Such is the success of the SCACR Handbell morning that we were joined this month by visitors from Yorkshire, who came to see how it is done. The YACR are planning their first Virtual Handbell Morning later in the month and our model is a good example. The dialect and probably the weather will be different but other than that the well-oiled machine is now to be replicated in the north.
29 ringers in total joined the event on 27th March. We had one person who had never rung handbells before, all the way through to the eminent new Master of the Birmingham University Society of Change Ringers. Jonathan welcomed everyone to the group and explained how the morning would work.
We had the comfort of ‘Hamish is Here’ to resolve technical issues, however there were virtually none to worry about this time, which left all the focus for ringing. By the break there had been much success including a celebrated course of Kent Major for one very happy, albeit ‘frazzled’ ringer.
As the glimmer of hope of lockdown lifting starts to shine, we debated how the future of these events may look. There is a lot of value in the virtual events, allowing people to join without having to travel, however, it will be lovely to meet in person again. We concluded to make the most of both and there are plans to have a mixture of live and virtual events in the future.
Next time is another virtual event on 22nd May. Do come along and give it a try if you haven’t yet.