Julia Russell was elected as the Guild Training Officer at the recent Guild AGM and is looking forward to making a contribution to the development of ringing within the diocese.
She (and her daughter Sophie) learnt to ring in 2009 at their home tower of West Lavington in the Devizes Branch. Julia took over as Tower Captain at West Lavington in 2016 and at Market Lavington in 2020.
Born in Mombasa, Kenya, where her father was working for the Colonial Service, the family returned to England in the mid 60’s, settling in Penrith, Cumbria. Her career has been largely in the public sector which included working as a civilian in the Traffic & Communications department of Cumbria Constabulary and in CID and Special Branch in the City of London Police. She moved to Wiltshire in the 1990’s and worked for over 20 years at The Consortium in Trowbridge. Since 2014 she has worked for HM Prison Service based at HMP/YOI Erlestoke.
Julia was awarded the Ringer of the Year in 2019 in recognition of her personal ringing achievements (which included ringing her first peal) and her contribution to the life of the Devizes Branch of which she is Branch Secretary and Training Officer. She is also the Secretary of Edington Ringing Centre and runs a Learner Practice at West Lavington on Monday evenings; currently having three recently elected learners and two new learners. She rings regularly at towers in the Devizes Branch and attends monthly events, outings, etc. Julia also enjoys cycling and combines both activities by attending the annual Young Bell Ringers’ Cycle Tour (which, she says, needs more young ringers as the average age is now well over 50!) and tells us that a highlight in her ringing life was ringing in Ypres and Dordrecht in 2025.
What does the Training Officer do?
The Guild Training Officer is appointed by the Members at the AGM and is a member of the Executive Committee.
The primary function of the Guild Training Officer is to support the delivery of training across the Guild by Branch Training Officers, acting as a co-ordinator and facilitator. The Guild Training Officer is also responsible for the delivery of courses that are more appropriate at Guild level e.g. ART courses, steeple keeping, belfry Inspectors.
Examples of activities include:
- Maintain a dynamic list of Guild members who are willing to be Tutors, Helpers and what their abilities/willingness to do are.
- Be able to ‘matchmake’ Tutors and Helpers to branches other than their own to enable courses to be run local to learners.
- Be a central coordinator for ART courses across the Guild. Maintain a list of those who have been on ART Courses as new Teachers, those who have completed their ART accreditation, those who are mentors and those who are Assessors to enable better linking between Learners/Teachers/Helpers and assessors. This should include networking sessions bringing new Teachers together occasionally to help them develop their skills in a supportive environment.
- Arrange Guild wide Courses that can’t easily be run in individual branches, e.g. Steeple keeping, Belfry Inspectors Course. Ensure appropriate risk assessments are completed before these courses take place.
- Maintain a calendar of courses being run though the year to enable collaboration across branches.
- Co-ordinate Branch Training officers zoom meetings at least 3 times per year to enable networking and sharing of ideas.
- Be the lead for the Guild Committee to consider applications for Education and Development Grants and undertake the Administration for this group.
- Lead the Education committee process to decide the Ringer of the Year and Young Ringer of the Year Winners for presentation at the Guild AGM. Organise the return of trophies and prize for the Young Ringer.
Andy Waring
