Shropshire Association of Church Bellringers

This event will be on Saturday, 18th October, at Edgmond, from 10 – 12.30. This is for all tower leaders, and anyone who is involved with promoting bell ringing, or training ringers. You are warmly invited to join us for a morning of discussion. Do please let me know of any topics you would particularly like to explore during the morning. We will aim to mix ideas with some ringing practice. To help with catering, we would like to know if you intend to come (please [ ] Gill).

Topics may include recruitment, and the all-important retention, how to improve learners’ bell control, listening skills, progressing from call changes to the basics of method ringing … We will put together a programme according to what you want to discuss.

This ART course will be on Sat 29th November, from 9:15am to 5:00pm, at Edgmond and will be the Module 1 course, which is on teaching bell handling. The cost is £30 per person payable on registration. This fee goes to the Association of Ringing Teachers, not our Association. Paul Lewis, who is an experienced ART teacher, will run the course. To book a place (ESSENTIAL), contact Paul [ ].

There will also be a £5 cash payment on the day to cover heating, morning and afternoon refreshments and a donation to the church. This fee does not include lunch so please bring something packed to go with the tea, coffee and cakes which will be provided.

The September 2025 Newsletter, which has an item about the Striking Competition to be held on Saturday 13 September at St Martins, and details of some future events, can be read and downloaded here. Please note that the secretary's email address is secretary@sacbr.org.uk.

The August 2025 Newsletter can be read and downloaded here.

The following has been received from the Central Council.

This year, the Council Executive set up a small task group to look at the Councils membership categories. They have now submitted a report to the Executive, and will be bringing forward proposals in a motion to the Annual Council Meeting in September at Sheffield.

Below is a summary of the proposals regarding the changes proposed:

Membership Review Workgroup

Following feedback received at the last Central Council AGM where it was proposed to increase Affiliation fees the Membership Review Workgroup decided to go for an evolutionary approach that built on the existing Rules and Standing Orders, but sought to make the Council more welcoming and inclusive of all groups of ringers, of all sizes, however organised.

Accordingly the Workgroup has proposed the following modifications to those Rules and Standing orders relating to Membership of the Council:

• Creation of a new Associate category to manage Council membership for those groups of ringers who do not collect an annual membership fee, such as University and “themed” Societies such as Doctors, Firemen, Bankers, etc.
  Membership fees will be negotiable, based on a “declared” membership, and each Associate Society will be able to send one voting member to Council Meetings. Societies wishing to transfer to the Associated category of membership will have to apply to the Secretary and negotiate their fees at intervals.
• No changes to the Affiliated Society category, with the exception of the lower membership limit being fixed at 50, removing the lower limit of 25 for overseas societies. This removes a conflict with Small Societies membership thresholds.
• Only change to Small Societies is to send one voting member to Council meetings.
• Societies wishing to apply for membership of the Council in any of the three categories of membership will have to satisfy the Council on the criteria set out in Standing Order S2.
  Small Societies already have to satisfy the Council on application as will Associated Societies; it is recommended that current Affiliated Societies review how they would meet these requirements.
• Removal of Rules requiring an annual or triennial election of Council representatives by Societies. This is properly for the Societies to decide, and is unenforceable.

Annual Subscriptions (Standing Order F1) will be £1 per Affiliated Member, £0.40 per declared Associate member (negotiable); and £10 for a Small Society.
Minimum Subscription for an Associated Society shall be £30 – minimum membership of 75 @ 40p each.

The bells of St Michael and All Angels Church in Lilleshall have been a cherished part of our community for over 200 years. However, they are becoming increasingly difficult to ring and maintain. We are now raising funds to restore the bells, to ensure they continue to ring out for generations to come.

We’re aiming to raise around £60,000 and have already made an excellent start.

If you’d like to support us, please visit our JustGiving page:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/lilleshall-bells?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL&utm_campaign=015

Thank you for your support!

We can now offer members a range of items embroidered with the SACBR logo. These are embroidered to order: contact Biff Patterson [ ] for details or to place an order.

COLOUR: burgundy or navy, with embroidered logo and lettering in blue/white/black/gold

PRICES
Short sleeve polo shirt cost £15, long sleeve polo shirt cost £20. Both of these are lightweight cotton pique with cuffed short sleeves, button placket and fold down collar. Sweat shirt costs £20.
T-shirts (cost £10) are also available.

SIZES ARE UNISEX

	12-13yr	S	M	L	XL	XXL
Chest	32 - 34"	34 - 36"	38 - 40"	42 - 44"	46 - 48"	50 - 52"
Length			27"	28"

The polo shirts are pure cotton, wash very well, BUT are skimpy. Biff suggests going up one or even two sizes on what you would normally select. Available in standard rectangular shape, quite long in the body.

The Church of England has been working on an updated framework for Safeguarding training within the church. Dave Bassford (CCCBR Safeguarding Officer) and The Ringing World have given the Shropshire Association permission to include on this website an article written by Dave and appearing in the 21 January 2022 issue of The Ringing World.

In this article Dave explains that all ringers must take the Basic Awareness training (formerly C0). This is free, done online, takes about an hour to complete, and must be renewed every three years.

The Lichfield Diocese requires Tower Captains and those ringers in a role which involves work with children, young people or adults at risk, to also take the Foundation training (formerly C1), but not the Leadership training.

The trainings can be accessed by going to https://safeguardingtraining.cofeportal.org/.

The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers has issued three documents about its work, volunteering with the Central Council, and what it means to be a Central Council Representative.

Those documents can be read and downloaded here:
What's the point of the Central Council.pdf,
Volunteering with the Central Council.pdf,
What does being a Central Council Rep mean?

Are you looking for some practical, written help for yourself or your tower but don’t know what is out there? If so, Books for Bellringers may be what you need. It is a small collection of books aimed mostly at beginners but with some material for those learning methods. Towers can borrow the collection for a period of up to two months so that everyone has a chance to see what they might find useful. Individuals or towers can order copies of the books using the details in the catalogue supplied.

If you would like to borrow the collection please contact Gill Glover [] .

The next Association committee meeting will be held on Sunday, 14 December 2025.