CUSAGC

ALT An image with text "Happy World Thinking Day & Founder's Day From CUSAGC, to all our Guiding & Scouting family" and an image of the Guiding World Thinking Day 2024 badge, an image of Baden-Powell and a logo for the Cambridge University Scout and Guide Club

ALT A light green background with text: "CUSAGC Marathon Challenge 18th November If you've not yet heard, CUSAGC are pleased to announce the return of our November incident hike for over-14s, "Marathon Challenge". Don't worry though, it's not actually a marathon! There's no running involved (unless you want to!) and you can make your route as long or short as you like. The event will be held in the area of Ashdon. Have a look at the information below (alt text provided) for a summary. For an information sheet and entry forms, or to ask any questions you may have, just send an email to marathon@cusagc.org.uk. The deadline for entries is 28th of October! If you'd like to be the first to know about future Marathon challenges or our Spring event "Forward" for younger members, ask us to add you to our cusagc-events mailing list when you send us an email. Looking forward to receiving your entries! Yours in Scouting and Guiding, Mara and Caitlin CUSAGC Marathon Organisers 2023"

ALT A gorgeous photo of a tent set up in a field at sunset, overlaid with text reading: “CUSAGC Marathon Challenge, 18th November. Incident hike for members of Scouting and Guiding aged 14+, including Explorers, Rangers, Leaders and SSAGO members”. At the bottom of the image there's text reading “26 bases - 9 hours”. There's also a design of a diamond-shaped badge with a light green background, a cartoon of a white duck with a sky blue necker, and black text reading “CUSAGC Marathon Challenge 2023"

ALT A photo of a toy duck, the one depicted in the badge design on the previous slide, on top of as OS map. The map is laid out like a “war board” with various base locations marked, and numbered arrow pins showing team locations. Overlaid is text reading “The Challenge: Enter as a team of 4 to 7. Plan a route to as many of the bases as you think you can manage in the time. Hike it. Take part in activities at four manned bases for bonus points. Beat the other teams to win! There are three trophies up for grabs: highest-scoring team from Scouting, highest-scoring team from Guiding, and highest-scoring team with members aged 18+. For sign-ups and more information: marathon@cusagc.org.uk CUSAGC are the Cambridge University Scout and Guide Club, who have run the Marathon and Forward incident hikes for over 10 years. You can find out more about us at cusagc.org.uk"

ALT Freshers’ events & termcard. There is a photo of some CUSAGC friends on a hike in some very British weather (but towards some pretty British hills) on CTW 2017.

ALT Freshers’ fair – 6th & 7th October 10am-4pm cambridgesufreshersfair.co.uk – we have a stall at the big virtual freshers’ fair organised by Cambridge SU. The stall will have links to our website, social media, mailing list and termcard, as well as a video calling platform where you can chat to us. We’d love to say hello and answer any questions you have! There is a photo of our stall at the Freshers’ fair in 2019. A CUSAGC member is sitting behind a table covered with rubber ducks and SSAGO neckers with a camp blanket as a tablecloth, complete with a CSUAGC banner strung up on a canvas tent behind her.

ALT Freshers’ Squash – 14th October 7:30pm timeout.srcf.net/adj35-bt6-5vm - our freshers’ “squash” (Cambridge slang for an introductory event) will be a video call on timeout where you can meet the committee, other freshers, and find out what CUSAGC is all about! It can be all-online if you want, but hopefully there will be the option for an outdoors element too! Freshers’ Hike – 17th October 10am meeting at Christ’s Pieces behind the bus station – The CUSAGC staple freshers’ hike is also a great way to get started with us: allow for a few hours, wear some comfy shoes and bring along some lunch and waterproofs! Since there’s a lot of text on this slide, most of it is CUSAGC sky blue, but there’s a small picture of me gesturing at the gates of Sidney Sussex College which was taken as part of an activity at my freshers’ squash in 2019. The photo is lit strangely since it was taken after dark with only the glaring light of Sainsbury’s across the road to illuminate me.

ALT This slide has the termcard on it, which has info about all the events we’re planning this term. The shade of CUSAGC sky blue is slightly different to the social media posts so far since the app I have been using to edit them doesn’t have the correct colour… The termcard has too much text to fit here but it can be read from pdf at rb.gy/mxkst5

ALT Rallies & trips – things that happened in the perhaps simpler past, and will hopefully happen in a simpler future! There’s an adorable photo of our duck mascot Whimsy in the snow at CTW 2017, and a note that as a second year I am possibly the least qualified member of CUSAGC to write this post, having never been on a single trip due to our good friend the coronavirus…

ALT Rallies – rallies are weekend camps hosted by other SSAGO groups where members from across the country can meet up and have fun. Each rally has a theme, and SSAGO groups can bid to host one of the three annual slots in November, February and July. The November rally this year is construction-themed Build-A-Rally hosted by Southampton, and will likely be a series of virtual events. There’s a photo of three CUSAGCers at Nottingham Outlaw Rally 2019, except that two of the friends’ faces are covered by a textbox to protect their anonymity… the third person is grinning at the camera though! They’re wearing lots of neckers, carrying Whimsy, and you can see lots of tents in the field behind them.

