CINQUE PORTS RINGING CENTRE
Future
The same management team has been operating the Centre since it began in 2003. It’s only a small team yet for the last twelve years it has run weekly practices on Saturday mornings, open to everyone but intended primarily to offer help at the entry level. Each year it has appointed Peter Dale as Ringing Master, Barbara Dale as Secretary, and David Courtney as Treasurer. On a normal Saturday morning Peter has run the ringing and Barbara has carried out the administration but this is about to change.
From the beginning Barbara has recorded attendances, emptied the collecting box, and organised the refreshment breaks. She would now like someone else to take charge of these tasks and maybe spread them among others. Peter is prepared to continue in post for the coming year but would like to share the responsibility for running practices. He sees the need to spend more time in helping individuals, particularly those following the Association of Ringing Teachers scheme Learning the Ropes”.
Other committee members are Jean Easley, Bob Powell-Williams, and Lindsay Powell-Williams. Steve Popple, and latterly Wendy Rogers, give unstinting support. Apart from Lindsay, who oversees book sales, all of them are willing and able to run the occasional practice by default when necessary. Jean and Peter are the only two teachers qualified to register new learners on the “Learning the Ropes” scheme.
2017 needs to be a year of preparation for a hand-over next January 2018; those of us with an interest in the Centre are looking at options to create a different management structure. Involvement of the Association, or at least the Districts nearest to Dover, would go a long way to saving the Centre from extinction in 2018. The AGM was held on Saturday, 7th January, at St Mary’s, Dover, and the outcome will be announced in due course.
Peter Dale