The Guild Master - Pete Jordan, supported by the Vice-Master - Allan Yalden, Hon. Gen. Treasurer - Helen Woolford and Minute Secretary - Tony Smith, opened the meeting at 10.16 a.m. The Master welcomed those present and said a prayer.
The other members attending were Roger Barber (A&P Exec Rep.), Martin Barnes (Belfry Stewardship), Roger Booth (Winchester Exec Rep. proxy), Michael Church (CC Rep.), Nici Collins (Basingstoke Sec.), Edd Colliss (Peal Recorder), Lizzie Colliss (Communications), John Davey (Safeguarding), Maggie Hiller (Andover Sec.), Mike Hopkins Till (CC Rep.), Lucy Hopkins Till (Andover Exec Rep.), Sallie-Louise Ingram (C&S Sec.), David Mattingley (BRF Trustee), Micki Nadal (Winchester Sec.), Viv Nobbs (PRO), John Palk (Report Editor), Bruce Purvis (Librarian & Archivist), Liz South (A&P Sec.), Mary Tester (IoW Sec.), and guests Charlotte Colliss (Independent Examiner), Andrew Glover (Webmaster) and Simon Poyser.
Apologies for absence had been received from Andy Ingram, Adrian and Shân Nash and Matthew Wilks. Further apologies were received from Margaret Downer and Barry Fry.
The Master read the following names, asked for a few moments silence and said a prayer.
| Andrew W Banks | Hawkley | |
| A Terence Collins | East Meon | |
| Doreen Hawton | Upham | |
| Christopher Hurley | Bentworth | |
| James Lumsden | Havant | |
| Martin Morris | Bentworth | |
| Rosemary Oakeshott | Lockerley and East Tytherley | |
| Rosemary Vears | Buriton | |
| David Vickery | Hannington | |
| Fiona Whittles | Milford-on-Sea | |
| Anthony P Buttle | formerly of Titchfield and the Basingstoke District | |
| Rosemary Haviland | formerly of Micheldever | |
| Michael R Hilson | formerly of Vale and S. Pierre du Bois | |
| Stephen Hyde-Gregory | formerly of Fawley | |
| John Mannering | formerly of Buriton | |
| Wally F Taylor | formerly of Wonston | |
| Gordon West | formerly of Bramshott |
The minutes of the meeting held on 20th March 2021 were proposed by Allan Yalden, seconded by John Davey, approved nem. con. and signed by Tony Smith, on behalf of the Master, as a true record.
There were no matters arising.
The Master thanked Steve Lamb, who had resigned recently, for his work over the past year, and asked all members to look around the districts for a suitable candidate to serve at least until the triennial elections in June. An offer to assist had been received from Steve Castle in the event that a replacement could not be found. As this post had only just come up for re-election and there had not been sufficient opportunity to seek a candidate the Master asked that the district officers take some time to look within their towers for a volunteer. In reply to an enquiry from Roger Booth about a job description and the potential time commitment, the Master said there was a fairly comprehensive list, which Heather Frazer put together when she stood down as Gen. Secretary, and Tony Smith offered to look out some job descriptions put together prior to the 2016 triennial elections. The Master asked that it be sent to the districts for forwarding to the towers and said it would be nice to have some fresh blood on the Executive Committee.
Charlotte Colliss (née Olding) of Swanmore, Christine Holmes & David Holmes of Overton, and Rodney Skinner of Ropley would complete fifty years’ ringing membership in 2022.
Peal Recorder - Nil.
Librarian and Archivist - £250.
Report Editor - £1,580. John Palk explained the big increase was due last year’s printers having changed name and moved premises, so he was taking the average of the two lowest quotes last time, anticipated increase in pages for a biennial report, and a 10% uplift for cost increases. Tony Smith thought the report should be smaller than usual as there had been very little activity due to the pandemic, there had been fewer peals than in a normal year, and with the exception of the general accounts and the BRF the other officers and committees should be able to produce short reports covering both years.
Public Relations Officer - £200.
Education Committee - Nil.
Striking Competitions Committee - £306.
Belfry Stewardship Committee - Nil.
