps minutes are online (Here) every Club will have two days to look at the proposed votes and suggest any changes they would like to make by the end of Sunday the 3rd of December . This is your chance to let us know of any good ideas you might have thought of since the meeting concluded!

Based on feedback from Clubs in the Reps process we have amended the proposed Safeguarding Policy with further advice from the Scout Association. This is to provide more clarity on who needs disclosure checks when supporting events. (Updated Policy Here)

Below is all referenced material, including the Reps presentation, the meeting minutes and all proposed Policy Document changes. Please do have a look at these and get back to us with any queries.

The National Exec can be contacted on: [email protected]

Best Regards,
Joshua Smith
SSAGO Chair 2017/18

Woah, we're (over) half way there...

James Frith, National Publicity Officer

Monday 30th of October 2017

Special Monthly Exec blog; an update from our mascots!

Special Monthly Exec blog; an update from our mascots!

Executive committee:

Rex the Dinosaur - Secretary

• Moved up to Scotland and trying to adjust to the wet weather!
• Walked up to Arthur's seat with Glasgow SSAGO and Edinburgh indie members
• Enjoyed sitting in Lauren's room watching her write essays and reports
• Helped Lauren to do a presentation on SSAGO as part of her course
• Been encouraging Glasgow SSAGO to go to rally!

Harold the Hedgehog - Members Officer

• Went exploring around the gardens at Chatsworth house and got lost in the maze with some very small children!
• Helped teach Anonas cubs how to light fires and got to have a ride on the mountain rescue car
• became a tourist around Sheffield and visited pretty places
• Attended Anonas scout hut AGM and did a bit of climbing
• Attended HUGS events and ate lots of pudding and met the Chairperson of the iMecE
• Attended Northern Freshers camp and got lots of cuddles and also helped to present Anona's groups explorer belt presentation!
• I played hide an seek with Anona for over a week while she was busy writing emails
• Have had lots of time to nap with Anona! Think we are both going into hibernation its to cold up North

Percival the Platypus - Publicity Officer

• Watched James do lots of Publicity things from my nest on the sofa
• Went along to the Devon World Scout Jamboree Young People selection camp but spent the weekend on the parcel shelf (unloved)
• Went along to Scarefest at Gilwell park this weekend and got very smokey with SSAGO running the backwoods cooking!

Executive Assistants:

Maurice the Dodo - International Officer

• Been in Bea’s room ever since Reunion (any mascot union?)
• Made friends with William the Wolf, Cubs Pack mascot from 3rd Wallscourt Farm Scout Group. He’s a nice chap.
• Witnessed Bea juggling uni, work and volunteering and gave her loads of cuddles
• Looking forward to visiting her home country and my name sake next month

Agnes Baden-Owl - Archivist

• Met Aber ssago and they are lovely! Cozy sesh with Idris the dragon
• Perched in Larah's bedroom not doing much
• Oversaw Aber & Larah's coursemates making a start on the club's archive materials ready for deposit
• Looking forward to 90's rally but I think I won't see anyone :(

Hogwarts the Warthog - SAGGA liason

• Sat on Laura's shelf for the whole month because she is the worst mascot keeper ever and didn't take him to the SAGGA committee meeting or Alternative Rally....

Wiggle the Mouse - Webmaster

• Sat on bedside table, greeting Oli most mornings and nights
• Travelled to camp and spent time inside lovely canvas tents (proper tents)
• Watched Oli do lots of coding
• Wiggled

Ralph the Reindeer - Notifications

• Been in Vicky's bedroom since Reunion.
• Oh, lies; went to work before a Guide meeting.
• Watched Vicky mark.
• Watched Vicky sleep and snore. (Creepy)
• Annoyed Harold on social media, messaged other mascots but they didn't reply.
• Plotted world domination with a meerkat.
• Helped get Aber home through telepathy and support to Agnes. Muchos love to my little Dodo.
• Heckled at Harold (again).
• Enjoyed a week off with Vicky!

Five months in...

James Frith, National Publicity Officer

Sunday 1st of October 2017

Quick monthly catch up with the national exec...

Quick monthly catch up with the national exec…

Executive committee:

Joshua Smith- Chair

• Had a very productive meeting with Girlguiding to discuss how we work together and strengthening our relationship further.
• Have been preparing for a joint meeting with the Scout Association and Girlguiding to go through the Memorandum of Agreement.
• Helped run and coordinate SSAGO Reunion.
• Promoted SSAGO at Gilwell Reunion.
• Dealt with a lot of admin...

