Team Pink are the team of the Executive Officers and Assistants who are responsible for the running and development of the National Student Scout and Guide Organisation.
Grace Hinks
Hi I'm Grace and I am the National Secretary for 2024-2025!
I joined Girlguiding when I was 5 and was a Rainbow, Brownie, Guide and Ranger, and went on to be a Young Leader for my local Rainbows, Brownies and Guide units (all at different times when the units needed it!). I absolutely adored my time in Guiding but, unfortunately, this experience was cut short and before I knew it I was at University and had a Girlguiding sized hole in my heart.
I discovered SSAGO near the end of my first year of Uni after friends from a different club encouraged me to join SNoGS (Nottingham). Since joining I have been the SNoGS Social Secretary, helped organise Midlands Freshers camp in 2023, and I am now Logistics for Rally Front to Back in 2025! Joining SSAGO has absolutely been the highlight of my time at University and my only regret is not joining sooner!
I am about to graduate from the University of Nottingham with a History BA, and will be taking a step back from education. However, this means I can dedicate plenty of my time to SSAGO and Team Pink!
Secretary
November 2024
Report
- This summer has been incredibly busy for me, and I unfortunately had to prioritise certain aspects of my role, but since my last report, this is what I have been up to:
- Meetings: I have planned 5 Team Pink meetings since the last report. These have been less frequent than Team Pink would have liked due to our busy and often conflicting Summer schedules but hopefully they'll be more frequent soon!
- Minutes: The publication of Team Pink meeting minutes experienced delays over the summer. These have now been uploaded to the website, and I sent an email to all reps and committees holding my hands up and explaining why these delays occurred to offer some reassurance and explanation.
- Outstanding actions: I have been trying to keep Team Pink on top of all our actions. This has resulted in me creating a detailed spreadsheet to keep track of everything. Hopefully this will help all of us keep as up to date as possible going forward, and not let anything fall through the gaps!
- Autumn 2024 Reps: I have spent time setting reps up ready for LOTRR. Due to Summer 2024 Reps not meeting quorum, it's a big one. I have trialled a new system to help spread the workload of setting up Reps by creating a document where Team Pink had the opportunity to write about areas they had been most active in, meaning the information at Reps has been provided by those most experienced in each section. Whilst there have been small teething issues you would expect with any change like this, overall I believe this has worked well in both reducing the stress for all of Team Pink in the run up to Reps, and ensuring that Reps is of the highest quality possible.
- Emails: I have been keeping on top of my emailing, which has mostly consisted of approving forms, but, most recently, contacting the required parties in preparation for Reps.
- My life: I have recently moved house and changed jobs, (very stressful), but am now settled in and ready to jump feet first into everything SSAGO once again.
Aims
- Mitigate delays: Over the summer, due to unfortunate circumstances, the most public aspects of my role, like publishing minutes, faced major delays. I am now in a position where no delays should occur, but to be certain I have created a plan to ensure that all delays are either minor or completely avoided.
- Clear up the GDrive: The SSAGO GDrive needs a tidy, and I'm planning to spend some time organising it to hopefully help the current and future Team Pinks!
- Updating factsheets: It has been noticed that some SSAGO factsheets are now out of date, and I'm looking forward to helping to update these alongside the rest of Team Pink.
- Organising more Team Pink meetings: As usual, there's plenty more Team Pink meetings to come, and I am looking at ways to ensure the best attendance from Team Pink.
- Miscellaneous: I have plenty of other things planned for the near future, including creating a helpful document on how to run a bar, updating the official complaints form, creating a pre-event email template and of course, plenty of emailing!
June 2024
Report
- Getting Started: As I joined Pink late, I've had some catching up to do, however after some long handover meetings and incredible support from Team Pink, I am now confident in my understanding of the behind the scenes of SSAGO and I am looking forward to fully jumping into my role.
- Awards: The SSAGO awards and commendations awarded at Birthday Ball 2024 have now been updated and published to the SSAGO website.
- Meetings: I have organised and taken minutes for two Team Pink meetings, and, whilst these minutes still need to be published, it is at the top of my to do list now I am no longer busy with university!
- Finished my Degree: I joined Pink with less than two months left of my degree, and I can now say I have completed all the necessary work and will be graduating this summer!
Aims
- Communication: I want to continue to provide open and clear lines of communication with SSAGO. I hope to send plenty more emails and I am currently exploring ways to make these as engaging and accessible as possible.
- Reps: Due to some set backs, the Reps meeting will be taking place after Summer Rally this year, I want to help make it go as smoothly as possible given the changes to the usual scheduling. I also now have a better idea on the work that goes into organising and carrying out Reps, which puts me in a great position for next time!
- SSAGO Policy: Some policy and factsheets are still in the process of being updated. I have spent some time already expanding my current knowledge and getting as familiar with SSAGO policy as possible (something I have thoroughly enjoyed!). I am looking forward to continuing to explore the policy and helping keep policies and factsheets up to date!