Communications Committee - £360.
Teaching Hubs Committee - Nil.
Young Ringers’ Group - £200.
Guild Action Plan - £400.
The bids were approved en bloc on the proposition of John Davey, seconded by Tony Smith.
A Budget for 2022 prepared by the Hon. Gen. Treasurer had been circulated. It would be updated with the late bids.
David Mattingley reported that the Trustees met before this meeting and received brief updates on the five grants currently outstanding, Ecchinswell, Brading, Twyford, Hawkley and Newton Valence. All work was expected to be complete by the end of next year. The Trustees received one new grant application and were asked to revisit another. The new application was from Ropley where the church is undergoing a major rebuild following a fire in 2014. The application was complicated by various matters and the Trustees recommended a grant of £10,000. The revisited grant was Twyford who had previously been awarded a grant of £7,500 which has yet to be paid. They have received an updated quote from Whites and the Trustees recommend a further grant of £2,000. The recommendations were proposed by Bruce Purvis and seconded by John Davey.
Roger Booth asked for an explanation of how the Trustees arrived at the amount of the grant to Ropley as he said there was roughly £80,000 worth of work to weld the second, recast the fifth, and hang the bells in the new frame, and roughly £170,000 for extensive work needed to the interior of the tower to make it strong enough to support a full-circle ringing peal. Roger then made a series of points about previous grants from the BRF towards work to the fabric of towers to enable full circle ringing; the meeting which the Trustees agreed at the Guild AGM to arrange with the applicant to establish a greater understanding of both the costs and the insurance, but which they had not attended; and the level of fund raising for the BRF. David Mattingley said that he was not prepared to respond to Roger Booth’s questions for ‘personal reasons’.
In answer to a question from Viv Nobbs, David Mattingley said that £37,500 of the approximately £90,000 in the Fund was expected to be paid out by the end of next year, leaving about £51,500. Viv said she would love to see the Guild support the Ropley project up to the hilt and spoke of the public relations potential. David Mattingley largely agreed with Viv and said it was a great project which would take Ropley church into the 21st century. However he said it was a complicated application and he wouldn’t want to see the BRF payout for monies already being recouped by insurance. However in the spirit of Viv’s message he thought it was something we should support further and, although not a formal proposal, he would like to see a donation from the general fund towards Ropley church at some point.
In answer to a question from Roger Booth, the Hon. Gen. Treasurer confirmed the interest rate for the Central Board of Finance Deposit Fund in which we hold £70,000 was 0.01% and said the Trustees had discussed earlier looking for an account with a better rate.
Roger proposed and Micki Nadal seconded that the £10,000 be considered an initial grant to Ropley, that the Trustees be asked to visit the site to see what is involved and report back to a future meeting when a further grant could be considered.
Michael Church was in favour of the spending rather than accumulation of funds but was concerned that, by saying this was an initial grant, we were committing ourselves to something unknown in the future. Micki and Roger said there was no commitment to any further grant.
The grant to Ropley was approved against two votes; Roger and Micki’s motion was passed by nine votes to six; and the further grant to Twyford was approved nem. con.
Following the change of insurers in 2021 from AXA and Allianz to Ecclesiastical Insurance and questions from Guild members, the Hon. Gen. Treasurer commissioned a review by two Guild members who have/had a professional role in the insurance industry, one of whom is a Chartered Insurer. The reviews were undertaken independently and the combined findings and recommendations had been circulated. The Hon. Gen. Treasurer summarised the report and drew attention to the Frequently Asked Questions section (FAQs). In answer to a question from Micki Nadal, the Hon. Gen. Treasurer said she expected the document to be distributed by the districts to the towers, but was also happy to send it directly to the individuals who had raised concerns.
Roger Booth suggested that Marcus Booth of Ecclesiastical Insurance be invited to repeat a talk that he gave at the Central Council meeting at Goldsmiths College two years ago for members of the Guild, with the opportunity for them to ask questions. He also suggested that we provide a webinar or face-to-face risk assessment workshop where we can train people how to undertake risk assessments in their own tower.
