The Central Council ran a competition over the first months of Covid restrictions in 2020 to find and publicise the best YouTube videos of ringing. YouTube has for some time now been a place for sharing videos of ringing. Ringing YouTubers are recording outings, touches, and striking competition entries and sharing them for the world to see. The interest and relevance of these videos was perhaps greater than ever in the period when ringing was restricted.
What we also want to achieve is to emphasise the point that any ringing found on YouTube should showcase ringing and put it in a good light. Those coming across ringing should be impressed by or interested in what we do rather than have their stereotypes reinforced. Without mentioning any examples lest they attract even more attention, there are some clips online whose removal would be in ringing’s best interests.
Entries were encouraged in six categories, and all the entries and the winner can be found below.
Schedule
| Month | Contest | Play List | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| May | Best striking on 6 bells or fewer | Play List | Winning video |
| June | Most unusual or interesting ringing video | Play List | Winning video |
| July | Best striking on 8 bells or more | Play List | Winning video |
| August | Best video demonstrating change ringing not on tower bells | Play List Extra 1 Extra 2 | Winning video |
| October | Most effective instructional video (could be handling, maintenance, rope splicing, etc) | Play List | Winning video |
| November | Film that promotes ringing in the most positive way | Play List | Winning video |
| December | People’s Choice Award | Winning video |