Anyone looking through our Annual Report would be forgiven for thinking that we are very lucky to have
so many thriving towers, with the number of ringers exceeding the number of bells in many places. They
might think that all the bells are rung every Sunday, and that there would be ringers to spare.
But that is not the case in every tower which appears to have more ringers than bells, though there are indeed quite a lot of Derbyshire ringing chambers which are full of enthusiastic ringers every Sunday and practice night. Other bands readily admit to being in a less happy position. This situation is reflected in other churches up and down the country.
When the Millennium was approaching there was a surge of interest in learning to ring. Many people took up the challenge and, fortunately, many churches are still benefiting from this influx of new ringers. But in other cases, once the Millennium ringers had rung for the Millennium, that was it. They’d achieved their aim and left for pastures new.
Recruitment of new ringers is something that should be happening all the time. There is a variety of ways of going about recruiting new ringers. Ways that succeed at one church will not necessarily be so rewarding at another. There are leaflets (available from the General Secretary) that can be put in the church itself (not the ringing chamber!) which invite people of all ages to put themselves forward to learn to ring. It is surprising how many members of the general public think that ringing is a ‘closed shop’ or, worse still, that the bells are rung by machines. If there is a school nearby, perhaps it might be possible to arrange to give a talk on ringing, either at the school or in the ringing chamber, to a group of students and then invite them to learn to ring. The school I went to allowed ringing to take place as part of the‘activities’ sessions. Some of the ringers at West Hallam learned during evening classes on ringing held at the church in the 1960s. Ringing can be part of gaining the Duke of Edinburgh’s award. Try asking people who have recently moved into the area – they may be looking for a hobby, which will help them to make new friends. Women’s Institutes and similar groups are often looking for speakers and a talk by an enthusiastic speaker may produce new recruits.
Once the recruits have been found, it is most important to keep their interest alive. The Sherbourne ‘One Per Learner’ books are very good for recruits of all ages. The General Secretary has a supply of these and several other useful books. The Gordon Halls Ringing Centre at Eckington runs sessions on Plain Bob regularly and will put other courses on if requested. Your Education Committee members will help you with ideas to make learning to ring a rewarding experience for your learners.
Many of the ringers that I know who have taken up ringing later in life have remarked: ‘If only I had known how much I was going to enjoy ringing, I would have learned years ago!’
If each church listed in our 2007 Annual Report has at least one ringer with the year 2007 as the start of their membership of the Association, then we are on the way towards every church ringing all their bells every Sunday.