Viv Nobbs asked whether the expression “Trustee cover” included the BRF Trustees or was used in a more general sense. The Hon. Gen. Treasurer thought the latter but would get it clarified.
Bruce Purvis asked if the FAQs could clarify whether the insurance covered bell maintenance, muffling bells and general engineering and maintenance, whether carried out either by band members or by somebody with within the district who has greater expertise.
The Master thanked the Hon. Gen. Treasurer and the insurance experts for all their work.
The Master explained that the Digital Media Policy, which had been circulated, was a development of the Social Media Policy raised at the AGM (item 16.ii). There were no questions and he proposed its adoption, which was seconded by John Davey and passed nem. con. The Master thanked those who had helped put together the policy.
An updated paper had been circulated (see Annex). The changes in the different key need areas, highlighted in blue, were summarised by the area leaders: Communications by Lizzie Hough; and Guild Operations by the Master. Lizzie said that Peter Sheppard and Rachael Barber had been co-opted to the Communications Committee [Andrew Glover and Steve Lamb had resigned] and thanked Andrew Glover for continuing as Webmaster. She would welcome feedback from other districts on what they wanted from the new website.
John Davey questioned the need for the Bell Stock Survey. David Mattingley and the Master both thought it was an important source of information for the BRF Trustees. Martin Barnes said the Belfry Stewardship Committee was made up of people who are mostly working and the Survey is an incredible time consuming operation (see Appendix B).
The Master asked whether registering the Guild as a charity, so that subscriptions could be Gift Aided and tax recovered, was something that Executive Committee members thought we should pursue. Michael Church did not think we would be eligible to recover tax on Gift Aided subscriptions because the benefits members obtained from their subscriptions through the Annual Report and insurance premiums exceeded the 25% permitted (Charities guidance 3.21.1) and also said that the work involved in creating a charity should not be underestimated. David Mattingley said there were more options than being a charity or not being a charity and those other options should also be explored.
The Master said the transfer had been delayed and now expected early in 2022. Tony Smith said until the transfer happens the Channel Islands are still in the Guild’s area and, strictly speaking, the Channel Island ringers are still members of the Guild and their subscriptions would fall due on 1st January. However, they had already been elected members of the Salisbury Guild, and Tony asked whether the Master could come to a “gentlemen’s agreement” with Robert Wellen that we overlook the rules and consider they have already moved and not expect them to pay further subscriptions to the W&P.
| 19th March 2022 | Executive Committee Meeting | |
| 21st May 2022 | Inter-Tower 6 & 8-bell striking competitions - C&S District | |
| 11th June 2022 | Inter-District 8-bell striking competition - A&P District | |
| 11th June 2022 | AGM - A&P District | |
| TBA | Inter-District 10-bell striking competition - Andover District |
There was a preference for the March Executive Committee Meeting being held on Zoom.
Bruce Purvis sought to dispose of the late David Strong’s run of The Ringing World in loose-leaf binders from 1973 to 2012 that were surplus to requirements. His preferred option would be to find a tower at some distance from Winchester to act as a satellite collection, but if anybody wants them personally, then he’d be happy to to relinquish them.
John Davey drew attention to the Central Council Guidance note on Operation London Bridge and district secretaries were asked to distribute it to towers.
Roger Booth thought it was important to work towards directly mailing our members rather than relying on tower secretaries and he encouraged the district secretaries to encourage their members to complete a Guild data protection form.
There being no further business, the Master closed the meeting at 12.09 p.m.
[After the meeting Tony Smith announced the results of the draw for the W&P 200 Club conducted by Robin Milford at the Botley practice on Thursday. The winners were as follows (given by club number, name and prize amount)
4 Rob Hatch £25; 6 Pete Jordan £10; 1 Robin Milford £5; 13 Allan Yalden £5; 5 Christine Knights-Whittome £2.50; 35 Piers Armstrong £2.50.
The Master asked members to encourage others in their districts to join the 200 Club so they too could be winners.]
The following frame work sets out what Guild Officers will work towards over the next few years. Having an Action Plan in place will enable ideas to develop, provide continuity and ensure the Guild is striving to be a relevant entity for its members.
