At the Annual Meeting of the CCCBR on Monday 29th May 2017 held in historic Edinburgh and hosted by the Scottish Association, David Kirkcaldy won in a contested election for Vice-President on a strongly pro-reform ticket.
"David learnt to ring in Sussex and was a District Ringing Master at the age of 16. He has been very involved in his Association: as District Secretary, as Secretary of the Sussex Bell Restoration Fund and as Master.
He is currently tower captain at Steyning where over five years he has trained a new band virtually from scratch. He is keen to encourage ringers to progress, not just those from his own tower. He has been a tutor on a wide range of ringing courses. He has arranged and led Belfry Maintenance Courses in Sussex regularly. David has researched and written a history of the Sussex County Association published in 2012. He became a representative on the CCCBR in 2007 and the following year was elected to its Towers & Belfries Committee and is currently its chairman. In 2014 he also became an elected member of the Administrative Committee. David trained and qualified as a teacher but joined Sussex Police in 1978, where he served for 30 years until he retired. This means that he is the fortunate position to be able to devote time to the role of vice-president and he is happy to work hard on behalf of the ringing community.
This is especially important at this time of change; there is much work to be carried out in ensuring that ringing has a healthy future. David thinks that these are exciting but challenging times with the pressure from within the Council and outside.
If elected he is keen to work in collaboration with other parties outside the CCCBR to deliver what is needed for grass roots ringers. David’s own local Association has recently been changing itself. He recognises that we must reach out to all ringers. He also understands that ringing is evolving in many ways and everyone has a set amount of time they can commit to it. It is important to have realistic expectations about this.
David has gained much enjoyment from ringing and is keen that others have a similar experience."
Ringing World editorial after the meeting:
"The Central Council Meeting in Edinburgh will surely go down in ringing history as a watershed: the moment when it courageously seized the day and made a determined commitment to modernise. All of the CRAG motions were passed by a substantial majority and the widely anticipated attempts to delay implementation were firmly rejected. There will be a great deal of work involved in making the plans work during the year ahead and much of this will fall to the Council officers, led by the newly elected President, Christopher O’Mahony, and Vice President David Kirkcaldy. We wish them well in carrying out the Council’s mandate for change and hope that those with the necessary skills to assist will respond enthusiastically when called upon. We congratulate members of the CRAG team on their diligent work and in particular Chairman Phil Barnes, who has been a powerful and persuasive advocate for reform. No doubt Phil and some of his colleagues will continue to play a part in transforming the Central Council into the central ringing organisation that the Exercise needs and deserves."
