SSAGO News

Over the (snowy and icy) weekend of the 22nd-24th November 2024, Leeds of the Rings Rally (LOTRR) took place at Bramhope Scout Campsite and Activity Centre, just outside of Leeds City Centre. It was officially the biggest rally ever in SSAGO history, with almost 350 attendees and was definitely an eventful rally!

Friday night saw SSAGO clubs descend on the campsite to set up their tents or settle into their rooms. It wasn’t quite in the negative temperatures at this point! SSAGO members had the chance to participate in a quiz all about the city of Leeds, Lord of the Rings and a Team Pink round run by Team Pink Rally. This was closely followed by Bingo Mayhem, where we learnt that our Chair didn’t know how Bingo worked, but, despite this, fun was had by all. Later that evening the campfire was lit and Team Pink graced us with the soothing melody of their lullaby, which sent all of SSAGO to sleep. 

After a restful and chilly evening, Saturday morning gifted us with snow, snow and more snow. Despite the issues this caused and the tents it collapsed, the campsite looked beautiful in the morning and lots of fun was had, building snowmen and other sculptures… Unfortunately, the snow did cause the rally committee to make the difficult decision to cancel the morning activities to make sure everyone was kept safe and somewhat happy. However, fortunately, the site had lots of indoor space which we could open up for more people to get inside and get warm. 

Although the morning didn’t go to plan, luckily, the snow cleared up enough later in the day for the coaches to get close to site and pick us up for the afternoon activities. SSAGO members had a great time around the city participating in activities ranging from a brewery tour to the Royal Armouries Museum and, of course, the famous Otley Run. And even better, the snow and ice continued to melt…

Once everyone was back on site, we had our spaghetti bolognese dinner and prepared for the ceilidh. We had a fabulous ceilidh band and caller, who kept both ceilidh groups entertained and active for the whole time. At the end of the ceilidh, both groups joined together to sing Auld Lang Syne in our slightly muddy marquee. After the ceilidh, we held a silent disco for the rest of the evening hosted by the amazing Aber SSAGO, who did a fantastic job entertaining the masses for almost 3 hours! Of course, the silent disco ended with Robbie Williams singing Angels, which was a calming and muddy end to a slightly chaotic day. 

Sunday was very calm in comparison to Saturday. There was a bit more snow overnight but not nearly as much as we had the previous day! Breakfast was served from early in the morning for those weary-eyed reps getting up to represent their club at the reps meeting. Despite the early wake up, reps were rewarded with a multitude of biscuits and Team Pink rapping their reports. After reps, the closing ceremony was held to allow people who travelled from further afield to get home in good time. After the closing ceremony, we had the traditional massive SSAGO photo and ran the not-so-traditional ‘Battle of the SSAGO James’, which saw SSAGO members called James participate in a wild and vicious fight with pipe insulation. 

This signified the end of LOTRR and SSAGO parted ways to go home. The Rally Committee were on site for another few hours clearing up until the last person got home around 8pm. Most of us rewarded ourselves with a mammoth takeaway and reluctantly awaited the early morning get up for work the next day. 

A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped out over the weekend, it didn’t go unnoticed and we appreciated any support no matter how big or small. A special thank you goes out to all the external staff and volunteers we had on site helping us out, as well as the scout groups who lent us kit to use over the weekend.