The vision is of a central administration which can provide resources, educational initiatives and public relations representation advice and support, using resources to best advantage whilst encouraging Districts to be more independent and flexible in what they offer in terms of local day to day ringing.
The Action Plan can be developed in detail as appropriate and will significantly take into account members’ feedback including matters of budget. It will be reviewed annually to monitor progress.
actively seek feedback from members
hold at least 2 all-Guild ringing events each year to encourage all ringers to come together
encourage young ringers to come together to ring, socialise and to participate in ringing contests; advise and remind them of the available financial support via the Training and Development Fund
encourage the districts to be more independent of central control and be flexible in their own ringing programmes and events; support local efforts as required, including reminding Officers and members of the available financial support via the Training and Development
encourage more members to be involved in Guild volunteer efforts resulting in a gentle shift in age profile in the Guild’s activities and administration
offer various training courses, reminding potential applicants of the available financial support via the Training and Development Fund; encourage ‘relevant experience’ volunteer assistance for the courses including administration support
update the website generally, including the inventory of Guild resources available to members, and their location
encourage much wider engagement of the Guild’s website and social media and uptake of the electronic newsletter ‘Weekly News’ to:
enable ‘fresh’ information to be displayed and circulated
ensure enhanced communication with ringers and community
offer positive benefits to visitors to the sites including such as Learning to Ring, information of training events, ringing activities, by taking up the electronic newsletter ‘Weekly News’
continue to consider and work towards the Guild Database of Members
review and support the work of all Committees and Young Ringers’ groups; seek out potential ‘relevant experience’ volunteers and encouraging them to offer help
be a point of contact for all ringing matters for Diocesan and national bodies, the community and the media
review areas of Guild administration and responsibilities to improve effectiveness and remain accountable, including to third parties
Budget: £700
Seek out and encourage more ‘relevant experience’ volunteer assistance for the website Timescale: ongoing
It is suggested to replace the existing W&P website with something more modern? We propose to investigate the options and present alternatives with budgets at the November 2021 Executive meeting Timescale: November 2021
Feedback obtained for A&P and Portsmouth districts and asked about the website. Other Districts were not given much time to feedback after the resignation of Hon Gen Sec, but from the feedback we received, the two districts seemed in agreement over several thoughts:
New website should be geared toward members and NOT recruitment. It should contain:
A calendar that multiple users (district secretaries and guild officials) could contribute to, including a search functionality and an “auto-archive” of previous events
Sections for each District containing tower details/contacts
An area to store the Guild’s online archive
Additional sections for education, recruitment, useful links etc.
Potential down the line for a “Members Only” area with logons
Potential down the line for a payment area for District or Guild training etc.
At this early stage, we think that something like this would require a £20-£30 p/m budget if we want it to work, be fit for purpose and prevent people like Andrew G having to spend their entire time maintaining it.
To hold a series of forums with district secretaries and treasurers to discuss the Guild membership database and the Guild communications database, how it will be used at various levels and how data is securely stored including the implications of GDPR.
A communication was sent out to the remaining secretaries asking for feedback but they’ve not yet responded. This will have to carry over until the next meeting. This will also be the case for the new website.
HOWEVER, the general feeling in the current committee is that a lot of the information across the databases is obsolete. For instance, really, the only thing the Guild Membership Database needs is your name and which tower you ring at (unless you’re a tower correspondent or district officer). The Comms Database really only needs your name and email address. A lot of the older information such as home address or phone numbers is not necessary. There is a general feeling that there should be a return to the Google Mailing Lists, instead of MailChimp, which is not fit for purpose and only used by the Winchester District.
Seek out and establish a small group of ‘News Ambassadors’ in local areas to work alongside the Communications Team. Timescale: ongoing
Review GDPR policy and provide relevant training and guidance to key district and guild officers. Timescale: June 2020
Budget: £0
Support the Safeguarding Officer to review the Safeguarding policy and seek its approval by the Executive Committee. Once approved, push out the policy to all towers. Timescale: Completed- Policy approved at March 2021 Executive Committee. Guild Secretary disseminated the Policy to Districts for onwards distribution to all towers.
