This article has been reproduced here from an article appearing in the Ringing World on 14th April 2017 with the kind permissionn of the author John Barnes - Parish Contact. Photographs were provided by kind permission from Corrall McCormack - Tower Captain of Ivinghoe
It was at the Lincoln Council meeting in 1975 that the Bell Restoration Committee was born, albeit with the name Funds in its title. The objective was - and is – to support church bell restoration and provision by supplying information on a variety of topics connected with fund-raising. Much of the work is carried on behind the scenes and gets little publicity, but those ringers and non-ringers who seek our help express gratitude for our advice, ideas and support.
The Committee comprises nine members, each of whom has a job specification and each of whom has a specific workload.
Those who seek our help range from highly professional people to very ordinary citizens and, whilst many are bell ringers, a considerable number are not and often the latter have little knowledge of full-circle ringing or of bells and their associated equipment. Our tasks range from talking through what is involved in a bells project to answering a specific point raised by a concerned or worried project leader. Some examples of our work are:
Some parishes contact us just the once whilst others are in touch every six or seven weeks with all sorts of queries. We do try to make follow-up contact. Between fifty and sixty parishes are in touch with us each year.
Early in our history the Central Council Publications Committee published our booklet, “Organising a Bell Restoration Project”. Having gone through a number of editions, the booklet offers general guidance about starting and running a bells project. A copy is sent free of charge to every parish following our initial contact. The booklet is updated regularly but not only does the legal situation change from time to time but so do the contact details (and occasionally even the names) of helpful organisations.
To cope with changes we have seven Guidance Notes
Updated as necessary, they are on the Central Council website, http://www.cccbr.org.uk/services/bell-restoration/publications
An important item for any public appeal is an appeal leaflet. As well as a number of suggestions about what ought to be included, we offer the loan of leaflets that former project leaders have sent us. Also available on loan are hallowing service and dedication service leaflets. Another important part of our work with parishes is that we offer to put project leaders in touch with those who have led a project elsewhere, because that is where the expertise lies.
We have a selection of videos and DVDs that parishes have sent us about their projects and they are available on loan. They are especially useful to parishes that have not previously had a ring of bells. Non-ringers are made aware that they can watch full-circle ringing on the You Tube website.
Many fund-raisers look to grant-making organisations as their main provider of funds and from the outset we have supplied details of such bodies that might be able to offer support. For many years we paid a subscription to the database Funderfinder. However, it was a commercial organisation and when it failed, we relied initially on its successor, FFOENIX. As this cannot be updated we are building up a database of our own. A questionnaire can be obtained from secretary@brc.cccbr.org.uk and this will form the basis of any search for funding sources. It should be noted that many charitable organisations look for indications that the local community is supporting an appeal and we advise that before applying to a grant-making body, the appeal should have raised or have promised (say) £10,000 locally. Furthermore, we advise that before making an application, the criteria on the grant-making body’s website should be carefully checked to ensure that it is applicable. As far as possible, the application should match up with the criteria.
Increasingly the professionalism required in completing application forms is becoming greater and we have documents of guidance available.
On behalf of the Central Council we administer two funds, The Fred Dukes International Bell Fund and The Central Council Bell Restoration Fund.
A considerable amount of information is available about local fund-raising both in “Organising a Bell Restoration Project” and from our Parish Contact - parishcontact@brc.cccbr.org.uk In recent years a number of somewhat spectacular fund-raising events have taken place, ranging from a sponsored bell push (a bell was pushed on a trolley to the place of its casting two hundred or so years earlier) to a village Open Tower weekend that raised £33,000 over two days! In addition, we have a comprehensive list of ideas for local fund-raising events.
The Committee’s task includes a certain amount of public relations work about how to present a bells project to a PCC, the local community or to the media and we can supply the outline of an article for a parish magazine. Over the years we have also collected some good ideas about how to launch a project and these may be obtained from the Parish Contact.
After an initial contact from a parish we inform the secretary of the local bell ringers’ guild/society/association of that contact. On occasions the organisation has been quite unaware that a project was being contemplated. This is especially the case where the project leader is not a bell ringer and has little idea of the way in which ringing is organised. A link with the Guild is an important contact because very often a grant of ten per cent or more is offered to the project. Furthermore, it is important that both the Guild Bells Advisor and the Diocesan Bells Advisor are made aware of a project. Also, when appropriate, we refer a parish to another Central Council committee, such as the Towers & Belfries Committee.
When sending a free copy of our booklet, “Organising a Bell Restoration Project”, we add two or three copies of the excellent Central Council leaflet, “Bell Ringing – the ultimate team activity”, which is available from John Harrison, leaflets@cccbr.org.uk at five pence per copy plus postage.
Should a parish be finding it difficult to get fund-raising started, we also offer to visit and meet the fund-raising team. If possible a Guild officer is invited to be present. The offer is taken up perhaps once every two years. We also write to the Secretary of the Guild that is hosting the Central Council meeting and offer to meet representatives from parishes that are contemplating having a bells project and those who have a project in progress.
Over the years, in co-operation with local guilds, we have held a number of regional seminars; those at Northampton, Orford (Suffolk), Crediton and more recently the Newbury Road Show and Horsington (Somerset) come to mind. We hope that the next in the series will be in Yorkshire in September this year. We welcome invitations from Guilds or Districts to hold seminars.
The aim of the Bell Restoration Committee is to be of service to both ringers and non-ringers who work so hard to plan, organise and complete bell restoration projects. We try hard to make our services known as widely as possible and we are in course of working with parishes we have helped in order to sponsor “The Ringing World” Calendar for 2018. We have ensured that all diocesan offices and bell advisors have information about us and the bell contractors inform parishes of our help.
Thanks are due to Corrall McCormack, Tower Captain at Ivinghoe, for the photography; it features Slapton, Buckinghamshire, one of the parishes that we are currently supporting.
We have a lot of resource information. If we can help, we will do so! Enquiries are always welcomed.
John Barnes, Parish Contact
March 2017