Goose Ball 2025
Lucy Smith (Nottingham)
Saturday 12th of April 2025
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? NO! It’s a goose! On the weekend of the 12th of April 2025, Nottingham SSAGO (aka SNoGS) welcomed SSAGO, SAGGA, and friends to the beautiful venue of Colwick hall, for the annual SSAGO Ball. It was an evening filled with food, drinks, dancing, and geese!
Ball prep began the week before the ball, with the committee and friends working out of Izzy’s back garden to craft up some surprises that appeared later on in the weekend. Committee was ready to get the ball weekend started, and we did this by a toasty campfire on Friday night. It was a lovely chance for those staying at the campsite, and those who also wanted to join to have a chat with new friends, and catch up with some old friends. After stuffing our faces with toasted marshmallows, we tucked into bed ready for a day of venue prep before Ball!
Saturday morning involved lots of organising and prep for the committee, between putting up the funfair games, organising the photo booth, bagging up badges, and hiding 100s of tiny ducks, it was a busy one! The rest of SSAGO had a chance to do some fun organised activities, from a classic hike, a SSAGO picnic, to a trip to a windmill science centre! As the afternoon drew in, everyone headed back to where they were staying to get suited and booted ready for the Ball!
Arrivals at Colwick began from 6pm, where attendees were welcomed to a lollipop seating plan, and a welcome drink. Club photos followed soon after, which was a nice chance for clubs to get a formal photo together. This was followed by the always chaotic whole SSAGO photo. Quickly we rushed inside to sit down to our starter and main, which was delicious! SSAGO chair, Jack, then presented the SSAGO awards and condemnations, which were decided earlier on at the Team Pink Handover. And with that coming to a close, the disco commenced! SSAGO got to boogie late into the night with some classic songs, and eventually after much teasing (thanks Freddie) we got to dance to hot to go! Ball drew to a close at a late 1am. It was sad to see the night end, but everyone was well fed and looking merry! SSAGO then travelled back to their accomodation for a restful sleep.
Sunday morning included a spoons breakfast, which definitely hit the spot after a late night of dancing away. Breakfast was eaten before it was time to head home after a wonderful weekend in Nottingham.
I’d like to extend a big thank you to everyone who came along. We hope you enjoyed your trip to Nottingham and are looking forward to returning for the summer rally. It was a pleasure to have you all come along. I’d also like to thank Beth and Emily from SNoGS for being so helpful in the lead up to the Ball. I would also like to thank Team Pink for being a helping hand when needed in the planning process. And finally the biggest thank you to the small but mighty rally committee of Izzy, Abby, Freddie, and Tom. You were all amazing throughout the planning process, and I can’t appreciate all your hard work enough, it truly paid off with the amazing event we ran