There has been the usual varied programme of events throughout the year, which will be commented upon below. The Southern District programme has in recent years seen a lack of activity in the months of August and September when, it is thought, people have other things on their minds. A move is afoot, however, to challenge this perceived wisdom. The new committee will be taking this into consideration when planning the next year’s programme.
The smooth operation of the District’s activities was disrupted by the resignation of the Secretary, Chris Gilbert, in April 2008. Happily, members of the Committee were able to take on parts of the administrative load, but some of the finer details of record keeping have suffered slightly. We are grateful to Chris for his efforts as Secretary, who has left behind some administrative improvements for us to build on. The Chairman is particularly appreciative of a system of addressing envelopes for tower mailings, using the magic of PowerPoint.
In April the District saw the Association’s AGM held at Derby Cathedral. John Heaton arranged an interesting programme of ringing in the area, which was designed to create a convergence of ringers on the Cathedral in time for the meeting.
The ADM in January was held at Overseal, this was followed by a ringing meeting at Melbourne. The district striking contest at Breaston was well attended and the quiz at Ockbrook in April was a popular event. There was a ringing meeting at Ticknall in June at which ringers were sparse, but the Strictly Come Ringing at Brailsford in July, which was held jointly with the Central District, was well attended. In October a meeting at West Hallam was largely overlooked so a quarter peal was rung by attendees. November saw the quarter peal day take place supported by a reasonable number of aspiring ringers and abetted by experienced ringers from all over the diocese.
Next year we will be examining the programme of ringing events, to refine and improve the offerings to members. I also hope that we will be able to improve the process by which new members are elected into the Association. The District is hosting the Association’s Annual Dinner in February 2009.
Finally I wish to record my thanks to the Committee members for their hard work and support throughout the past year.