The Guild Master - Peter Niblett, supported by Vice-Master - Andy Ingram, Hon. Gen. Secretary - Alex Blissett, Hon. Gen. Treasurer - Robin Milford and Minute Secretary - Tony Smith, opened the meeting at 3.04 p.m., welcomed those present and said a prayer.
Ian Rees from Honiton had judged the Inter-District 8-bell Striking Competition at Eling that morning. The following results had been announced and certificates presented to the team captains.
| Position | District | Method | Faults | Drawn | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Basingstoke | Grandsire Triples | 10½ | 3rd | ||||
| 2nd | Christchurch & Southampton | Grandsire Triples | 17½ | 2nd | ||||
| 3rd | Isle of Wight | Grandsire Triples | 45½ | 1st |
The Master presented the trophy to Margaret Smith representing the winning team (applause). The Master thanked Pete Jordan for organising the competition and noted that participation was low this year. He encouraged other districts to enter next year.
The following 46 members attended: Lizzie Colliss (Alverstoke), Richard Paxford (Andover), Margaret Smith (All Saints, Basingstoke), Lynne & Pete Jordan, and Stephen Lutener (St. Michael, Basingstoke), Jim Hodkin, Jennie Overton and Peta Steadman Bee (Brockenhurst), Robin Milford (Curdridge), Kirsten Cousens (Droxford), Alan Elsmore, Margaret & David Forder, Stephen Hough, Martin Jones, Julie Smith and Yvette Sutton (Eling), Linda Curtis, Deborah Jackson, Amanda McCourt, Kaye Mitchell, Debbie Tracey (Fawley), Lynn Willrich (Hinton Admiral), Tessa & Tony Smith (Hursley), Jo Hadfield (Minstead), Rachel Furlong (Newport), David Mattingley (Portsmouth Cathedral), Paul Robinson and Trisha Shannon (Ryde), Rachael Barber (Selborne), Alex Blissett (Sherborne St. John), Steve Castle and Robert McGrane (St. Mary, Lodge Road, Southampton), Mo & Hugh Routh (Steep), Micki Nadal (Stockbridge), Charlotte Colliss (Swanmore), Michael Church (Upton Grey), Peter Niblett (Whitchurch), John Colliss, Caroline Fairley and Bruce Purvis (Winchester Cathedral), Sallie-Louise & Andy Ingram (Unattached).
Apologies for absence had been received from Greg Jordan (St. Michael, Basingstoke), Simon & Harry Poyser (Bentley), Julia Day, Marian Fell and Peter George-Jones (Bentworth), the Bishop’s Waltham band, Kim Matthews and Aila Peacock (Sacred Heart, Bournemouth), Viv & Graham Nobbs (Carisbrooke), Mark Esbester (Catherington), Frances Warwick (Cheriton), Paula Aldrich (Eversley), Lucy & Mike Hopkins Till (Highclere), Gill & Robin Wilson (Hinton Admiral), Bren & John Palk (Lockerley), Joe Gaskin and Margaret Morton (Milford-on-Sea), Anne Ackroyd (Minstead), Elizabeth Johnson (New Alresford), Nick Halder, Fiona Harvey and Rebecca Restall (Petersfield), Stephanie Andrews (Ringwood), Martin Barnes (Rotherwick), Andrew Glover (Romsey), Anne Deegan (Ryde), Martin Daniels (Sherfield English), Chris Ford (Sherfield on Loddon).
