Last month, I mentioned that the Kent Young Ringers would be participating in this year’s Ringing World National Youth Contest in London. I want to start this month’s Words from the Chair by congratulating our team of young ringers who took part in the contest. It was a very busy day, we needed to be at St Mary-le-Bow for 10.00 which meant some very early starts for some of our group as the train services had been revised that weekend because of engineering works. As well as ringing at Bow, we also had an opportunity to look at a range of different stalls and stands including two mini-rings (the Charmborough mini-ring and the Maypole Bells (brought along by Kent’s very own Trevor Arnold)) as well as a handbell workshop.
During the rest of the day, we were able to also visit St Giles, Cripplegate; St Lawrence, Jewry and St Magnus the Martyr for general ringing but our contest squad also visited St Olave, Hart Street, to ring the test piece which was 160 rows of call-changes.
The competition was very tough this year, a record 36 teams had entered and over 300 young ringers were present on the day. For the first time, this year had separate categories for 6-bell and 8-bell bands. We were competing with 12 other teams in the 8-bell call-change category.
After spending the day ringing, all of the teams congregated at St Paul’s Cathedral for the results and presentations. For many of the supporters who came along, this was probably the highlight of the day. Around 500 people gathered underneath the impressive dome to hear the judges comments and the final placings. Congratulations go to the Yorkshire Tykes, winning the 8-bell method category; the Durham and Newcastle Guild, who won the 6-bell method category; Worcester Cathedral for winning the 8-bell call-change category and the Nottingham Young Ringers for winning the 6-bell call-change category.
Although not winners, our team did extremely well and attained third place in the 8-bell call-change category. It was the first time that several of the team had participated in the RWNYC and shows great promise for future competitions.
Incidentally, last month I talked about the ‘Fun with Bells ‘ podcast and said that the episode featuring KYR would be in July. It now looks as if it will be in September.
Whilst talking about competitions, just a reminder that the Association 6-Bell Competitions will take place at St George’s Church, Beckenham, on Saturday 28th September. Once again, the method competition will take place in the morning with the draw at 9:45.
There will be a call-change competition taking place in the afternoon with the draw at 2.00pm and it will follow the same format as last year’s call-change competition. This means that teams do not have represent a single tower and I hope that you will be able to gather teams together to take part in this. As with last year, there will be a limit of 10 teams able to enter this.
The rules for both competitions are available on the KCACR website or following this link: kcacr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/KCACR-Rules-for-Association-6-bell-competitions-2024.pdf .
I wonder how many of you are aware of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers? It is an organisation that oversees and supports change ringing all over the world. It offers advice on a wide range of different subjects and the KCACR, along with all the other territorial societies and a few others are affiliated to the Central Council. Although those involved in running the Central Council are all volunteers, we pay a small charge which help to cover the administration costs.
Recently, the Central Council has undertaken the Ringing 2030 project which has been looking at the state of ringing now, the projected state of ringing in a few years’ time and how to address the predicted decline in ringers. We believe that there are currently about 30000 active ringers. The bottom line is that about 60% of these are over 60, a further 25% are aged between 40 and 60 which leaves 15% aged under 40. These are estimates, but if you look at towers in your area then you may well realise that they are not too far out.
As a result of this, the Central Council commissioned a PR company to look at how we could portray ringing in a manner that might encourage a greater take up of recruits. Recently, the Ringing for Remembrance and the Ring for the King initiatives proved to be very successful and both gave us more recruiting opportunities as well as raising the profile of ringing.
Whilst the work that Associations do is invaluable, there are some elements that would benefit from being co-ordinated more centrally by the Central Council. Compared to other hobbies and interests, ringing is a very cheap hobby. In Kent, an annual membership cost of £15 for the KCACR is very small although perhaps a weekly steepleage charge or donation is made by some bands. However, compared to some other hobbies, the overall cost is low and there is no special equipment required that may be necessary for other hobbies or interests, especially those linked to different sports.
If ringing is to survive, we need to start to look at a new model for ringing. Ringing centres have been set up, for example in Cambridge and Norwich, where they have a paid centre manager who is responsible for running the centre. This salary is paid for by the attendees who use the centre. In the Birmingham area, most new recruits are sent to dedicated training centres. These are all affiliated to the Birmingham School of Bell Ringing. Here, a fee is charged to students but, once administration costs are deducted, the excess is donated to ART (The Association of Ringing Teachers) which helps to support the work that this organisation does.
The Central Council is now in a position where they can begin to introduce further initiatives. For them to be successful, the Central Council need to start to look at employing staff to manage some of the administrative tasks coupled with these initiatives. For them to achieve this, Associations and Guilds need to be on board to help support the increased financial outlay. I am of the opinion that, if we do nothing, the future of ringing is not healthy. If, as an Association, we can support this, then perhaps ringing will have a future.
Neil Jones
KCACR Chairman