Well, the Association AGM has taken place and it seems that I am still here in my chair.
The AGM took place on Easter Monday, 21st April at Sevenoaks. The Sevenoaks ringers, assisted by other members of the Tonbridge District, put on a very enjoyable day’s programme. I would like to thank the Tonbridge District Committee, particularly Ham Woods, Dmitry Zhuravlev, Emma Tamkin, Steve Newlands and Tess Worthington for their help in organising the day and also huge thanks go to Caroline Stockmann and the ringers of St Nicholas, Sevenoaks for hosting us and for all of the arrangements at the church. Just for information, it will be the turn of the Ashford District to host the meeting in 2026.
The AGM was held in the undercroft of St Nicholas’ church which now provides a very useful and versatile meeting space for the congregation and community. During the AGM, the revised rules for the Association were adopted following some minor drafting corrections and these now supersede the Association Rules that are published in the new 2025 Handbook and are available on the website.
The membership subscription will remain the same for the coming year. We do know that there will be a higher cost with the affiliation fees to the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers. This is a fee due to each member of every association or guild that is affiliated to the CCCBR and will be rising to £1.00 per member in 2026. This is to help the CCCBR to deliver greater help and support, especially with the management of the Ringing 2030 project. Unlike many other ringing associations and guilds whose annual subscriptions are much lower than ours, my feeling is that our membership rates will ensure that we can cover the cost of this increase comfortably without impacting our annual subscription rate.
Additionally, the apportioning of the current membership subscription income was discussed at the meeting and it was felt that, with the greater focus on training that will be required in line with the Ringing 2030 project and the forthcoming Ringing Discovery Day, a greater proportion of the subscriptions should be diverted to the Training Find. Following a short discussion, it was agreed that the allocation of membership subscriptions for this year should be 50% to the General Fund, 40% to the Training Fund and 10% to the Bell Restoration Fund. This allocation is discussed at every AGM so will be reviewed again next year.
The majority of the committee were re-elected although we welcomed three new Central Council Representatives, Chris Bassett, Sue Bassett and David Holdridge, who join me as the Association’s Central Council Representatives. It was agreed that the post of Publicity Officer should currently become vacant whilst the General Committee investigate how this role might be best developed, particularly in the light of the Association’s 150th Anniversary in 2030 and the development of the Ringing 2030 project.
As there were no nominations for Chairman, I agreed to remain in post for a further year. It has been a great privilege to be the Chairman of the KCACR and I am honoured that the members present at the AGM wished me to remain in post. However, I did say at the meeting and will repeat here that it is beneficial to the Association if the Chair is changed every 3 years. It ensures that there are new ideas brought in to the Association and different focuses can be investigated. I am particularly pleased with the redraft of the Association Rules that I undertook over the last year and I am going to be very involved with the Ringing Discovery Day later this year. There are many other areas that could be explored and I would like to urge you to think about a person who would be able to develop our Association in other ways and could become the next Chair. It was commented that there has not yet been a female Chair of the Association and this is certainly something that should be addressed.
Following the AGM, we held an EGM to discuss a further proposed amendment to Rule 2 of the Bell Restoration Fund. A great deal of discussion ensued over the wording, particularly the inclusion or omission of the word ‘church’ but the assembled members finally agreed on the following wording for rule 2:
The object of the fund shall be to advance the art of bellringing by providing financial assistance for bell installations in the county of Kent, or that part of London formerly in the county of Kent, for the purposes of maintaining and improving these installations for public benefit, promoting community cohesion and enhancing cultural life by enabling communities to mark local, national or other occasions in a time-honoured way and facilitating healthy mental and physical recreation for multi-generational groups.
The membership agreed that this wording would only be accepted and put in place if, after seeking advice from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (who are able to give us pro bono legal advice) we have been assured that the wording would be acceptable to the Charities Commission and that, in their opinion, we are not unintentionally misleading anybody with the chosen wording.
Finally, please do keep yours eyes open for more information about the Ringing Discovery Day on Saturday 2nd August at St Margaret’s, Rochester. This is an opportunity to raise public awareness of ringing and an initiative to engage the public in wanting to learn to ring. The day will only work if there are volunteers available on the day and also for a follow up taster session in Rochester on the 9th August as well as a series of Saturday mornings teaching sessions in September and October.
We currently have over 1200 members in the Association so hopefully some of you will be available to help. I am especially looking for help with from those who will have taken the ART M1 course, whether or not you attained ART Accreditation. In fact, this project would provide a tremendous opportunity to gain ART accreditation. However, I am also looking for ringers to help on the 2nd with stewarding, talking to the public, serving refreshments and ringing. If enough volunteer to help, it will mean that we can run the day with a series of shifts, which will allow you to help for a couple of hours or so rather than a full day. Please do try to keep the day clear, or at least part of it, and look out for more information soon.
Neil Jones
KCACR Chairman