Nationally, there are only 30,000 bell ringers. There are many reasons why numbers are in decline. Most ringers are aware of the chellenges that we face in manitaining local ringers and developing and improving our skill levels. To help consolidate some ideas for progress in sustaining ringing Gransden Ringers arranged a seminar inviting all ringers in the Ely Association.
This was held on Saturday the 7th December in the Reading Room, Great Gransden. Twenty-two ringers attended with apologies from a further thirteen. Phillip George presented slides and invited discussion on topics including: Where is ringing now? What are we doing well? What are the challenges? Who are our major stakeholders? How can we respond to changes in our ringing culture?
There was a lot of good input from attendees and we identified key words including: Teams, Communication, Training, Support, Resilience, Leaders, Engagement. A action plan was suggested for all towers to consider.
The Gransden Team welcomed everyone with coffee and biscuits and at half time refreshed the company with home made cake. After the seminar eleven ringers were able to enjoy ringing our glorious bells.
The feedback received suggests that it was a worthwhile seminar and several people said that they would take away some of the ideas as suggestions in their own towers..
Great Gransden Bell Ringers 