The Council relies on volunteers to provide all its services to ringers. All of those volunteers are your fellow ringers, so that is people who are prepared to do a bit extra for the common good, usually because the work is something that interests them or they want to contribute on a wider basis.
It used to be that only Council Representatives would also be volunteers, but now anyone can volunteer, and only around half the members of workgroups are also Reps.
Much of the work done by those volunteers is via the various workgroups, such as the Schools and Youth Groups Workgroup, or Stewardship and Management. Some of those Workgroups are small and particularly focused, while others have broader remits. Some have lots of volunteers working on individual projects as is the case in the Historical & Archive Workgroup, whereas in others there are chunkier projects where a number of volunteers are working together. In addition to volunteers in Workgroups, the Council is also due to replace two Trustees and a Secretary this September
The Council can always use more help. Indeed, most workgroups are actively trying to find volunteers to fill certain roles so that the Council can deliver on more of its Strategic Priorities.
This document details what being a volunteer means, and how you could go about volunteering if something interests you.
If you would like to help but need inspiration here is a list of the current “Situations Vacant”.
Trustees and Executive
Trustees
The Council meeting in September sees the retirement by rotation of two of the Trustees (Alison Everett and David Smith) and the Secretary (Mary Bone.)
The Council’s post-CRAG structure elects Trustees for three year terms, with the option to be re-elected for one further term. This is the first time there will have been a change.
It is very important that the Executive (essentially the Trustees) represents the same breadth of ringing experience as the ringing community it serves. The two retiring Trustees have ably represented those ringers who are less experienced and earlier in their ringing careers, both having learned relative recently. In replacing them the rest of the Trustees think it is important to maintain that breadth of experience.
Although the role of the Trustees is a formal one, the CCCBR is a Charity and so is required to have Trustees with specific duties, the Trustees are part of the Executive that works closely with its Workgroups to develop and deliver services to ringers. Being a Trustee and joining the Council Executive is a unique opportunity to serve ringing and to broaden your own perspective and links with other ringers. It is not particularly onerous in terms of time, and both of the outgoing Trustees will be very happy to discuss the role if you or someone you know might be interested.
In order to explain the role and share their experiences, David and Alison have written this short briefing.
Secretary
Mary Bone has now served the Council for 13 years as Secretary. The Role of the Secretary of the Council is not dissimilar to that of any ringing society and as such the role would suit anyone who has been Secretary of a ringing association. In addition to dealing with routine enquiries and correspondence and meeting organisation, the major task is preparation for the Annual Meeting and dealing with Council members, although the Council now has a Membership Secretary to deal with that aspect of the role. The Secretary is also one of the Trustees and takes full part in Executive meetings and discussions as an integral member of the team.
All the Council’s Secretaries will testify to the satisfaction gained from the role, working with ringing leaders across the world, and making lots of contacts and friends throughout the world. That the average tenure of secretaries is so long is testament to how much they must enjoy it!
Nominations
The process for the election of new Trustees and the Secretary is that nominations should be received by the current Secretary by 23 July and then there will be a vote at the annual Meeting if there are more candidates than positions. You need to be nominated and seconded by an existing CC Rep (using this form). If you don’t know anyone who could do that for you, please let us know – we would not want that to be a barrier.
