London, here we come!

So, we are rapidly approaching my first CC AGM weekend as a part of the Central Council. A huge amount of effort has gone in to the organisation of this weekend which I find staggering considering most involved also have a day job as well… I’m sure they have time machines to double the hours in their day!  It goes to show the level of dedication and commitment there is out there to make things happen.

Last year I travelled up to Lancaster, unsure of what might happen, and which way the vote would go. This year whilst I watch our government try to push forward the Brexit agenda (let’s not get in to that!), it really does put into perspective the emotions and anxiety I felt when the CRAG proposal was being debated and we went on to present following the vote. Working in shadow form with the existing committees gave us a head start, but the Q&A sessions  following our updates really helped me to understand what was important to the ringing community.

In my day job I have responsibility for leading change, not only from a technical perspective but also the people and processes needed to deliver change. A fundamental part of this is having a clear vision of the new state or target. And whilst sometimes we don’t have all the details and answers to deliver that vision, we need to have a plan to get there. Christopher and the Exec have given us that vision and a set of priorities this year that have allowed us to continue with all the good work that was already happening as well as starting to drive change for a sustainable future.  Christopher will be setting out the forward plan at Saturday’s meeting and driving forward that progress for our new President to lead on in the coming year.

Soon after the Lancaster meeting we had a plan in place and just over fifteen months on, I am proud of what the small Communications & Marketing group has achieved. I was fortunate to able to build on some strong foundations that Kate Flavell, John Couperthwaite and their respective committees had put in place. We’ve tackled (and continue to tackle) some new items such as the website, branding, PR activity, external marketing and our approach to events as well as “Business as usual activity”… but we need your help too. I’m looking forward to engaging with ringers over this weekend to get your insights on what we should be considering in our plans for the next year and shaping up our ideas so we continue driving our mission to “be the strategic leader and public voice of the ringing community, the arbiter of standards; and promote an environment where ringing can flourish

Louise Nightingale

Communications & Marketing Workgroup Lead

PS The eagle-eyed amongst you will have spotted this blog has changed from being the President’s Blog – going forwards we plan to publish a monthly blog from different members of the Exec and Workgroups to provide different perspectives to what’s going on across the Central Council.

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