Work with the safeguarding officer to provide available training for protection of young and vulnerable people. Timescale: March 2022
Gain knowledge of young ringers groups and work with these to maintain and increase easy access to the Young Ringers’ groups training and events, and available financial support. Timescale: June 2022
Assist districts with strategies for recruitment of young ringers at a local level and creation of local young ringers groups. Timescale: June 2022
Work with young ringers to develop a programme of Guild events specifically designed for them (outings, competitions etc.) Timescale: Dependant on situation when returning to ringing after Covid pandemic.
Budget: £40
Garner available and appropriate resources, including financial, to ensure there is a continuous supply of new ringers and that they are well-trained and motivated for the long term benefit of all. Timescale: June 2022
Consider new opportunities for recruitment initiatives at local level. Timescale: Sept 2021 - Action - Districts
Learn to ring events. Timescale: March 2022
Investigate opportunities to assist with funding of recruitment and retention. Timescale: March 2022
Identify and publish towers able to train new ringers on behalf of struggling towers, as well as for their own benefit. Timescale: March 2022
Develop ‘new ringer welcome pack’ and ‘Welcome Back to Ringing pack’. Timescale: January 2022 - Viv Nobbs & Pete Jordan - In Progress
Budget: £0
Following Covid-19 Lockdown, provide a support raft of resources to equip districts and towers to ensure that bells and fittings are in a safe condition to restart ringing activities and to provide support and retraining where required to returning ringers. Timescale: June 2021
Each district to plan how they can support recruitment and training new ringers once in a legal and safe position to resume one to one training. This to be based on local resources available to give a secure path for retaining new recruits. Timescale: June 2021
Across the Guild area, support educational initiatives, especially those improving the quality and sustainability of ringing and ringing teaching. Timescale: June 2022
Encourage ‘relevant experience’ volunteer assistance at local training events. Timescale: June 2022 - Delay due to Covid
Develop strategies to provide key support for training at district level. Timescale: June 2022 - Delay due to Covid
Budget: £150
Consider further action to protect our heritage, including undertaking and archiving audio recordings of bells for future generations, and photographing peal boards and other significant historic artefacts. Timescale: To seek a volunteer or more to gather firstly the audio by end of 2021 and then the peal board pictures using lessons learned from the initial action by end 2022. Help may also be needed from the Comms team.
Develop local training for Steeple keepers to help maintain bells for the future. There is support for this from the S&M workgroup of the Central Council. A spanner’s group is thought to be possible as each towers requirement has a different engineering challenge. Timescale: end 2022
Investigate ways to support local tower maintenance through the BRF, maintenance groups or centralised resources. Timescale: see above
Continue with update and completion of the bell stock survey. A trial is in place to link this to the Dove website Timescale: June 2022
Budget: £0
To consult with the membership with regarding to reviewing the operation of the Guild and make recommendations for the years ahead.
BRF focus
Investment of surplus BRF funds to maintain capital value
BRF grant levels
Likely implications of Covid-19 and reduction in parish income
Discussions have taken place amongst the trustees on these issues. Immediate focus is on securing the investment strategy which Trustees are working on. Reduction of parish income and church closures are a significant issue however it is difficult at this time to produce a decisive forecast for the future. The Trustees are however aware of the importance of this influence and will keep a watching brief on the matter. The Trustees also recognise that it would be helpful to develop stronger links with the Diocese to be able to influence possible future decisions on disposition of bells.
Belfry Stewardship focus
Updating and completion of bell stock survey to inform future decision making. Data consistency.
How maintenance inspection scheme should work in practice. Professional / internal inspection? Training?
Review rule 23 (Redundant bells), especially in light of possible future redundancies and the activities of the Keltek Trust
See report in Appendix B
Guild membership focus
Consultation (survey) membership to establish what benefits they value from their membership - how would they like to see their subs used? What benefits would they like?
Encouraging Districts to use their surplus funds (Rule 16)
Use of the Training & Development Fund
Fund-raising ideas from other Guilds & Associations - existing - district practices / 200 club. What do we need this for? Fund raising at local level for local projects. Do the members want this?
