Safeguarding - outings and peals/quarter peals

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Published: Wednesday, 30 July 2025 22:00

One area that is attracting a bit of attention is the Safeguarding of visiting bands (either an outing or quarter peal / peal attempt). The CCCBR advice is that “visiting bands are responsible for their own safeguarding, but the local church may ask for assurance”. It is the “assurance” that is causing issues, so we have worked with Chichester Diocese to come up with clear guidance on this.

The guidance can be found on the Chichester Diocese website (it's not obvious!).

It is, regrettably, quite a bit longer than I had hoped but it boils down to:

1. If you have no under 18s with you, no assurances are needed but you should make sure everyone signs the visitors book and keep your own list of attendees*.

2. If you have under 18s with you  you will state that you are:

1. Tower outing: complying with your own Parish Safeguarding Policy (no need to provide a copy - it is on your parish website)
2. SCACR District/Association outing: complying with the SCACR Safeguarding Policy (no need to provide a copy - it is on the SCACR website)
3. If you are a group of friends, then you will need to sign the Diocescan Safeguarding form within the document (note - this does not require you to have 2 DBS checked adults, or for people to have completed Safeguarding Training: that is good practice but not a legal requirement).

In return, the Parish you are visiting should provide you with a Health and Safety Risk assessment (this is not a safeguarding requirement) and should not place unaccompanied under 18s in contact with your group.

If you are visiting towers outside Sussex they may have different requirements.  However, any safeguarding issues that arise within your group during the visit should be reported back through SCACR or your Parish Safeguarding Officer. If the adult involved is from another diocese, Chichester will handle the issue on your behalf.

*  We are all keeping attendance records now. There are no rules about how long these should be kept, but it is best to consider them as part of the history of your tower and just keep them. At Heene, we started attendance and “methods rung” records after finding attendance records from the 1890s and thought we would leave our mark for the future.

Val Clay, SCACR Safeguarding Officer
May 2025

Central Council Update June 2025

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Published: Wednesday, 30 July 2025 21:57

On 15th August, the UK marks VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day),  commemorating the end of World War II in 1945. As part of the nationwide remembrance, bellringers are encouraged to ring at their local tower, beginning at 6:30pm, to honour those who served and sacrificed in the Far East. This symbolic act of bell ringing echoes the celebrations that swept the nation 80
years ago and offers a moment of reflection and gratitude for peace restored. Further information on VJ day and other celebrations planned can be found on the website https://ve-vjday80.gov.uk

Some ringers have questioned why the 80 th anniversary is being marked; the main reasons are that the 75 th anniversary was very subdued as it occurred during covid times and there are now only a small number of veterans still remaining alive.

The annual liaison meeting with Ecclesiastical has recently taken place; they provide insurance cover for the majority of churches in England. There are two new claims being dealt with, one from injury when a ringer was being taught and the other for damage to a bell wheel. One thing they cannot do is get involved in disputes between ringers, the church and other organisations. Ecclesiastical Insurance continues to operate its Risk Advice Line, available to church members, to field queries about risk management. Providing the church policy number can be quoted, a call back by a surveyor will be arranged to offer advice and support.

At their last meeting the Executive discussed a number of challenges and expectations around the hoped for increase in new ringers as is outlined in Ringing 2030. There needs to be a clear understanding about what is deliverable and infrastructure support rather than concentrating on exact numbers. It was highlighted the importance of grassroots level efforts and noted that while ambitious targets are possible with increased recruitment and retention, there are resource and funding challenges; including the need for paid support staff for the Central Council.

In addition discussion took place on the development of a forward plan for 2026, building on the Ringing 2030 business plan. It was agreed to focus on detailed planning for the next two years, with a summary of longer-term goals beyond 2026.There was a proposal to update the existing business plan and working with workgroup leads to outline specific goals for 2026. The Executive also discussed the need for visual representations of progress towards 2030 goals and considered including the forward plan in their annual report.

Don’t forget that the Central Council publications’ team produce a wide range of titles to support ringers as they progress with their new hobby. These can be found using the following link. https://shop.cccbr.org.uk/

David Kirkcaldy

UPDATED: Death of Brian Nulty (ex-Billingshurst ringer)

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Published: Saturday, 26 July 2025 13:00

We have received the sad news that Brian Nulty has recently passed away. For many years he was a stalwart at Billingshurst where he restarted the band in 1984. He was tower captain there for many years building up a loyal and steady band. He also regularly helped out at other local towers. About five years ago he and Hilary, his wife moved to Scotland to be near their daughter.

Hilary, Emma and Craig would like to share that the funeral of Brian will take place on Wednesday 20 August at 12pm.

The service will take place at West Lothian Crematorium, Starlaw Road, Livingston, EH54 7FD.

We will continue afterwards at Blackburn Bowling Club , 12d Bathgate road , Blackburn, West Lothian, EH47 7LN for funeral tea and drinks, 1 - 4pm.

Colours are welcomed to be worn as it will reflect the person Brian was, however, he was also aware some prefer traditional dress and that’s fine too .

All family and friends are welcome to celebrate his life with us all.

We realise that due to distance not all will be able to attend so we have also organised a webcast whereby details can be obtained by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Hotels close by are:
Premier Inn - Farm Steadings, Starlaw Rd, Bathgate EH48 1LL
Best Western The Hilcroft – East Main Steet Whitburn EH47 0JU

If you require any other information please do not hesitate in contacting Emma on her mobile or the email above.

2025 AGM: New Officers & Honorary Life Members Elected, and Rules Updated

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Published: Saturday, 17 May 2025 20:26

The Eastern District Committee and Eastbourne ringers organised a fantastic day of ringing at all 4 towers in Eastbourne, ringers’ tea (including “Bob’s Buns”!), a service for those who wished to attend, and of course the meeting itself. And they even organised fantastic weather!

New Honorary Life Members elected

Congratulations to Marion Hollands (Eastern District Secretary for 25 years) and Stella Bianco (Library Custodian and then Librarian for 25 years) on being elected Honorary Life Members - very well deserved! 

Officers elected

Congratulations to Richard Neal on being elected Association Master! Thanks to Gareth Higgs for his service as previous Master. Nick Cullen has been elected as Bell Restoration Fund Secretary - thank you! And big thanks to outgoing BRF Secretary Rob Lane for all his work for the Association over the years, in several roles. Our 2 new Trustees are David Hollands and Gareth Higgs (Colin Spencer continues). Thanks to outgoing Trustees Jonathan Franklin and Mark Dawkins.Thank you to Vicky Chase and Janice Crawford for becoming Central Council Reps (myself, Sue Gadd and David Kirkcaldy continue). 

Continuing in post are Sue Gadd (Treasurer), Val Clay (Safeguarding Officer), and Steph Pendlebury (General Secretary).

Rules updated

Some of the Association rules needed updating to reflect changes in Central Council rules, and to clarify some wording. All the proposed changes were carried; the new version of the Rules is now available on the website (under “Resources”), and will be included in the Handbook.

Finally, thank you to everyone who came (over 50 people were in the meeting). And big thanks to Marion Hollands, Steve Pilfold and the Eastbourne ringers and helpers for their fantastic organisation and being brilliant hosts 

Photos of the day are on the Sussex Bellringers Facebook page.

Steph Pendlebury (General Secretary)