Frances Milroy - Treasurer

• SSAGO has money
• Graduated!

Lauren Whittaker - Secretary

• Travelled all over the country to go to various SSAGO related events – Led the SSAGO support team at Wellies & Wristbands at Waddow and have also been to Gilwell reunion with the rest of the exec
• Went to a very interesting meeting with Girlguiding at their headquarters in London with Josh
• Finally got round to writing handover notes ready for ball
• Had a very delayed train journey to reunion but was well worth it and certainly had a great weekend!
• Started my masters course and been to my first Glasgow SSAGO event! – looking to help grow SSAGO in Scotland!
• Replied to various email queries

Anona Mann - Members Officer

• Set up some more new SSAGO Clubs
• went to Gilwell Reunion and helped show how cool SSAGO was and spoke to someone from Edinborough in hopes to start their SSAGO back up!
• Started new term of Cubs and Beavers, aswell as starting my uni placement
• Made 30m of bunting several carrot cakes (one exploded) and took them down to SSAGO Reunion!
• Got to be a tourist round London with Vicky and we took Ralph and Harold to the Lego Shop and the Imperial War Museum! 
• Have started to help Larah look through old documents to find out national and club numbers
• My smallest sibling turned 1 so we had a big party and i made him very cute trousers

James Frith - Publicity Officer

• Organised SSAGO attending the Wellies and Wristbands Girlguding music festival; was awesome!

• Led SSAGO's first programmed workshop "Scouting for Students" at Gilwell Reunion, along with the usual stall; went well!

• Ran a "stall" at Intense for the day to make sure SSAGO had a presence at a prominent Scout Network camp just ahead of Freshers; was wet!

• Attended SSAGO Reunion, helped a little but tried to enjoy the weekend as a participant (while also sharing/tweeting and resharing/retweeting on social media!); was brilliant!

• Put together SSAGO "Publicity Packs" to give clubs a last minute publicity boost at a much cheaper cost than could be bought individually; will be asking for feedback in reps to develop for next year!

• Designed and purchased new SSAGO banners (including a map banner which can be constantly updated with the new events, clubs, number of members, etc) that have already been used at 2 Reunions, Intense, lots of freshers fairs by clubs across the country; hopefully SSAGO will agree to buy them off me at the next reps meeting!

• Made more little SSAGO promo videos for social media; page likes have reached 1270+!

• Started combining everything into a SSAGO Branding Policy and SSAGO Media Policy, as Guidelines to help both clubs and future execs to use the SSAGO brand and media effectively to help promote their clubs

• Shared over 30 freshers fairs posts from clubs, as well as the usual media posting and continued “SSAGO Spotlight" (if you’d like to feature, use the SSAGO facebook frame and drop me a message)

• Continued planning future SSAGO Support events (Scarefest, Wintercamp, Sparkle and Ice, etc)

• Continued my Graduate scheme, leading my new Scout group in Ivybridge, became the 7th World Scout Jamboree Unit leader for Devon county, and joined The Scout Association's project team for "Roverrail"; the Interrailing Scavenger hunt across Europe to celebrate 100 years of Rover Scouts!

Executive Assistants:

Beatrice Phanjoo - International Officer

• Got Delft from the Netherlands to SSAGO Reunion 
• Attended Reunion myself and dived straight into a week of job experience in Bournemouth after that!
• Contributed some articles to the Historical show at Reunion from our international friends, the Irish Rovers and Index from Bosnia and Herzegovina 
• Tracked down The Helsinki Metropolitan Area Guides and Scouts and SSAGOgot invited to their international summer camp called Kliffa!
• Contacted Hyde at the University of Helsinki and Teepakki at the University of Aalto 
• Starting 3rd year mayhem with 2 volunteer roles, 2 part time jobs alongside uni!

Larah Korrison - Archivist

• Organised an interesting visit to Cambridge archives - considering Birmingham and Durham next
• Working with membership officer to pull out national and club numbers from old publicity materials (on going)
• Co-ordinated with Gilwell to borrow the SSAGO flag for Reunion 
• Along with 3 other SSAGO members, we assisted the Heritage Team at Gilwell Reunion at their stall 
• Put together a museum for Reunion (so much printing...!) Temporarily made my bedroom an archive for old ssago materials 
• Made a full inventory of the rally box (over 50 items in there)
• Interviewed a range of ex-members at reunion and talked about their time in SSAGO 
• Moved to Aberystwyth and started Masters course!

Laura Payne - SAGGA liason

• Attended Wellies and Wristbands with SAGGA and arranged for SSAGO's activities to be on the same field as SAGGA had ample space and, more importantly, shade!
• Introduced a few SSAGO members to SAGGA's wine and cheese traditions
• Went to Reunion camp with my family - 3 generations of SSAGO members!
• Moved house and started my new job

Oliver Bills - Webmaster

• Helped plan and run SSAGO Reunion
• Ran the web hack weekend to help support the new SSAGO Web Team
• Set us up with card readers to enable us to take card payments
• Further developed the events system to allow people to book multiple activities
• Created an automatic lanyard generator for events to create automatic lanyards from bookings
• Helped create links between the SSAGO system and SAGGA system, for things such as Alternative Rally
• Re-initialised SSAGO for the new 2017-2018 year
• Created a sign-in system for events to mark people off when they sign in

Vicky Sanderson – Notifications

• Attended Reunion and tried to loose Anona in London
• Created a Risk Assessment ProForma which is awaiting approval from Exec
• Went back to Guides
• Promoted SSAGO to Central Yorkshire 
• Went back to work and haven't keeled over yet

Dale Patrick – Merchandise Officer

• Got married yesterday!

Four months, nearly five!

James Frith, National Publicity Officer

Monday 21st of August 2017

Four months, nearly five!

Quick monthly catch up with the national exec...

Executive committee:

Joshua Smith - Chair

• On the 11th-13th of August we held a successful team building weekend in Oxford for the National Exec and Assistants where we had a number of productive discussions and had an Exec meeting staggered over the whole weekend.
• I've also been catching up with the Exec, Assistants and national event teams to see how everything is going.
• We've been working to implement the results of the last Reps vote.
• An update is now available on the website with the next steps for SSAGO to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and how you can get involved. You can read that here.
• Policy Fixers
  • The Policy Fixers have now reviewed 11 out of the 15 policy documents and we've been working together to update and improve SSAGO's policy.
  • A draft replacement to our 'Child Protection' has now been through the Policy Fixers twice and is currently being reviewed for us by the Scout Association.
  • A proposed updated version of SSAGO's election policy is now with Reps for scrutiny.
  • We are now reviewing the SSAGO Constitution.
  • Thank you to all the Policy Fixers for your continued hard work!
  • If you want to get involved sign up here.
• SSAGO Reunion
  • With the SSAGO Reunion only a month away I've taken an increasingly active role in its leadership to support the event and have been meeting with all the team leaders to get everything ready for the final booking stage.
  • Somehow I've now also volunteered to be in the stocks at SSAGO Reunion while people throw wet sponges at me...
  • You can sign up to SSAGO Reunion here.
• Scout Association
  • I've produced an updated draft if the Memorandum of Agreement which is a proposed new agreement with the Scout Association.
  • We will be meeting with the Scout Association in September.

Lauren Whittaker - Secretary

• Working with Larah to put old club reports and minutes on the website (on going)
• Writing more minutes...
• Enjoyed the team building weekend in Oxford as part of my grand tour of the UK!
• Completed my Gold DofE award!

Anona Mann - Members Officer

• Completed my Explorer belt by interailing round 4 countries
• Moved out of uni halls into a house after too long! Consisted of walking many boxes across Sheffield
• Set up Lincoln SSAGO and sent emails to the SU
• Was taken on a day trip to Eurika by Vicky and Robinson!
• Went to Poacher in Lincoln as SSAGO Support staff to man the Digger Challenge and keep evidence of Vicky's oddness throughout the week
• Had meetings with Josh to talk about various membership releated things and to complain about the lack of sleep
• Spent a weekend at Youlbury in Oxford on team building weekend and had a much deserved break with some awesome people!
• Painted a room and started building a bed out of scrap wood

James Frith - Publicity Officer

• Attended the 15th World Scout Moot in Iceland as a participant, promoting SSAGO to both fellow UK contingent Student Scouts and Guides, as well as Student Scouts from across the world… including the founder of Student Scouting in our host county, who may be bringing an Icelandic contingent to a SSAGO event in future!
• Also designed a Moot Orange SSAGO flag to take with us, along with Percival (manifesto point achieved!), and scheduled a few Social media posts for while I was out of the country
• Organised SSAGO Support for Wellies and Wristbands at both Foxlease and Waddow Hall
• Designed SSAGO Support clothing that should feature in photos soon from the above, just sign up to help at an event to be able to order yours!
• Designed prototype stickers and advert cards to debut at Wellies, also bought temporary tattoo paper and SSAGOfied a pair of bright pink Wellies for it!
• Made more SSAGO videos, including A-level general promo video which increased page reach to over 17k for this last week... spreading SSAGO awareness!
• Started “SSAGO Spotlight” on members to run throughout the freshers period; but only with your help… just use the facebook frame and drop me a message if you’d like to feature!
• Continued planning “Scouting for Students” workshop for Gilwell Reunion… 10am both days in the Fox Marquee!
• Continued planning future SSAGO Support events (Scarefest, Wintercamp), and new Publicity materials to be available shortly!
• Somehow continued to fit in a full time graduate job…

Executive Assistants:

Beatrice Phanjoo - International Officer

• Contacted three different Scouts association from Spain, one from Poland and Plast from Ukraine
• Reached out to the new person representing the Irish Rovers
• Contacted Trondheim Studentsgruppe, a group of university Scouts from Norway
• Followed up on the Swedish Rovers (no success yet :( )
• Went on holidays to gorgeous France and exciting Spain (luckily missing the attack)

Larah Korrison - Archivist

• Organised the scanned Secretary folder, added them to the drive and the most interesting parts e.g. 2010 club reports are now onto the website.
• Used the Wayback machine to find old exec, reps and AGM minutes (soon to be available on the website).
• Also found and added to the drive early SSAGO News publications (2000-2005ish)
• Successful and interesting visit to Gilwell - updated the records, we now know in more detail what there is and how much is still missing!
• Spent a fantastic weekend in Oxford
• Getting better at making coffee... Cappuccino anyone?

Laura Payne - SAGGA liason

• Went to Poacher Jamboree and worked on the Inflatables section, helping to man and run all sorts of giant inflatable activities, from obstacle runs to Hungry Hippos to gladiator battles!
• Attended Linconshire County A&E with a staff member who we thought had broken his toe falling off said inflatables (turns out it was a sprained foot!)
• Attended SAGGA camp in Belgium for a week, doing a lot of cutting down trees/digging up roots and setting fire to them :D and lots of sightseeing, beer and chocolate!
• Had a long discussion with lots of SAGGA members about their favourite SSAGO memories - these will be shared at reunion camp!
• Consequently persuaded a few more people to sign up for reunion camp

Oliver Bills - Webmaster

• Fixed the SSAGO email system when we ran out of emails(!)
• Continual shop and booking system improvements
• Preparing the website for Freshers
• Preparing the membership system for the new academic year
• Preparation of the next online booking stages for Reunion
• Went to the 15th World Scout Moot in Iceland as IST

Vicky Sanderson – Notifications

• Attended Poacher as SSAGO supports as staff on the diggers and Anona's minder.
• Took part in some policy fixing and to meet with the Chair about Accident and Incident policies
• Attended an amazing weekend in Oxford.
• Organised the shop and50th badges to assist the exec.
• Promoted Central Yorkshire at Child Friendly Leeds in Leeds.
• Writing a risk assessment template for SSAGO.
• Promoted SSAGO to Central Yorkshire Scouts.
• Dealt with A-level results day at work and feltincredibly proud of her Year 13 History group

Charity Update: What Happens Next?

Joshua Smith, National SSAGO Chair

Thursday 17th of August 2017

In our most recent Reps vote SSAGO clubs voted to proceed with becoming a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (88.9% for, 5.5% against, 5.5% abstained). The next step in this process is to sort out the SSAGO Constitution.

Many years of altering parts of our constitution have left numerous loopholes and conflicting parts in it which all need fixing in addition to bringing it in line with Charity Commission regulations. This is something anyone can get involved in.

The current SSAGO Constitution is now going through the Policy Fixers project group for review to find all of these issues. Any SSAGO member can join this project and help review the constitution. Simply hit join below and then become a member of the Policy Fixers facebook group.

Once the review of the constitution is complete we will work with the Scout Association, Girlguiding and Reps to update a fix the constitution.

If you have any questions please do get in touch. The National Exec can always be contacted on: [email protected]