Subscription levels in the light of the above
Would charitable status of whole Guild (not just BRF) be of benefit - gift aid & more flexibility etc. - Pete and Hen had a discussion with Andrew Brewster, Treasurer of the Essex Association who are a charity at top level. Main benefits are gift aid on donations and in particular membership fees, (see Appendix A) however there is some significant work involved in getting members to provide the gift aid forms etc. From an administration point of view there is work involved in the application to the Charity Commission and some changes to the accounts etc. Trustees are also required who will be committed to meet at points during the year. The Essex Association has just reduced the number of Trustees from 44 to 15 with permission from the Charity Commission. Typically the trustees would be all Guild officers plus reps from each district (Chairs?) and one or two more in significant roles etc.
Timescales
To report back to the Executive committee and AGM 2022.
‘Firsts Fortnight’ - Autumn 2019 (October 11th - 27th) Complete
‘First Peal 2022’
Open Day with Mini Ring 2022
Any other significant events to be considered and arranged.
It has been suggested that the guild could be taking advantage of the Governments Gift Aid Scheme.
This scheme allows a charitable group to reclaim 25p of every pound if the payee is a taxpayer.
To that end the Guild would need to be set up as a charitable trust. This can be done ‘online’ and we would need to have some volunteer Trustees to monitor that we are meeting the requirements set out in our trust documentation.
It is not easy to calculate directly what the financial gain might be, were we to find some volunteers to set up the scheme.
From the 2019 guild report
we have 483 full members paying £10 a year of which we could claim back £2.50 a head if they were all taxpayers and signed up to gift aid.
We have 691 senior members paying £7.50 which we could claim £1.90 a head approx. if they were all taxpayers and signed up to gift aid.
Making assumption that say 50% of our members were to sign-up to the scheme we may claim back in the order of £1000 annually.
You notice the requirement for W&P ringers to buy in to the scheme relies on some volunteers and this is where we may become unstuck!
Those attending - Martin Barnes (Convener) & Paul Bailey (Chartered Surveyor by profession)
Roger Booth has set up a recording system which is basically a property asset management investment based spread sheet dealing with long term investment and expenditure decisions intending to show possible long term expenditure in relation to every tower
There is also a call for archive recording, containing lots of detail to create a historic record of all towers.
Whilst these could be linked in a practical sense they are best considered as two separate issues
In relation to future expenditure the level of funding that is available and is likely to be available in the future is such that there seems to be no benefit in attempting to create such long term financial planning
To go back to basics, what are we trying to do?
We are trying to identify what towers will need grants in the next few years and how much.
So the question needing to be asked is ‘what requirement is there among our 190 churches in the Guild for maintenance.’
A quick email, as short as possible will get better answers than anything of length.
The best way to achieve this is to email the Tower Captains and ask two very simple questions -
Do you anticipate any work being needed on your bells within the next ten years?
Do any of your bells have plain bearings?
Answers to this will narrow down the need and further action can then be targeted at those towers which have indicated they may require assistance by follow up contact.
Question 2 is only asked as it can be assumed that it is desirable to replace plain bearings with ball bearings and something that will need doing in the near future.
The creation of a detailed historical record of all towers is an admirable objective and some records have already been provided which start this process. To carry out this type of recording exercise for all 190 Towers properly is a complex matter involving the establishment of base line data sets and recording procedures to ensure a consistent approach which will then provide a genuine record of future historic benefit. That level of work will require training and resources well beyond those available within the BSC but is a project which may be of interest to some Tower Captains or other members of bands.
Once the initial approach to Tower Captains has been made to identify possible maintenance issues a separate approach could be made, for circulation to all members, to identify if there are individuals who would be interested in forming part of a group prepared to undertake such detailed survey and depending on the results of that enquiry establish a team to train for and carry out this project.
It was agreed that this is something we should do when things open up again in the summer and it is warmer to instruct in belfries.
It was agreed that this has to be left in the hands of the Keltek Trust with the expertise and resources to handle.
The Guild are totally unequipped to remove or store bells.
Rev 1.5 17/11/2021