ALT Other SSAGO trips – SSAGO also has an annual ball hosted by one of the clubs, where the main event is a formal sit down meal followed by dancing. It’s usually themed, with accomodation and activity options nearby to make a weekend out of it. Being part of Scouting and Guiding in general also means you hear about all sorts of other brilliant opportunities such as international camps and jamborees, such as Moot 2017 in Iceland. There is a photo of lots of people on a hike at that Moot, heading towards a mountain silhouetted against a brilliant blue sky.

ALT Trips – But CUSAGC also has its own trips that we often run! There’s CTW, our winter hiking trip that stands for some variant of crew/Christmas training week(end) depending on who you ask, TOE (Trip Over Easter), and Great Escape – a trip hopefully just after exams finish to shake off all that exam stress! There’s a gorgeous photo of four CUSAGC friends at CTW 2017. They’re in full winter gear, hiking down a snowy hill towards a valley between snow-capped mountains.

ALT Service events – we have two service events for local (and not so local) Scouting and Guiding groups that we run every (normal) year - Marathon and Forward! A small group of us will volunteer to organise the event, and everyone who can make it helps out on the day. The background for the text is an atmospheric photo taken at night of a large hand-painted CUSAGC sign outside the Marathon 2019 HQ.

ALT Marathon is an incident hike for Explorers, Senior Section and adults held towards the end of November or beginning of December. Teams make their own route to score points by visiting as many of the 26 checkpoints as they can, some of which will have challenges for bonus points. The checkpoints are across a 70 sq km area and the 9 hour hike extends into the hours of darkness! Above this text is a photo of our duck mascot Whimsy on a laminated OS map “war board”. The Marathon 2019 checkpoints are marked on the map along with concentric circles showing distance from HQ, and numbered yellow flag pins showing the current locations of the teams.

ALT Forward is the largest event we organise, an incident hike for around 30 teams of Scouts and Guides held in March. There are five manned bases along the 10 mile hike where teams can earn points for everything from first aid to tent pitching to blindfolded sheep herding! Rubber ducks also usually make an appearance… The text is next to a fairly chaotic photo showing the view from inside a tent at Forward 2020. There are tangrams, maps and random gas canister on the floor of the tent, and through the door you can see people in Wellies walking through the mud and the blue sky of a sunny day.

ALT This year Marathon isn’t happening in the usual format, but we’re hoping to get a safe, alternative event together so that local young people can still have a great day. The text is next to a very cute photo of Whimsy on the radio at Forward 2018.

ALT Meet the Committee! Part 2. There’s a picture of some bright yellow rubber ducks in an extremely muddy field from Forward 2020. The ladder and tire around them in the bog suggest an obstacle course of some description. There is a comment on how I’m running out of good background photos to use!

ALT Meet Will, the social secretary. He says “Hi, I’m Will, and I’m going into my 2nd year of Engineering at Queens’. I’m the social secretary for CUSAGC, which means it’s my job to put together most of the programme each term. This year that might be a bit harder for obvious reasons, but we’ll make it work! I’ve been in scouts since 7, so I’ve grown up loving all things outdoors (except rain), and I am now a leader with my home cub pack when there, and the Newnham scout troop when at Queens’.” There’s a picture of Will grinning at the camera whilst packing a rucksack in a tent, prepared for all weathers in a raincoat and wellies.

ALT Meet Charlotte, the ARU rep. I’ve written that Charlotte is starting her second year of Computer Science at ARU. As the ARU rep, she’s always helping promote CUSAGC to ARU students, and represents the interests of ARU students in CUSAGC as well. She’s a Guiding person (like me!), and helps run a Brownie unit in Ely. There’s a picture of Charlotte at home in full Guiding gear and smiling at the camera.

ALT A gorgeous photo of a campfire surrounded by the text: Outdoor activities: some of the things we’ve done in the fresh air in our term-time meetings.

ALT A photo of two CUSAGC friends grinning at the camera on a pioneering swing we made, the long shadows of dusk stretching out behind them. Around them are the words: campfires, barbeques, picnics, punting, pioneering, scavenger hunts.

ALT A photo of six (ish) CUSAGC friends preparing to go kayaking in the middle of a Cambridge court, above the words: kayaking, hiking, cycling, climbing, bouldering, archery.

ALT Plus a CUSAGC special, punt jousting! The caption is in black on our signature sky blue, and the photo is of two punts being propelled (vaguely) towards each other, with the two competing CUSAGCers standing on the front of the punts ready to face off. They are wearing helmets, carrying padded poles and clearly intend to be the first to knock their rival off into the river.