The meeting stood to remember members while the Hon. Gen. Secretary read their names:
Members
| Albert F W Burbidge (LM) | St. Mary, Portsmouth | |
| Rob Chapman | Lymington | |
| Matthieu Chassagne | Highclere | |
| Phil Clarke | St. John, Bournemouth | |
| Bill Harris (LM) | Catherington | |
| Di Mavor | Sopley | |
| Frank R Morton | Milford-on-Sea | |
| David Poulton | Christchurch | |
| Diana Sanderson | Highclere | |
| Andrew Spiller | Petersfield | |
| Terry Tarrant (LM) | Andover |
Former members
| Philip Belgeonne | Hursley (died April 2024) | |
| Don Blissett | Sherborne St. John | |
| Bill Briggs | St. Mary, Liss | |
| Jon Burgess | Ryde | |
| Canon Norman Chatfield | Bishop’s Waltham | |
| Terry Drabble | Sherfield English | |
| Ted Duff | Brading and Arreton | |
| C Reader Englefield | Bishopstoke | |
| Peter H Gallienne | Forest, Guernsey | |
| Linda Hallett | Bishopstoke | |
| Mike Halsey | St. John, Jersey | |
| Graeme Keel | Bentley | |
| John Maybrey | unattached member of A&P District | |
| Michael Morley | Brockenhurst | |
| Shân E Nash | Eversley | |
| Keith Salmon | Alderney | |
| Robbie Sherwood | Vale, Guernsey | |
| Christopher J Stubbington | Upham | |
| Rod Warren | Netley | |
| Keith White | Rotherwick |
The Master asked for a minute’s silence and said a prayer.
The Master said the post of Safeguarding Officer became vacant during the year and, with the permission of the Guild Executive committee, the principal officers have appointed a replacement officer following the selection process described in his statement to the Executive Committee last November. This included a formal interview with the Master, Vice-Master and a third member of the Guild. They are pleased to have had the assistance of Nick Halder from Petersfield (a Human Resources professional) as this third member and he also advised them on the selection process.
He was very pleased to announce that they have appointed Dr. Helen McCormack as our new Safeguarding Officer. Under Guild rule 5 this appointment has to be confirmed by this Annual General Meeting and that is what he is now proposing.
In their opinion Helen is well suited for the role. She is a member of the band at Bishopstoke where she is the tower Safeguarding Officer. In her professional career she was a Consultant Psychiatrist, Medical Director, and Medical Member of the Mental Health Tribunal. Since retiring from clinical practice she has worked for the Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal Service.
She is also currently a Trustee of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, where she chairs the Trust’s Safeguarding Committee, and is a member of the national Wildlife Trusts’ Community of Assurance for Safeguarding.
In seconding the motion, Nick has asked the Master to say that they conducted a robust and fair process and Helen demonstrated all the attributes they would want and expect for this role.
The appointment was confirmed nem. con.
The Master said he was aware that our safeguarding processes need to be updated and its documentation needs improvement. He has therefore asked Helen to use her experience to do a thorough review of our Safeguarding Policies and Guild Rules (to the extent that they touch on Safeguarding) and provide recommendations on how they should be improved. Members are welcome to contact Helen if they have suggestions for improvement.
Election of Central Council Representatives (two)
There were no candidates.
The minutes of the 2025 AGM at Ropley were adopted on the proposition of Bruce Purvis, seconded by Michael Church, and signed by the Master as a true record.
There were no matters arising.
Alan D Elsmore (Eling), Angela Forder-Stent (Twyford), Christine McCallion (Hursley), Francis W Mitchell (Netley) and Mary Sterry (Lyndhurst) had completed fifty years’ ringing membership of the Guild. The Master presented Alan with his Life Membership certificate (applause).
The principal officers had prepared a slide presentation with highlights from the reports printed in the Annual Report for 2025 and Handbook for 2026 and distributed with the Agenda. The following points arose from the presentation of the reports.
Education. In reply to a question from Trish Shannon, Andy Ingram said the simulator to be installed at Easton would not be portable, due to the additional expense that would entail.
Striking Competitions. The Master appealed for volunteers to join the committee.
Communications. The Master thanked Alex Blissett for his work on the Guild Newsletter. Alex sought material for the next edition, the deadline was 25th September, and he would welcome volunteers to join the committee. In reply to a question from Peta Steadman Bee, the Master said that the website would be updated.
Youth Ringing. In reply to a question from Caroline Fairley, Andy Ingram said that financial assistance was being provided to the youth ringers travelling to competitions.
The Reports were adopted en bloc on the proposition of Margaret Smith, seconded by Caroline Fairley.
The report and accounts had been independently examined and agreed by the Trustees.
In reply to a question from Micki Nadal, the Hon. Gen. Secretary said outstanding grants were reviewed after three years and that for St. Mary the Virgin, Brading, would be due for review in March 2027.
