Yes there is a Girlguiding badge! As previously reported, Bluebell’s Challenge badge was originally created in 2012 by Worcester Guides in memory of Alison Regan. The CCCBR helped to get it revitalised and updated so it could be used by a new generation of young ringers, Girlguiding and Scout Association members. Admittedly it has been difficult to find on the CC website if you didn’t know where to look, but it’s here and this could be a great way of getting young ringers engaged for the Coronation.

An interesting finding of the Ring for the King publicity is the number of lapsed ringers who have come out of the woodwork, one respondent was a lapsed ringer who was interested in bringing their children along to be taught as well – how about if we could target our marketing at lapsed ringers with 12 year old kids who don’t play sport on a Sunday morning! Lapsed ringers has got to be a target – I reckon there must be 250,000, and surely 10% of those might fancy it again?

Just before the RftK coverage kicked off we had met Yellowyoyo in London for a ‘discovery workshop’ essentially briefing the agency team on what ringing is all about, the problems we face, who we are looking to recruit, what might attract them, and what it is about ringing that puts people off (e.g. cold ringing chambers). I’ll report much more on this separately with the help of the others who were there. The last part of the session saw us trying to come up with the ‘values’ of ringing – half a dozen words which capture the essence of what ringing is all about. With one of the words we wanted to get across that there was an adventure in always being able to learn and do new things, and we settled on the word ‘discovery’. I managed to use this word in the TV coverage – “learning to ring for the King is the first step on a voyage of discovery in bell ringing.” It seemed to work.

The PR Workgroup is having a very busy time but the work is being spread across too few shoulders. One of the areas where Vicki Chapman needs some help for instance is with planning for Bell Sunday, the hymns, readings, prayers, music, events ideas, etc. Might anyone be able to help out with that one?

There is definitely room for more entries in the Call Change competition in June. We have enough to be viable but it would be nice if more bands felt able to indulge in competition call change ringing. It seems that the ringing up and down requirement is what method ringing bands are nervous about, which just underlines how we don’t focus on that and are not confident to do it well. My local band has got much better at ringing up in particular since ringing ‘Devon style’ – we find all pitching in together really helps. Explanation here and it’s worth a try.

And now for something completely different. We are looking for either a permanent or temporary home for the Cummins Ringing Machines. These consist of electronic circuits housed in chipboard cases and are of a reasonable size (see picture). They represent an early development of electronic ringing simulators designed by Peter Cummins. His machine was not the first to ring changes – Carter and Woodhouse came much earlier – but was the first designed for a ringer to ring with it on the end of a rope or holding a pair of handbells – a practical training aid. Initial reaction was mixed – many saw it as a gimmick but far-sighted trainers saw huge potential. These machines have kindly been stored by the Loughborough Bell Museum in recent years but with the building work there and the likelihood they will not be exhibited in the new museum, a new home needs to be found. Are there any electronic engineer-based organisations or individuals who might be interested in looking after and possibly restoring them to working order? Please contact Chris Ridley ().

Another media request came recently but with a very specific requirement for young bellringers, so the reporter/cameraman from Associated Press was sent to Moseley to film the Brumdingers. He spent an evening filming the practice which was actually one of our competition weeks, with two teams engaged in such challenges as ringing with a chocolate bar balanced on your head. He said that after the dust has settled he’ll make another film for us about young ringers practices.

One criticism of RtfK coverage has been that it is unlikely to attract young people, not from lack of effort from Freya, Elizabeth and Charlie, but because hitting a young demographic with traditional media is actually very difficult – they watch different things. No one at Charlie’s school saw her on TV – her age group just doesn’t watch television or listen to the radio. I asked Charlie how her friends would have seen it and she said it would have needed to be on TikTok. And how could we do that? “You’d have to pay a lot of money.”

Finally, it was a pleasure to be able to get up to Chester last Saturday to join the celebration of Brian Harris’ 90^th birthday. Described in Dave Adams’ address as the greatest ringer to have come out of Chester, the size of the assembled company was a measure of the esteem in which he was held. It was a great honour to be in a photograph with four members of the band that rang the extent of Major on tower bells. Brian was very kind to me some time in 1980 when on a very cold day at Blithfield, my very thin rope slipped through my very cold hands at backstroke 120 changes from the end of a peal and I didn’t recover. I keep telling learners not to worry about dropping the tailend because it never happens …

Simon Linford
President CCCBR