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Our AGM in July was kindly hosted by the Christchurch & Southampton District, with the Service and meeting taking place at the Guild Master’s church, St Barnabas’, Southampton. A full day’s ringing was arranged by the C&S members, culminating in a splendid evening barbecue on the river banks at Swathling. The Guild’s thanks are due to those who made the arrangements and enabled the day to be as enjoyable as it was.
At the meeting we changed the title of the Guild Librarian to Librarian & Archivist, which reflects a growing wider role for the job. Members are encouraged to place artefacts in the Archive which will be of future interest to historians of the Guild. For example, I sent the Service sheet used at the Dedication Service following the restoration work at Kingsclere tower.
Prior to the AGM we held an Open Meeting about the work of the Guild’s Bell Restoration Fund. The small number of members there all made valuable contributions to the debate and the BRF Trustees plan to implement some of the conclusions reached. One was that few members know about the BRF, except in very broad terms, and the process for allocating grants. I hope that an informational leaflet about the BRF will be ready for wide distribution later in the year, which will help to remedy this.
During the year the “Ring in 2000” Group, newly elected at the AGM, have started to plan for the recruitment and training of the new ringers who will be needed to enable all bells to be sounded at noon on 1 January 2000, when Services are planned to be held simultaneously in all churches in the country.
As part of the Millennium celebrations, several churches in the Guild’s area have applied for a grant from the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers, which is distributing the £3 million awarded from the National Lottery for restoration/augmentation at over 100 churches across the country. The closing date for submitting applications was January 1998 and by the time this Report is published I hope we shall have heard that many local applications have been successful. Playing its own part in this process, the Guild awarded BRF grants to 8 churches at the AGM totalling £23,000 - a record sum.
An Open Day held at Easter by the Basingstoke District raised the tremendous sum of £1142 for the BRF. Thanks are due to all those who planned the event and acted as stewards on the day.
I carried out a short survey at the end of 1997 into the various activities our 8 Districts provided for members during the year. Very encouragingly, in addition to the customary meetings, Districts each held an average of 12 practice meetings each, with some holding many more through having joint practices with adjoining Districts or with adjoining Guilds or Associations. Seven of the Districts have Newsletters, with one being published 12 times in the year. All Districts held other functions in the year, a Dinner being the most popular. One District had eight such functions. It is of course the Districts which provide the front-line services to members and I was heartened to find so much being done in this field.
An explanation will be available soon of the Public Liability Insurance which the Guild holds and which covers all the Guild’s 1150 or so members.
Although thankfully a claim has never been made, it is there to safeguard members’ interests in the event of mishap in the tower.Members have often asked me how the Guild subscription gets used. I hope the pie chart I have prepared explains the breakdown. Of the £5 Ringing Members’ subscription, £1.05 goes direct to the relevant District for it to spend as the District members see fit in supporting ringing in their area. £1.33 is spent as each members insurance premium and to provide them with an Annual Report and of course £1.50 goes direct to the BRF.
Each tower should have received information about the implications of the Children Act as far as the teaching of youngsters is concerned.
Guidelines from the Central Council were also sent out. I would encourage each tower to formulate its policy of responding to the Act in conjunction with its Priest, if it has not already done so.As a Diocesan organisation the Guild was requested to provide assistance at the Refectory at Winchester Cathedral on several days each year. Tessa Smith organised the first events and Patricia Spink has now taken over the job. Although suffering from tired legs by the end of my stint, I very much enjoyed the party on two occasions and spending my whole time cleaning tables.
Finally, and sadly, many towers had special ringing in September to mark the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Many quarters and peals were rung in her memory and many towers, like my own, rang at the same time as the same time as the bells at Westminster Abbey at the conclusion of her funeral.
Robert Cater
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