Coronavirus Update: National SSAGO Events

SSAGO National Exec

Monday 30th of March 2020

An update regarding the upcoming National SSAGO Events and looking beyond Coronavirus.

After our last Coronavirus update the National SSAGO Executive Committee and upcoming National Events have continued communication on how best to manage rearranging postponed events in order to cause the smallest amount of inconvenience possible. We have worked hard to find the best solution which ensures every event is able to go ahead and SSAGO members have the opportunity to enjoy all the hard work the event committees have been putting in to their events.

Given the guidance from the Government, Scouting and Guiding, we have chosen to postpone Sheffield City of Steel Ball (4th April 2020) and Survival Rally (26th-28th June 2020). To enable all postponed events to run alongside the 2020/21 academic year events, the following event timetable has been agreed:

  • 11th-13th September 2020 - Survival Rally
  • 13th-15th November 2020 - Build-A-Rally
  • 6th February 2021 - City of Steel Ball
  • 5th-7th March 2021 - Green Rally Yellow Rally
  • Summer 2021 - WomBall and Rali Cymru
  • November 2021 - Viking Rally

The events have been postponed to the dates proposed with the following objectives/restrictions in mind:

City of Steel Ball: Due to lack of availability of Saturday dates of the venue and conflicts with event committee exam dates, the earliest date available for Ball 2020 was the 6th February. Full refunds will be available to all those who have already paid for the event if they do not wish to postpone their booking (see Ball’s facebook post or website). Additionally, all those graduating SSAGO in July 2020 are able to end those events intended for the academic year 2019/2020.

Survival Rally: Due to the uncertainty of the extension of social distancing measurements, the decision has been made to postpone Survival Rally until September. As there were no available dates for Ball’s venue in September, Survival Rally was the next choice to move to September.

Green Rally Yellow Rally: The Exec and GRYR committee agreed to postpone Spring Rally by a month and following consultation with the campsite, the committee selected the dates of 5th-7th March. This is due to considerations on what is financially viable for all SSAGO members, as well as trying to ensure maximum attendance for all events, thus no more than one event in a month. As no deposits had been paid to the site, SSAGO is also in a better position to delay Spring Rally without financial risk.

Womball: Due to the unavoidable number of events during the spring term, Womball kindly offered to delay their Ball until the summer term, with dates to be confirmed.

Witan: The Exec and the Witan committee will be meeting up this week to make a decision regarding the future of Witan in light of recent events. A separate update on Witan will be given at the end of this week.

The National Executive Committee understand that this timeline will not suit all, however, we hope that SSAGO will support us and work with us during this difficult time. The timeline we have organised ensures that all of the events are still given the opportunity to take place using their original venue, and that none of the events have been disproportionately inconvenienced.

In the meantime, we invite you to the SSAGO Discord where we have a number of exciting events taking place each day. 

Thank you for your understanding during this challenging time. Stay safe!

The SSAGO Exec

Lexie, Oli, Lucy, Reuben & Tom

The Exec-Elect

Adele, Brittany, Maddy, Reuben & Amy