It is hard to believe that Christmas was only five weeks ago, it seems longer! It is lovely to see the snowdrops emerging in the Churchyards and early signs that spring is appearing, although some ringing chambers are still quite chilly.
It’s been a busy month with AGMs in several Branches, and I have enjoyed visiting those that I’ve been able to get to. Thank you for your warm welcomes and it’s so good to see enthusiasm and new ideas for promoting and developing ringing across the Guild.
The main piece of work for the Executive committee has been to collate, and then review, all the comments you made about the revised Guild Rules. Thank you to everyone who responded and for your very helpful comments. A small group of us recently spent 6 hours going over the rules and your feedback and have nearly finished a second draft which will go to the Executive in March. There were a few comments about the level of bureaucracy and questioning why we can’t just get on with ringing, which we would all love to do. However, we do have to get our governance in order, make sure that our Constitution is fit for purpose and that we are legally compliant particularly with the Data Protection Act and gaining proper consent from our members.
However, the next piece of work is to look at recruitment and development of ringers, which is much more about ringing and the future. A small work group is initially meeting to determine priorities, because this is a huge topic; and then we will be forming workgroups to undertake specific projects. We will definitely need help from you, our members, to make the results of these projects useful and meaningful. We have already heard of a few excellent initiatives in parts of the Guild, the most recent being the East Dorset Ringing School which, although in its very early stages, is an exciting idea.
Talking of the future, we need some help with our Young Ringers group. Hilary Child has been leading the group for almost nine years now and is looking for someone to help her with the organisation and booking of towers/events. The person does not need to be a good ringer, but a good organiser, as Hilary is more than happy to lead and run practices and arrange helpers. Someone from the Wiltshire part of the Guild would be useful as Hilary is in Dorset. It is really important we support and encourage our Young Ringers as they are the future of ringing. If that person might be you, please either contact myself or Hilary to have a chat.
Happy ringing!
Vicki
Vicki Rowse, Guild Master