Workgroup Positions
| Role | Description | Task or Ongoing | Useful skills/experience | WG / subgroup |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workgroup Member | Further support to take forward the planned sub-WG activity on recordings including oral histories | Task | Historical & Archive | |
| Workgroup Members | Additional WG members to support the work on: – updating ringers’ biographies and; – co-ordinating the collection of further information and images regionally for the new peal board database. | Task/ongoing | Historical & Archive | |
| Library Stewards | Ongoing | Would be helpful if one Steward is located within easy travelling distance of Loughborough to answer enquiries that require the CCCBR Library to be consulted | Historical & Archive | |
| Events Team Leader | Someone to take the lead on organising events, working with a team of other volunteers. The first event we need help with is the CC Annual Meeting in 2022 (it’s not too late to join in!), but there are potentially other things such as next year’s ART Conference | Ongoing, includes the Annual Meeting weekend in September each year. | Good organisational skills, being able to lead a small team working on various events in different parts of the country. A clear thinker who can bring out the best in others when arranging events. Able to work to given schedules. | Direct to Deputy President, and also working with other event organisers such as ART and RW |
| Events Team members | Ongoing | Being able to work as part of a small team delivering events. | ||
| Web reviewer – call changes | We want someone to review the CC website and make it adequately covers all forms of ringing practiced by Affiliated Societies | Task | None – interest in Devon call change ringing probably | Support |
| Secretary | Organising the Work Group leader and the rest of the group. Arranging meetings, keeping records, chasing up actions. Helping the Work Group Leader in ensuring the group is doing and not just talking by: • Taking some of the administrative tasks • Providing advice | Ongoing | Office IT skills / Admin support and herding cats | Volunteer & Leadership |
| Leadership Coordinator | Building and leading a team dedicated to improving leadership within ringing. Developing leadership training material for ringers covering both generic leadership approaches and specific ringing issues. | Ongoing | Training skills and knowledge of ringing related governance issues. / Leadership experience, not necessarily in ringing. | Volunteer & Leadership |
| Increasing Volunteer Numbers Coordinator | Building and leading a team aiming to get more ringers at all levels of expertise to take on roles that promote the ongoing health of ringing. This could include developing guidance material on taking on roles within towers, branches, societies or the CCCBR. | Ongoing | Motivational skills / Used to roping people in to get things done. | Volunteer & Leadership |
| Presenter / author | Preparation and updating of presentation materials as advice and guidance for ringers, churches and local communities on topics indicated on the webpage under the “What we do” link. https://cccbr.org.uk/about/workgroups/stewardship-and-management/ | Continuing | Use of social media, compiling and editing short videos, photos, seminar presentation materials, collecting small hardware and display demonstration items, etc for use by Workgroup members and other ringers | Stewardship & Management |
| Project organiser | Providing advice to ringers, churches and other stakeholders involved in running and managing bell installation and restoration projects. Advisor on organising and managing installation and maintenance projects (This is NOT the technical aspects of bell installation) | Continuing | “Bid writing, grant proposals. Project organisation, leadership and management. Community engagement. Stakeholder liaison. Previous experience of bell installation / restoration projects an advantage, but not essential. Fund raising (Note that engineering / technical skills may be helpful but are certainly not essential)” | Stewardship & Management |
| Assistant / deputy secretary | Assistant to Workgroup Secretary but primarily responsible for organising meetings and events being hosted and / or attended by WG members. Collecting, recording and filing information, checking routinely for updates required and alerting authors / presenters. | Continuing | “Use of Teams and Office software. Willing and able to help others organise, diplomatic, prompt. Well organised, systematic ways of working.” | Stewardship & Management |
| Online publishing | Presentation of materials online, after preparation by others | Task (but may need to continue, depending on how easy members can later do it themselves) | Online publication, for example the use of static site generators such as Hugo. | Stewardship & Management |
| Copywriting | Support with writing articles for Press and internally. | Ongoing | Engaging writing skills. Organised. Timely. | Public Relations |
| Event organising | Assist with setting up seminars e.g. PR Matters Day 2.0 | Task | Organised, timely, proactive. | Public Relations |
| Social Media | Support with posting and cross posting items. Development of use of different platforms. | Ongoing | Social media expertise, timely | Public Relations |
| PR specialists | Experience with PR, dealing with the press, writing articles, producing materials | Ongoing | Enthusiastic engagement, proactive | public Relations |
| Ringing Machine Steward | Ongoing | Model engineering; historical interest; ability to work alongside existing other Ringing Machine Steward. | Historical & archive | |
| Summer Schools | Anyone willing to be involved in organising young ringers summer school with the first one planned for late summer 2022 in association with the YCRA | Task (but may be repeated) | Teaching and working with young ringers. | Schools and Youth |
| Call Change Competition organisers | Helping to organise regional/national call change competitions. First one will be a national call change competition in June 2023 | Task (but may be repeated) | Enthusiam for striking competitions and Devon-style call change ringing | President |
| Building trades | The National Ringing Centre at Northampton will be looking for volunteers with buiding skills to fit out the ringing centre | Task | Carpenty, plastering, electrics, labour | President |
If you think you could help, or know someone else who might be able to, please contact the individual workgroup leaders, any member of the Executive, or the Secretary,