The Association AGM is an essential part of running our Association, takes place every second Saturday of May and is organised in turn by each District. The 2018 AGM, held on Saturday 12 May, was a day superbly organised by the Southern District, attended by 50 or so folk, with open ringing at Keymer and Ditchling and a cheery, brief service before moving on to the Village Hall at Westmeston for a quiz, an excellent barbecue and handbell ringing. Many thanks to all those who worked so hard to make it a success.

The formal meeting followed. This year there were two key roles to be filled - the Master and the General Secretary. Graham Hills had completed his 3 years as Master and Sandra Alford had continued for a further year as Acting General Secretary but now wished to stand down. No nominations had been received from the District ADMs and the roles were available to be filled from the attendees at the AGM. However no-one volunteered to take on either role and the positions remained unfilled at the close of the meeting.

The Association therefore is now under the care and guidance of the Trustees who have a responsibility to ensure the Association, as a registered charity, is run efficiently and effectively in carrying out its purpose until a solution is found. Any urgent issues or queries which cannot be dealt with by District Officers, Association Teams or elected Association Officers should be referred to the Trustees by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The following Officers were elected: Treasurer – Sue Gadd, Bell Restoration Fund Secretary – Graham Hills, Safeguarding Officer – Pat Aylward, Trustees – Val Atkins, Jack Burton and Margaret Sherwood, Central Council Rep for Eastern District – Alison Everett.

We still very much need members who would like to help in some way, however small or large. For instance, the General Secretary role has already been shared out as we now have volunteers working as membership secretary, minute secretary, Annual Report/Handbook compiler, clothing orders coordinator, insurance reviewer, gift aid administrator, to mention but a few!

If you are interested in any role or would like more information about how you can help, please do contact the Trustees as we are keen to ensure that the Association continues to run smoothly both now and well into the future.

Val Atkins