UPDATE 28 Oct 2018: You can put Sussex on the map by adding your Armistice ringing to the government website (no need to register) and if you'd like a certificate and a mention in the Ringing World add it to the Bellboard event, photos encouraged! Read more here.
In November 2017, an exciting new campaign was launched to recruit 1,400 new bell ringers to participate in the 2018 Armistice Day commemoration. 2018 will be the centenary of the end of World War I, in which more than 50 Sussex ringers lost their lives. Over 2000 ringing recruits have now registered for Ringing Remembers, with 98 so far in Sussex!
Learn to Ring for Armistice Day 2018
Have you heard about the 'Ringing Remembers' campaign? Are you interested in learning to ring and taking part in ringing for Armistice Day 2018? If so, please take a look at our Learning to Ring page and register your interest here.
Recruitment Ideas and Resources
Is your band looking for new recruits for 'Ringing Remembers'? Here's some suggestions:
- Advertise this call as widely as possible! – church porches, village notice boards, schools, Scouts, Guides, Duke of Edinburgh Award, U3A, parish magazines, local media / press, etc.
- Display the Official 'Ringing Remembers' official poster or this alternative poster
- Order printed copies of the Ringing Remembers A3 poster, and the Leaflet
- Don’t forget to make sure that your learners are registered at https://a100.cccbr.org.uk/register/ in order to be included in the 1,400 and to receive their special badge out soon! Every learner who started ringing during this campaign (since November 2017) is entitled to join.
- Useful ideas for Recruitment & Retention from the Association of Ringing Teachers
- More suggestions here for ways to engage with the public (CCCBR)
"This project gives us the opportunity to raise the profile of ringing and develop a relationship with community networks to provide new bell ringers. Ringing Remembers is a poignant and significant programme which appropriately acknowledges the sacrifices made by so many, aspiring to a living legacy for ringing."
Alan Regin MBE
Church bells across the UK remained restricted throughout the course of the war and only rang freely once Armistice was declared on 11 November 1918.
The Government Announcement of Armistice plans (including ringing) can be found here: https://cccbr.org.uk/2018/07/13/government-announcement-of-armistice-plans/
together with: Clarification of Armistice Ringing 2018: https://cccbr.org.uk/2018/08/07/clarification-of-armistice-ringing/
If you have rung to honour your bellringers from WW1, have stories you would like to share about your WW1 ringers or your learners for Ringing Remembers, please contact the Big Ideas Company at https://www.big-ideas.org/project/ringing-remembers/ They will promote your ringing and its a welcome publicity opportunity while this campaign is gathering momentum. The Sussex Rolls of Honour are here: https://www.scacr.org/about-us/history/roll-of-honour
The campaign ‘Ringing Remembers’ is funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government, and is a partnership with the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers.