Student Scout and Guide Organisation


The Student Scout and Guide Organisation is an association that provides support to individuals who are students at colleges and universities in the United Kingdom. It caters to Scouts, Guides, and those who have not been affiliated with a Scout or Guide Association. SSAGO is particularly focused on individuals interested in the aims, objectives, and methods of both The Scout Association and Girlguiding, UK.
Numerous universities host Scout and Guide Clubs affiliated with their respective Student Unions. Although, union affiliation is optional for a club to be part of SSAGO, many choose to do so. In cases where a university or college lacks a dedicated club, students have the option to become Individual or "Indie" members of SSAGO.
The activities of these clubs typically include organising weekend and evening events throughout the term, as well as longer events during university holidays. SSAGO sponsors a termly Rally, open to all Club and Indie members, organised by a different club each term. Additionally, an annual formal event known as a Ball is hosted.
The Oxford University Scout and Guide Group stands as the oldest known example of a Scout and Guide Club in the United Kingdom. Upon completing their university education, many SSAGO members opt to join the Scout and Guide Graduate Association.

History

Informal Scout and Guide Clubs existed as early as 1915 when the first generation of Scouts grew out of the Scouting age yet wanted to keep some sense of fraternity. Some early organisations at colleges were known as Baden-Powell Guilds and Saint George Guilds. A world equivalent to this exists today in the International Scout and Guide Fellowship, or ISGF. Some of the first clubs were set up in university towns, such as Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester, and London. Inter-club activities were run intermittently until 1927. By 1920, Rover Scouts had been set up for people over 18 but many people were also part of Scout and Guide clubs. University clubs banded together to form an Inter-Varsity organisation while College-based clubs formed a similar setup. It was not until 1947 that inter-club meetings started again, and even then only for the Varsity clubs. Only two colleges were admitted to Varsity. No other colleges were admitted, partially because of snobbery in the old red-brick establishments. The Federation of Scout and Guide Clubs in Training Colleges was set up in 1956 for colleges, and a year later it formed the Intercollegiate organisation. In 1967, the Intercollegiate and Inter-Varsity merged to form SSAGO due to the dwindling number of colleges as many became universities.
SSAGO was 40 in 2007, to celebrate this event a special emblem was designed and the Summer Rally was replaced with a Reunion Event held near Lincoln in July. While this event was run as a Rally there were some noticeable differences; there were fireworks on Friday night, all members old, and new, and SAGGA were invited to attend along with visits from prestigious guests such as Liz Burnley the current Chief Guide.
United Kingdom Scout and Guide Clubs and Rovers Crews were responsible for establishing an international Student Scout and Guide event called the Witan, named after the Anglo-Saxon gathering of the wise called a Witan. The first two such events were organised by the Oxford University Scout and Guide Group at Gilwell Park in 1959 and 1961.

