Successful first SCACR virtual handbell morning

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Published: Monday, 21 September 2020 19:00

The great thing about Zoom and RingingRoom is that it doesn’t matter where you are in the country, as long as your Wi-Fi is strong you can join in ringing events worldwide. So I was able to enjoy the best of both worlds on Saturday 19th September, surrounded by the Yorkshire hills and ringing handbells with several of my Sussex friends at the SCACR Handbell Morning.

In all 23 ringers aged from 8 to 90 signed in nice and early, keen for the morning ahead. Handbell ringing has found a new lease of life in these ‘Covid Times’. They came from the West, North and East of Sussex, and even the newly departed university recruits were able to ‘pop’ back through the airwaves – well until the laptop crashed anyway!

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Volunteering Opportunities with the Central Council

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Published: Sunday, 06 September 2020 16:50

The many benefits of volunteering have been well documented. It can help you make friends, learn new skills, advance your university application or career, and even help you feel happier and healthier by connecting you with others and your community. For some it enables them to bring their skills and experience to the service of the wider ringing community, whilst for others it enables them to branch out and use skills which may have been under-employed in their working life. With busy lives, it can be difficult to find time to volunteer; however the benefits can be enormous, providing vital support to a worthwhile cause and heling others.

As a charity and central body for ringing, both in the UK and overseas, the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (the “Council”) depends almost wholly on the generosity of its volunteers, who give their time to support its work.

The wide range of the Council’s activities mean that volunteering can be very diverse and satisfying. The Council’s work covers many areas including engineering, education, publicity and promotion, library services, the media, historical research, event management and the technical development of ringing - see below for a list of opportunities.

As the Council has no direct membership, its volunteers come from the representatives and members of its constituent societies, existing ringers and indeed from those with no ringing background who would like to do their bit to promote a healthy future for ringing.

Read more: Volunteering Opportunities with the Central Council

Message from the Master - Returning to Ringing (gradually)

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Published: Saturday, 22 August 2020 21:54

Since I last wrote Sunday service ringing has now resumed at a number of towers across Sussex. It's not all the bells, it's not all the ringers, nor is it all the towers (yet!).

At the moment we are constrained to ringing bells where the ropes fall two metres apart, and a risk assessment has been undertaken to ensure that appropriate measures are being taken to safeguard the health and wellbeing of those that are ringing.

Following on from a meeting between the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers and the Church of England Recovery Group, which was held yesterday (Friday 21st August), it is hoped to be able to ease some of the restrictions around service ringing. Primarily this will focus on reducing the distance between ringers to one metre, by ensuring that face coverings are worn, and that a tracing procedure is in place should a ringer fall ill with COVID-19 (this is an easy win as we know who we have rung with).

It is also hoped that a road map can be set out to allow localised decision making based on individual towers' circumstances i.e. ventilated ground floor rings, large ringing chambers etc. This will need to take into account local lockdown restrictions that may apply in the future.

Discussions are also ongoing about ringing for longer periods, and the use of simulators in church settings for practise, along with the issue of single household ringing.

Whilst all of these are welcome news, it should be bourne in mind that they have yet to be ratified by the CofE and we should be careful not to jump the gun. Please continue to abide by the current guidance for now.

As you can see from the most recent email update, there is still ongoing activity within the Association, and we hope to bring you more soon.

For now, please stay safe and continue to look after each other. I hope it won't be too much longer before we can enjoy each other's company again!

Rob Lane, SCACR Master
Saturday 22nd August 2020

Association Quiz - Saturday 8th August (via Zoom)

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Published: Sunday, 02 August 2020 21:15

The not-quite-annual Association Quiz will be held at 7 pm on Saturday 8th August. Team entry is encouraged - friends and family are welcome to join; up to 8 in a team (you can also enter as an individual). Quiz Mistress Emma Gadd will present the questions using Zoom (an online video-meeting platform - can be downloaded for free, to use on computers, tablets and smartphones). See below for a how-to guide for distributed team participation! We aim to finish about 9 pm, and there will be a break at halfway.

You MUST register in advance to join - contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 5 pm on 8th August (earlier is better!), then the link to join the Quiz will be sent to you.

Read more in the calendar including Guide to Zoom Quiz and Managing a Remote Team