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Bringing young ringers into the tower
The Worshipful Company of Founders has set up a 'Founders Prize for the Encouragement of Young People in Bellringing' and the second year of competition for the £500 prize was closely contested. The winners were KIDS.RING.OUT - youngsters in the Llandaff and Monmouth area who impressed the judges with workshops in rope-splicing, ringing technique, bell control as well as outings (including a bellfoundry), tours and BBQs aimed at gathering young ringers from the area together to allow them to develop a social life within ringing, to develop their ringing skills, to broaden their horizons and to have fun. The organizers actively sought towers where children had just started to learn bellringing to involve them in the project.
The judges had a difficult task to choose between four entries from Shiplake, Tewkesbury and Bishop Ryder School, Ruislip as well as the winners from South Wales, and based their assessments on the number of youngsters involved, how it encouraged young people in bellringing, project success and future aspirations.
The Worshipful Company of Founders is a City of London Livery Company which began its existence as one of the early medieval "guilds" or associations formed by members of various crafts or trades in the City of London. Their main purposes were to defend the craft against unfair competition, to assist its members in their work, and to help those in distress. Founders were workers in brass and brass alloys or tinplate known as "Iatten" or "laton", producing small cast articles such as candlesticks and pots and pans. Their workshops were situated in and around Lothbury, a street which still exists under that name. In early medieval times members of the Founders' Company also cast bells. They were sometimes referred to as 'Potters'.
The earliest surviving evidence relating to the Guild of Founders is a petition in Norman French which it made in 1365 to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen for its Ordinances to be enrolled at Guildhall, which was granted. The Company must already have been in existence at that date, but the year 1365 served as the basis on which the Company celebrated its 600th anniversary at Guildhall in 1965. The Wardens' Accounts go back to 1497 and only three other City Companies possess accounts starting earlier.
The Company manages seven charities, and whilst some funds are available for more general charitable purposes, the bulk of the annual income is spent on educational grants and bursaries, the larger elements being grants relevant to metallurgy and materials engineering.
The Company made a substantial bursary a few years ago to the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers for developing training of ringers in the form of establishing ringing training centres throughout the country, and there are currently 36 established and operating. The Company continued this work by establishing a prize to encourage young people to take up bellringing.
Ends.
Judith Rogers, Chairman, PR Committee, Central Council of Church Bell Ringers
01536 771991 /
or
Andrew Gillett, The Clerk, The Worshipful Company of Founders
01273 858700 /
www.foundersco.org.uk
Notes to editors:
Photographs used should be acknowledged as the work of E W Runciman
Photograph 1:
The Master of The Worshipful Company of Founders with a young bellringing recruit
Photograph 2:
The Master and Clerk of The Worshipful Company of Founders with young bellringers in South Wales
Change Ringing around the world - Over 5,000 towers in the United Kingdom and about 150 in countries which have a strong historical association with Britain contain rings of five or more bells hung for change ringing. Change ringing originated in the sixteenth century when church bells began to be rung with a rope and full wheel to give control of the bell. This allows sets of bells (rings) to be rung in a continuously changing pattern ('ringing the changes'). Today there are more than 40,000 ringers in the UK, and smaller numbers in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Southern Africa and the USA. They share a fascinating hobby and a commitment to their bell ringing teams. For more information about the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers and to find out where to learn about bellringing in your area visit: www.cccbr.org.uk