Rally

Rally is a national camp, held once every term where SSAGO clubs around the UK meet up to socialize and participate in a weekend of activities. The size of a rally can vary from around 100 to over 250 people. The three rallies are held each year in February, June, and November and, as they are hosted by different clubs each time, they offer an opportunity for participants to visit new places. The host club for each rally is chosen at the previous year's national SSAGO AGM.
Each rally has a theme chosen by the host club, which is incorporated into the rally through the different activities on offer across the weekend. Often, this includes experiences such as walks or hikes, on-site activities, visits to nearby attractions, or simply an afternoon off with which to explore. In addition, rallies can also include a ceilidh and themed fancy-dress competition.
YearEventLocationHost ClubTheme/NameDatesAttendanceClubs Attended
2015Lancaster Superhero RallyGuys Farm Activity Centre, LancasterLancasterSuperhero-
19724
2015Bangor Disco RallyFelin Bach, BangorBangorDisco-
10221
2015Cardiff Carnival RallyCRAI Activity Park, CardiffCardiffCarnival-
24026
2016Feb-U-RallyWoodhouse Park, BristolSAGUWEWallace and Gromit-
21328
2016Southampton Dino RallyButchers Coppice, BournemouthSouthamptonDinosaur-
17130
2016Space RallyRough Close Scout Campsite and Activity Centre, CoventryIndieSpace-
26132
2017Best of British RallyGlenbrook Outdoor Activity Centre, BamfordSheffieldBest of British-
24331
2017Leeds "Around the World" RallyBradley Wood Scout Campsite, LeedsLeedsAround the World-
16825
2017Plymouth "90s" RallySid Vale Scout Campsite, DevonPlymouth'90s-
16123
2018Witan in a Weekend RallyScout Park, LondonThe Young GoatsWitan/Europe-
32038
2018Cambridge Duck RallyThe Jarman Centre, CambridgeCUSAGCDuck-
21228
2018Lancaster Fantasy RallyGuys Farm Activity Centre, LancasterLancaster SSAGOFantasy-
24329
2019Nottingham Outlaw RallyWalesby Forest, NottinghamSNoGSRobin Hood/Outlaws-
27135
2019Scot RallyLapwing Lodge, GlasgowScotlandScottish-
12030
2019Birmingham Chocolate RallyAlfrey Activity Centre Broadwater, WarwickshireBUSAGChocolate-
31038
2020Roman Rally MMXXBriarlands Activity Centre, BristolBath BUGSRoman-
29439
2020Survival RallyCranham Scout Centre, Gloucestershire*UOBGAS and PLUGS Back-to-Basics-
/
-
N/AN/A
2020Build-A-RallyVirtual Event*SouthamptonConstruction-
15133
2021Green Rally Yellow RallyVirtual Event*Millennial Millards Green and Yellow/
Milton Keynes		-
32639
2021Viking RallyMoor House Adventure Centre, DurhamNUSSAGG and DUSAGG Viking-
22833
2022Rally Of GamesOverstone Campsite, NorthamptonIndividual members from different groupsBoardgames17 June 2022 -
19 June 2022		19630
2022Rali Cymru CRAI Activity Centre, NewbridgeThe South Welsh Clubs
Wales18 November 2022 -
20 November 2022		29733
2023CentenaRallyTawd Vale Adventure Centre, OrmskirkLUSSAGOCentenary3 March 2023 – 5 March 202323526
2023ReBuild-a-RallyBraggers Wood Campsite and Activity CentreSouthampton SSAGOConstruction
23 June 2023 – 26 June 202317127
2023Oktoberfest RallyBlackwell Adventure, BromsgroveBUSAGOktoberfest/German Culture24 November 2023 – 26 November 202326230
2024Rally Through TimeSnowball Plantation, YorkSAGGY8 March 2024 – 10 March 202422027
2024Sports Day RallyWillesley Scout Campsite, LeicestershireAberystwyth SSAGOSchool Sports Day7 June 2024 – 9 June 202417326
2024Leeds of the Rings RallyBramhope Scout Campsite and Activity Centre, LeedsLUUSAGLord of the Rings22 November 2024- 24 November 202434632
2025Team Pink RallyTawd Vale Adventure Centre, OrmskirkServing and former members of Team PinkPink things/SSAGO28 February 2025 – 2 March 202520328
2025Rally Front to BackSherbrooke Campsite, NottinghamshireSNoGSBack to Front20 June 2025 – 23 June 2025
2025Space RallyWest Hall CampsiteNUSAGGSpace21 November 2025 – 23 November 202524926
2026Port-A-RallySandy Acres Guide Campsite, ShedfieldPUGSMaritime27th February 2026 - 1st March 2026
2026Rali EryriBangor BUGSSnowdonia
2026SSAGO and the Quest for the Holy GrailBUSAG/KeeleArthurian legend/Monty Python

  • *Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the summer 2020 rally had to be postponed, and later cancelled. Build-A-Rally and Green Rally Yellow Rally were run as virtual events.