The Scout and Guide Graduate Association (SAGGA) is an association in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 of Scouts

Scouting

Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....

 and Guides

Girl Guides

A Guide, Girl Guide or Girl Scout is a member of a section of some Guiding organisations who is between the ages of 10 and 14. Age limits are different in each organisation. It is the female-centred equivalent of the Scouts. The term Girl Scout is used in the United States and several East Asian...

 who, largely, were former members of University or College Scout and Guide Clubs

Student Scout and Guide Organisation

The Student Scout and Guide Organisation exists to support Scouts, Guides, and people who have never been members of a Scout or Guide Association, who are students at Colleges and Universities in the United Kingdom and are interested in the aims, objectives, and methods of The Scout Association...

. It exists to provide skilled service to Scouting and Guiding.
SAGGA's membership mainly resides in the UK, with some members overseas.

History

SAGGA was formed on 21 April 1957, and was originally nicknamed the "Peter Pan Club". The Association was an affiliated organisation of both Girlguiding UK

Girlguiding UK

Girlguiding UK is the national Guiding organisation of the United Kingdom. Guiding began in the UK in 1910 after Robert Baden-Powell asked his sister Agnes to start a group especially for girls that would be run along similar lines to Scouting for Boys. The Guide Association was a founder member of...

 and the Scout Association

The Scout Association

The Scout Association is the World Organization of the Scout Movement recognised Scouting association in the United Kingdom. Scouting began in 1907 through the efforts of Robert Baden-Powell. The Scout Association was formed under its previous name, The Boy Scout Association, in 1910 by the grant...

, but in 1988 it was de-affiliated by both Associations. However, it continues to work closely with both Associations.

SAGGA celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2007, with special celebrations at the association's Annual Gathering and AGM.

Organisation

SAGGA as an organisation views itself as a framework within which its members can organise activities for the benefit of themselves or the movement. This framework lets them choose what to do: building up skills and experiences, trying something new, joining activities such as camping, winter walking, sailing and crafts.

While most members are graduates and members or former members of the Associations, these are not conditions of joining. Their only criteria for membership being sympathy with their aims, and undertaking a CRB

Criminal Records Bureau

The Criminal Records Bureau , is an Executive Agency of the Home Office, which provides wider access to criminal record information through its Disclosure service for England and Wales...

 check.

SAGGA's Aims

SAGGA's aims are:

• To provide service to the Scout and Guide Movement
• To enable its members to use their skills in giving service
• To promote Scout and Guide co-operation
• To promote discussion and development of ideas relevant to Scouting and Guiding
• To maintain communication between SAGGA and other related organisations
• To encourage equal opportunities in the Movement
• To encourage members and their families to be involved in Scouting and Guiding Activities

Major Activities

In the 1960s it was particularly active in pressing for co-educational Scouting and Guiding. To promote this it organised many events, particularly SAGA '61, the first joint Scout and Guide camp, and then SAGA '65, which was a joint Scout and Guide activity in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

.

Members were also involved in introducing modern youth work methods into Scout and Guide Leader Training, such as Wood Badge

Wood Badge

Wood Badge is a Scouting leadership program and the related award for adult leaders in the programs of Scout associations throughout the world. Wood Badge courses aim to make Scouters better leaders by teaching advanced leadership skills, and by creating a bond and commitment to the Scout movement...

 training courses.

More recently SAGGA decided to revisit its roots with the GaSCiT events of 2000 and 2003, and while they brought together members of both halves of the Scout and Guide Movement, the aim this time was to support and train leaders lacking in the skills needed to organise their own camps.

In the Summer of 2007 SAGGA supported the 21st World Scout Jamboree

21st World Scout Jamboree

The 21st World Scout Jamboree was held in July and August 2007, and formed a part of the Scouting 2007 Centenary celebrations of the world Scout Movement. The event was hosted by the United Kingdom, as 2007 marked the 100th anniversary of the founding of Scouting on Brownsea Island.The event was...

by running 1 in 10 of the community projects referred to on the Jamboree programme as "Starburst".

In years where there is no special project SAGGA usually runs a week long camp using its member's skills to improve facilities at a Scout or Guide camp site.

SAGGA continues to run major projects to support the Scout and Guide movement.