The Executive Committee meeting at The Hinton Hall, Tisbury on Saturday 27th June opened with The Master saying the Guild Collect. The Master welcomed all to the meeting, some now in new officer roles.
It was explained to assist with minute taking, modern technology would be used: the meeting would be recorded, AI used to produce a draft transcript from the recording which could then be edited to produce a set of accurate and reliable minutes. In order to assist this technology it was necessary for us all to introduce ourselves by name and our position on the committee.
After accepting apologies for absence, the minutes of the previous meeting were checked for accuracy and with a few corrections were accepted as a correct record. Items raised under Matters Arising from those minutes were already agenda items.
AGM & Striking Competitions
The 2026 AGM at Calne was great fun, but poor acoustics and tech glitches made it hard to hear. Next year, we are heading to Digby Memorial Hall in Sherborne on Saturday 8th May, and the local team is double-checking the sound system beforehand! The afternoon will flow from the meeting to the service, then tea to give everyone a chance to mingle. Plus, the Guild approved spending £300 to hire the Charmborough Ring for the day which will be set up in the Abbey grounds.
For the competitions, the 8-bell event is staying on Festival Day, it is proposed to hold it at Sherborne Abbey. The 6- Bell and Call Change competitions are set for Saturday 19th June 2027 in the Devizes Branch, the Novice Competition on Saturday 10th July in the Salisbury Branch, both complete with a bring-and-share tea.
Finances & Admin
Finances are steady with around £7k–£8k spent so far which is inline with budget. We approved travel expenses for up to three non-family RWNYC team leaders and trimmed down our insurance policy to save cash — dropping old IT gear, books, and moving key trophies to “all-risks” cover.
We also unanimously voted to explore setting up a new Administrative Work Group to handle day-to-day decisions and help with future planning.
Guild Officers & Policies
Since Ben Duke stepped down, the Handbook Editor role is vacant. We are forming a tech team to modernise things with a digital-first approach.
Our Master, Vicki Rowse, announced she is stepping down at the next AGM, so the search is on for a replacement.
Policy-wise, Health & Safety, Expenses, and Data Privacy are staying the same. However, a working group is rewriting the Safeguarding policy to make it much simpler. Finally, keep an eye out for the big CCCBR ringing census coming up from 16th–22nd November.
David Hacker