The Master pointed out that the unallocated assets of the fund now stand at £11,500, down from £17,000 the year before. The drop would have been even greater if we had not received some generous donations. Grants of £15,000 were made in 2025 and £30,000 the year before. We won’t be able to sustain this rate of grant in the future unless we can generate additional income for the BRF.
The Hon. Gen. Secretary said the Trustees met earlier that day and a new grant application had been received from St. Peter’s, Titchfield. The works include rebushing and refurbishment of the clappers with new fittings, treble roller-wheel replacement with new fittings, and the lifting of each bell so the bearings can be dismantled, inspected, cleaned and have replacement seals, fresh lubricant and replacement bearings if the old ones are excessively worn. Total estimate £7,000, The Trustees proposed a grant of £850, which was seconded by Bruce Purvis and agreed nem. con.
The Master read Greg Jordan’s report of the major happenings at the meeting in Sheffield (see Appendix)
| 4th July 2026 | RWNYC - Nottingham | |
| 12th September 2026 | Essex Trophy - Sussex County Association | |
| 19th September 2026 | Inter-Tower 8-bell striking competition - Petersfield | |
| 10th October 2026 | Education course - Listening skills | |
| 14th November 2026 | Education course - Stedman Doubles & Triples | |
| 21st November 2026 | Executive Committee Meeting |
Saturday 12th June 2027 in the Basingstoke District.
Bruce Purvis gave an update on the St. John the Baptist, Winchester project.
The Hon. Gen. Secretary reported that the principal officers are investigating the possibility of moving to a centralised membership database system. This idea was raised in 2015 as part of the first guild action plan and in the years since then many other guilds and associations have adopted such systems.
The benefits that these guilds claim include simpler administration and the ability to run a single guild-wide mailing list. Many guilds also combine it with an electronic payment system allowing members to pay their subscriptions with a credit or debit card, similar to the way that you can buy tickets or make other online purchases.
They are not making a concrete proposal at this stage, but have been looking into the benefits that could be gained from such a system and considering how it would work in our Guild’s structure. They intend to consult with district officers and produce a background paper and proposal for discussion by the Guild Executive Committee and wider membership.
There being no further business, the Master closed the meeting at 4.18 p.m.
One of the roles of the Council’s annual meeting is to scrutinise the plans, activities and spending of the Council’s Executive and its working groups, so some of the meeting was concerned with the council’s finances.
The 5-year business plan for Ringing 2030 was laid out. If you are unfamiliar with Ringing 2030 you can find the business plan on the council’s website. In brief its objective is to find 10,000 additional ringers (either new or lapsed ones) by 2030, at least half of which are under 30. This means finding more recruits and improving retention of learners. It has 3 “pillars” to do this: Marketing to raise awareness. Recruitment and Development to attract the new ringers and Environment to retain the ringers via improved teaching and ringing conditions
In 2025 the general fund of the CCCBR would be in surplus by between £19,000 and £20,000 after its statutory obligations were met, but will end up in deficit of a few thousand pounds due to various spending on workgroups and the Ringing 2030 initiative
This loss has been offset by the Wendy Piercy Bequest, which is being used to fund 3 summer honorariums, at £2,000 each. These are to help progress various projects in the Ringing 2030 initiative.
Income for 2027 was expected to be £80,000, based on an increase in affiliation fees and anticipated grant income. This will largely be spent on Ringing 2030.
Other topics:
It was suggested that all societies create an action plan for when a church in their area closes. This is so the bells aren’t left dormant and can be re-allocated to other projects/The Keltek Trust etc.
The availability of the Mobile Belfry Trust was discussed, particularly the fact that one of the two mobile belfries available, had been out of action. This then caused some events to not be supported. Simon Linford (MBGT Trustee) said more volunteers were needed to help staff the belfries at events.
Two main motions were discussed and passed:
Motion A: This was to change the rules and standing orders of the Council following a review
Motion B:
This was to do with the types of membership of societies to the CCCBR
A new ‘Associate’ category for societies that do not collect a regular membership fee from their members
The lower membership limit for Affiliated societies has been raised to 50
Annual fees for affiliated societies to be £1 per member (which would be around £1,200 for us).
Territorial societies would not lose their representation in the new change