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I wonder 🤔
p.s. Have you heard about WomBall?
They've been residing with our rally chair, however they'll hopefully be making an apperance at WomBall. Whilst National Event mascots are stealable (at least before they retire, post-event), they can't be stolen at the event they represent, so good luck trying to steal him!
We don't think he could be anything other than the legendary Greggs Sausage Roll
Every station on the Metro are coloured with the Metro's colours of Yellow and Black, except 2. St James is coloured black and white, and Stadium of Light is coloured red and white. This is to represent the respective football teams which you'd visit from those stops.
He doesn't have any siblings, but according to Tom Webster he has a distant cousin - you'll have to ask him for more details though!
Bjørn uses he/him pronouns, but is also chill if you want to use gender neutral pronouns!
Nope, who's asking 👀
p.s. he's open to male & enby mascots too
There's lots to choose from! Why not check out what our team are most looking forwards to on our Meet The Team page?
The centre has a variety of rooms upstairs ranging from 2 to 6 people, in bunk beds. The accessible room downstairs sleeps 4 in two bunk beds. The tented village can accommodate 5 people per tent.
Our website has a dedicated page with information for those that are attending as their first rally. Our main advice though would be don't be afraid to get stuck in and mix with others - SSAGO really is a friendly bunch of people!
We are currently planning to run shuttle buses between Durham station and the campsite until around 11pm, however we will be asking people when booking what time they expect to arrive if going by public transport, so if you are going to arrive after this point we will plan to be able to pick you up. We want to encourage as many people as possible to use public transport to come to Viking Rally, as it is better for the environment (and for our Logistics Officer's stress levels) so we will make sure that anyone who chooses to come on public transport can make it to the campsite!
Yes. There is a reasonably sized car park onsite, and we're exploring options for overflow parking too (just in case).
Sadly he's not a baby anymore, at least not in human years. He's actually 29, as he was born at the last Viking Rally, back in Autumn 1991!
Obviously it's got to be Geordies!
Bookings will be opening in early October, with the exact date & time being widely communicated in advance! This should be after all universities have started back, so it will hopefully mean freshers have had at least a brief chance to get signed up to SSAGO in advance of bookings opening.
Of course, Bjørn is friends with all of SSAGO!
Bjørn may pop along 👀
Unfortunately, since capacity is limited (even if it is quite high), we need to keep the space available for SSAGO members and staff. Whilst some VIP guests may pop along, if all of our attendees wanted to bring guests with them, we would have to say no to some people, and that would not be fair. Of course, if the guest you wanted to bring along is a student, they can always join SSAGO (https://www.ssago.org/join), either at a local club or as an Indie.
We wish we knew, but we will not know for sure until bookings close about a week before. You will be able to keep an eye on the number increasing on the website once bookings open though. At the moment, we are planning for anything from say 100 to 400 people! The last couple of in person rallies were around the 300 person mark though, so we would anticipate something like that again.
Yes. There are 40 beds in the main centre, and the majority will be available for general bookings (with some being reserved for staff, etc.).
We discussed this with the Exec during our joint meeting with them the other week, when we made our go / no go decision. As it stands, the Scouts readiness level for Wales would not allow you to attend, however there was a general consensus that we are very hopeful the rule will be altered in advance.
People will have to follow the rules of the country they're travelling from (or through) to the event. It is also worth pointing out that the Scouts have said Wales is expected to move to green readiness level on 17th September, so no restrictions should be in place in this case.
That would be telling 👀
If there is sufficient interest, we would certainly look into it. It's possible we'd ask you to get the train to it, but hopefully since it'll predominately be train nerds going, that won't be a problem! Just so we can gauge initial interest, please either give the Discord version of this a thumbsup, or contact us, if this is something that'd interest you.
Whilst we did originally consider offering Diggerland as an activity, it sadly closes at the end of October for the winter, so won't be open during the rally weekend.
If you stay inside, you get a pillow, pillow case and bed sheet provided, so we'd still recommend bringing a sleeping bag. If you're staying in the tented village, all that's provided is the tent, so make sure you bring a roll mat, alongside a sleeping bag, too!
You have either a week from starting your booking or until the end of the booking phase you start in, whichever is first. More info in our Cancellations and Payments Policy.
It's hard to say exactly how many bar tokens you should buy, it does depend on how many tipples you fancy and how much your longship can bear to carry on the journey here! Our soft drinks are a single token (45p) but our alcoholic ones are mostly between 3 and 5 tokens (£1.35-£2.25) per serving. If you plan on consuming a bottle of wine then you'd want to bring around 14 tokens with you (£6.30). If you're going for a bottle of spirits (700ml) with mixer you'd be wanting 60 tokens (£27). If you're wanting to sample one of everything, then 40 tokens (£18) for you.
Generally speaking, we're only allowing people to pick one bunk buddy, and then allocating them from there. If there's a specific reason why you can't share with a larger room though, please do get in touch directly and we'll try our best to accommodate you!
If you note this down on your dietary requirements during booking, our chefs will work to accommodate this.
If you note this down on your dietary requirements during booking, our chefs will work to accommodate this.
Yes, that's fine. For now, I would recommend ticking it, and removing it later on. We'll likely have a few spares anyway, and happy to collect any to reuse centrally too, if you're unable to take it home.
Congratulations on your promotion Lexie, you're now Chief Viking Rally Gunger!
Whilst the exact routes are still to be confirmed, we anticipate the easy hike covering about 24km, similar to a Gold DofE expedition route (but you'll only have day sacks on). The harder hike will be somewhere in the region of 29km to 34km. More details are available in our Activities Accessibility document.
Yes - if you don't want to take advantage of the bar and/or fancy something different, feel free to bring your own drinks along!