ALT A title of: meet (some of) the committee! Part 1. In the background, five CUSAGC friends are on a hike one of whom, Emma the Treasurer, is posing on a stile which is right in the middle of a muddy field with no fence in sight.

ALT Meet Andrew, the Chair. He says “I'm a 3rd year engineering student at Peterhouse. I've been in Scouting since I was 9, so joining SSAGO was the obvious next step. As chair, my job is to look after the smooth running of the club, and also our mascot, Whimsy.” There’s a picture of Andrew grinning at the camera whilst stirring an enormous overflowing pot of chilli at Marathon 2019, with the quote “strong and stable”.

ALT Meet Emma, the Secretary. That’s me! I say “Hello! It’s me, the one who somehow ended up making these social media posts. It’s not an official part of my secretarial responsibilities, but I thought I’d add a little creativity to the deleting of spam emails to the mailing lists, maintaining membership records, and writing up the agenda/minutes for committee meetings. I’m going into my second year studying Maths at Sidney Sussex. Back home I’m a Guiding unit helper (read: guide who stayed but never started her leadership qualification), and outside of Guiding I also play guitar in a ceilidh band.” There’s a picture of me smiling and gesturing at the rusty frame of a long-abandoned car we found on the Freshers’ Hike 2019. My jumper has shrunk in the wash, no judgements please.

ALT Meet Emma (not me), the Treasurer and SAGLO. She says “Hi, I’m Emma (the Elder), a PhD student in the Material Science department. Officially I’m CUSAGC’s treasurer and Scout and Guide Liaison Officer (SAGLO) but my other roles include chief knitter and custodian of the camp blanket. I’ve been in the club for many years and enjoy hikes, campfires and punting though I’m fairly terrible at the latter! Guiding and CUSAGC literally run in my blood, I joined Brownies at 7 and now run a Brownie pack in Cambridge.” There’s a picture of her on the same hike as the cover page, in full outdoor kit and holding a map. The edge of the aforementioned useless stile is just visible.

ALT Text reading: Indoor fun! A taste of what we’ve gotten up to indoors and virtually. This time the heading is sky blue on black, and I comment that I hope my use of CUSAGC blue is vaguely improving over last post’s ugly black on sky blue. There’s a picture of 5 CUSAGC friends sitting round a table with a frying pan and ungodly amount of golden syrup – they’ve been making pancakes. Some people’s faces are hidden with a duck cartoon, and I promise that everyone is smiling under their anonymity-protecting ducks!

ALT A screenshot of zoom call between 7 CUSAGC friends and a pond. Again, some people have ducks over their faces, and their names have been blocked out with black rectangles. I’ve blocked my own surname with a textbox reading “Oh look it’s me”. Around the picture are words listing games nights, jackbox games, table football, cards against humanity, card games, board games, pool, craft evenings, baking challenges, quiz nights, virtual scavenger hunt.

ALT A background image of two CUSAGC friends bowling, with text listing bowling with SSAGO in JamBowlRee, pancake day, annual dinner, and progressive meal – a dinner party with a different host for each course.

ALT A very cute picture of our duck mascot Whimsy on a rainbow plate surrounded by ceramic painting materials. Text above reads this strange term: to make sure everyone feels comfortable to join in, we’re following all the social distancing guidelines. So, we won’t be doing any indoor activities unless the guidelines change. Instead, we’ll be adapting activities like these to do virtually or outside! Under a pastel-coloured ceramic owl, I’ve written that I hope to see you in October!

ALT 1) Text on a sky blue background that reads: What is CUSAGC? Cambridge University Scout and Guide Club (CUSAGC) is the Student Scout and Guide Organisation (SSAGO) affiliated club in Cambridge. We organise loads of different activities, from the adventurous to the social, and are also involved with local Scouting and Guiding communities. There’s a picture of our duck mascot Whimsy playing a board game, and a comment on how unsuitable our signature colour, sky blue, is for my passion: graphic design.

ALT 2) An image of a frankly enormous inflatable duck in a field, surrounded by text reading: What do you do? Adventurous outdoor activities, virtual/indoor social activities, running events for young people, and trips away with SSAGO or on our own are all typical CUSAGC activities. We can help you find a local Scouting or Guiding unit to volunteer with if you want. We’ll be running a mixture of outdoors and virtual events this term to allow for social distancing, and usually around one a week.

ALT 3) A whiteboard outside a SSAGO marquee that has been badly photoshopped to say: Who can join? We’re open in anyone in higher education in the Cambridge area, you don’t have to be already involved with Scouting or Guiding!

ALT 4) A gorgeous sunset photo of someone in a tent in a field, with the text: How can I find out more? Check out our website cusagc.soc.srcf.net (the Q&A section is fab) or our SSAGO page at ssago.org/clubs/view/cambridge. We’ll also be doing weekly posts about what we get up to, and a meet the committee series, so make sure to follow us!