Guidelines for Central Council-recognised Ringing Centres
A Ringing Centre is a tower or organisation which is a recognised centre of
good practice in the promotion and teaching of bell ringing, the teaching of
ringing tutors, and of leadership in bell ringing, and to spreading good
practice to other towers. Ringing Centres should encourage and support involvement
in the activities of local bell ringing Societies, Guilds and Associations.
A Ringing Centre will usually be based at a tower or group of towers, but it
is envisaged that a centre may also be based on a mobile installation in the
nature of a travelling education facility.
Ringing Centres may be run by their local Central Council affiliated territorial
society, by a non-affiliated local Society, or may be independently managed,
but in any case there will normally be a small management committee with specific
responsibilities for the Ringing Centre and its activities.
An independently managed Ringing Centre will normally serve ringers from the
surrounding area, which may include towers from more than one territorial
society. Where a Ringing Centre is situated near society boundaries it can
encourage co-operation between adjacent territorial Guilds and Associations.
Activities | Facilities
| Recognition | How to apply
| Application form
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Activities
There are no hard and fast guidelines for a Ringing Centre. Centres are very
diverse in what they offer, and local needs are very different. To become a
Central Council Recognised Ringing Centre, you will just need to demonstrate
a commitment to the promotion of ringing and training of ringers beyond a
single tower.
Examples of activities undertaken by Ringing Centres include:
- Use of mini rings and mobile belfries such as the Lichfield Mobile Belfry
or Charmborough Ring in public places or at public events to promote ringing.
- Exhibitions, posters, open-days and the distribution of publicity material
- Teaching bell handling to new recruits through dedicated weekly practices
- Intensive handling lessons (e.g. learn to ring in a week)
- One to one lessons on a simulator and a tied bell or dumb bell
- Use of video equipment or CCTV to improve bell handling, and the workings
of a bell
- Short courses (e.g. six Saturday mornings concentrating on a particular
method or topic)
- One day, weekend, three day and week long courses.
- Teaching people how to teach bell handling, and more advanced skills
- Campaigns to get a silent tower ringing again
- Work to promote ringing in local schools and young people’s groups
Activities | Facilities
| Recognition | How to apply
| Application form
| Further information| Top
Facilities
A Ringing Centre will probably need the use of a good range of training facilities.
Centres may start out with one or more of the following and add others at a
later date as required. This list is not intended to be exclusive or exhaustive
and will depend upon local circumstances.
- A ring of tower bells (or a simulator or a mobile Ringing Simulator).
The Ringing Chamber should be reasonably accessible, have heating and
lighting, and be a reasonably comfortable environment in which to ring.
- A computer based simulation system installed in the tower.
- One or more dumb-bells for use in bell handling training.
- Access to a ring of hand bells
- An audio-visual recording and playback system for use in bell handling training.
- A closed circuit television observation system so that the movements
of the bells can be observed from the Ringing Chamber.
- Some form of external sound control where necessary.
- A reference library of bell ringing related material
- A suitable venue for holding meetings and theory training sessions,
either in the tower or close at hand. It is desirable that the venue has
toilets and refreshment facilities for use during training.
- A whiteboard together with facilities for overhead projection of training
materials.
- The use of a computer generated projection system for presentations and lectures.
Activities | Facilities
| Recognition | How to apply
| Application form
| Further information| Top
Why apply to be a Central Council Recognised Ringing Centre?
There are very many towers which teach ringing to an excellent standard using
modern techniques and facilities. The essential difference between such towers
and a Ringing Centre is that Ringing Centres are committed to teaching ringers,
and the teachers of ringing, for more than one tower. Recognition as a Central
Council Ringing Centre is a statement of intention to the wider ringing
community to this effect.
It is the experience of existing Centres that Recognised Ringing Centre status,
which demonstrates a clear intention to teach and encourage the spreading of
good and safe practice, is extremely helpful when dealing with church and
diocesan authorities in the promotion of ringing projects.
Recognised Ringing Centre status has been found to be important in securing
funds from outside sources. Funders appear to give considerable weight to
applications from ringing projects that have a wider range of beneficiaries
than just the normal members of, and visitors to a traditional local band.
Recognised Ringing Centre status also gives the opportunity to share experience
and ideas with other ringing centres, through an e-mail network. The Ringing
Centres Committee plans to hold a conference for Recognised Centres every
2 to 3 years.
As the Central Council and its committees will be promoting Ringing Centres
quite heavily, new recruits and trainees will be given information about
Recognised Ringing Centres operating in their area.
Whilst the Ringing Centres Committee has not conducted a formal survey of the
position, it is known that at least two Ringing Centres, The Docklands Ringing
Centre in London, and the Barrow-upon-Humber Ringing Centre in Lincolnshire,
have used their Central Council recognition to assist in securing registration
with the Charity Commissioners as independent Registered Charities. This gives
them the opportunity to operate Gift Aid, the government scheme which currently
adds 28p from the Revenue to each £1.00 given in donations to the charity
from payers of Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax.
Activities | Facilities
| Recognition | How to apply
| Application form
| Further information| Top
Further information
Practical advice, a PDF document, contains a series of articles, many of
which have been published in the Ringing World, and which illustrate how various
groups of ringers have set up and run their own Ringing Centres. It also contains
examples of 'best practice' which Ringing Centres may wish to adopt.
You can also contact the Committee Chairman:
Norman Mattingley
16 Hurland Road, Truro, Cornwall TR1 2BU, UK
