Secretary

Ed Knight

Birmingham Universities Scouts And Guides

Who am I and why do I want to be our next Secretary?
Hi all, I’m Ed – I’m in my 3rd year of an MEng in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Birmingham, and going on a year in industry next year – which would be the perfect opportunity for me to give back to SSAGO by joining Team Pink. 
I joined Beavers when I was 6 and have loved Scouting since! I stayed at my home group through to Scouts and went back as a Young Leader while I was an Explorer, and then as an adult leader in Beavers and Scouts. I’ve kept in touch with my home group while at uni, and have found a Beaver colony in Birmingham. I first ran into SSAGO when Nathan from LUSSAGO gave me a business card at Chamboree 2022. I’d checked all my uni choices had a Scout and Guide society when applying, so joining BUSAG was a no-brainer once I started first year. 
Joining Pink during my placement year seems ideal as I can make sure that my work stays at work (unlike with uni) so I’ll have my evenings and nights free to commit to doing as much SSAGOing as I possibly can. 
Many times over the last year or two I’ve found myself using BUSAG admin as a way to procrastinate doing uni work, which I think is a pretty good indicator of how much I enjoy SSAGO. It’s a rare day that I don’t have the BUSAG emails open to keep an eye out for anything coming in, and similarly unusual that I don’t have some Policy document or Factsheet open that I’ve been reading through. This enthusiasm is key in Pink Sec, as there’s always something to do! 

   

So what have I done up until now?
Over the last 2 years I’ve been BUSAG’s Camp Secretary and Chair, and am Publicity Officer for SSAGOes to Space Rally! I’ve enjoyed all of these roles and the different challenges that they’ve brought.  
As BUSAG’s Camp Sec and Chair I’ve done a lot of liaising with our Guild of Students and Team Pink to get all our paperwork for attending national events and club/region nights away done in good time. I’ve gained a lot of experience in organising meetings through chairing BUSAG and being a Roverway PL last summer, which directly feeds into responsibilities that I’ll hold as Secretary. 
Over the last year I’ve become much more involved in SSAGO as a whole, getting involved with Policy Fixers and SSAGOes to Space Rally. These have really enhanced my understanding of how SSAGO works at a national level. SSAGOes to Space Rally has given me experience with making publicity that I didn’t have previously, and a valuable insight into the running of events that will help me to support event committees during my term as Secretary too.  
I’m also UoB’s Hide and Seek Society’s treasurer. At the start of the year we were a 2-man committee, so I picked up the secretary’s responsibilities to support the chair. This involved keeping tabs on our emails and socials for contact from other societies and interested members, minuting meetings, and making sure that admin for events was done in plenty of time. I’ll bring this ability to pick up and manage extra tasks to Pink too!

   

What would I aim to achieve as Secretary?
 -    Keep our online resources well organised and accessible, and continue working with Policy Fixers to overhaul Factsheets 
 -    Support Welsh clubs by working with the Publicity Officer and club committees to keep up Lucy’s work with publicity materials this year, and explore Welsh translations of key factsheets/policies 
 -    Include TL:DRs (“too long: didn’t read”) in all-members emails as introduced by Grace, to break down the walls of text they risk becoming. 

So why vote for me?
 -    Range of experiences in committee positions and club/national events, and a bit too much enthusiasm for SSAGO 
 -    Good understanding of SSAGO’s structure 
 -    Committed to keeping our online resources updated and accessible to all 
 -    Keeping up Grace’s practice of including summaries at the foot of emails 
 -    Being on Team Pink looks really enjoyable and I’d love to give it my best shot!