It's perfectly fine to be dropped off at site. Just make sure when you arrive that the staff in the car park know that they're not staying, so they don't try to properly park you somewhere.
We've not decided either way yet. If we do though it'll be consensual gunging, similar to WomBall!
Last time I checked, SSAGO doesn't do fake LED campfires, so it'll be led by a person! Saying that, if anyone from LEDStam attends they'd be welcome to power us through a Dutch campfire song!
Yes! There's a question on the stretch goal section of booking that asks if you want the meat or vegan option. If you've already booked on it might not have been clear what it was for, but if you're yet to book on we've amended the description to make it clear that it's about the sausage rolls!
Depends if you dip it in your drink or not
We still need to get the licensing sorted, but hopefully it'll be open both the Friday and Saturday for the majority of the evening whilst people are on-site. Lumiere will only see you off-site for a couple of hours, so you'll still have plenty of time to spend your tokens!
Don't worry, we won't be depriving anyone of a cuppa! There will be a drinks station in the corner of the marquee where you can help yourself to squash and hot drinks.
Unfortunately we can't provide any support centrally through SSAGO.
For Roman Rally, back in Spring 2020, a Transport Subsidy scheme was trialled, however earlier in 2021 the exec decided not to continue the trial for the upcoming national events to protect SSAGO's financial interests due to the uncertainty with coronavirus, etc. If you want to read more about that decision, it's discussed in the Summer 2021 Reps Minutes and 10/07/2021 Exec Minutes.
We would however strongly suggest approaching other sources of funding. Students' Unions can be good sources of funding, and it might also be worth approaching Scouting and Guiding locally, at various levels, to see if they have any excess reserves they'd be looking to utilise for worthwhile causes.
I'll refer you Bjørn's Policies, where you can find our COVID-19 Policy. This provides a general overview on the protocols we're taking, and what you are agreeing to do by booking onto the event.
During our planning process we have debated doing staggered mealtimes, but we don't believe this is particularly feasible for this event. We are however planning there to be some space away from the main marquee for people to eat that would prefer not to be in a space with as many people.
As outlined in our COVID-19 policy, we are asking people to wear masks and to respect other people's wishes for social distancing when queuing at mealtimes. If you have any problems with this not being followed during the event, please feel free to bring it to the attention of a member of rally staff, who will be happy to reinforce the message to attendees and enforce it where appropriate.
Our marquee is also larger than the previous in-person rally, meaning we can hopefully expect there to be more space between tables, etc., to make people feel more comfortable.
Yes, there should be plenty of hot water available for you to keep warm!
Shit's moving a bit fast there.. let's just see how we get on at rally 😉
Bjørn, obviously!
Bring them all! Neckers are great for keeping your neck warm too.
Bjørn's not thought as far ahead as to who he's sleeping with at rally yet. In terms of kit list for your mascot, make sure you keep them warm and dry - think jumpers, hats, scarves, and don't forget a necker too!
We really hope this won't happen, so please don't worry about it too much! If it does happen though, the activity leader should deal with it or, if you don't believe they are / you're on an activity without a dedicated activity leader, you can contact the rally committee on the event hotline and we will deal with it.
There's no specific dress code, but please be sensible and don't wear anything offensive / obscene and make sure it's appropriate for the weather. If you're taking part in the ceilidh though, there will be optional Viking fancy dress!
To keep your mascot clean and safe, think about a mascot carrying / attachment device. This varies from mascot to mascot - options may include caribenas and slings, or simply a secure way of attaching them to a necker.
On the most part, you'll be seated at tables in the marquee. We anticipate having chairs instead of benches, so if you wish to distance a bit more that should be possible, but we won't be enforcing anything. If you are particularly concerned, we should have some limited alternative seating available at other locations on-site, for those wishing to eat away from the main marquee, which you can use; please either ask a member of rally staff during the event, or get in contact in advance and we'll ensure you know where this is located.
We'll be providing hand sanitiser centrally, although you may wish to bring your own small bottle for use during the daytime activities, etc. We'll be expecting people to bring their own mask(s), and any other PPE you may wish. SSAGO centrally will ensure there's adequate PPE in place for first aiders too.
If you are medically exempt from wearing a mask, that is fine. You may wish to note this in your emergency information part of booking, just so we don't accidently ask you to wear one, but if we do just mention that you're exempt.
There isn't anywhere at the station, but there are some places online that partner with shops and hotels, etc., to offer left luggage services. From looking on one of these websites, called Stasher, it looks as though the Premier Inn might be your best place, which would cost about £6 per item and is only a 10 minute walk from the station.
We had originally hoped to offer a hammock village, but unfortunately the campsite's plans to create that space has been delayed due to the pandemic. There are however plenty of trees about the perimeter of the campsite so, if you wish to bring a hammock, we won't stop you.
We'll primarily be running shuttles after the closing ceremony, but if there is a demand for them earlier we can provide for that.
Unfortunately the bedrooms don't have power sockets available in them. There are however sockets elsewhere in the centre, where you would be welcome to leave stuff charging overnight (or any other time of day).
That would be telling 👀
Everyone attending rally will get a free one!
I think our latest stretch goal (inflatable axes) should answer this!
We'll be asking people to remove dirty outdoor footwear when entering the main centre, be that for the films or indoor accommodation, etc. For the marquee we advise you keep your outdoor footwear on.
We will be handing out sandwiches in bags, so you don't need to hand in lunchboxes like at Roman Rally, however you may still wish to bring a lunch box to put all your lunch in during the Saturday daytime.
Yes - we're not expecting people to leave their boots outside. Also, it hopefully won't rain anyway! 🤞
If you experience any issues in the booking process, please contact webmaster@ssago.org.