Our Bells rang out across Bexhill on the afternoon of Sunday 27th December as a group of campanologists embarked on a three-hour challenge in aid of the life-saving charity The Anthony Nolan Trust. Included in the peal attempt to ring 5040 changes of Grandsire Triples were: - two ringers from Bexhill, one each from St Leonards, Brede Alfriston, Horsham, Crawley and one from Kent.

Julie McDonnell came up with the ‘barking mad’ (as she put it) challenge to raise funds for the charity which saves the lives of people with blood cancer  a cause very close to Julie’s heart.

Julie, who has been bell ringing for just 14 months, said: “This is a difficult challenge for me at the moment, not just physically hard but coupled with the challenge of ringing Grandsire Triples from a new ringer’s perspective, it’s really hard. “I passionately want to raise some money so more lives are saved through the excellent work of this trust. The work and research that they are involved in is incredible but the trust is only funded by donations. “My family and I have benefited from the trust and continue to be supported. Life is very dark when you think you have no future and Anthony Nolan and its people have bought light and hope to thousands of people every year.”

Julie, who lives in Hastings, regularly rings at her church in Brede. However, the church only has six bells, and with eight required for the ding-dong marathon, St Peter’s Church in Bexhill was chosen as a more suitable venue. We are most grateful to our Rector David Reynish for granting us permission to ring for over three hours.

Craig Wills, community fundraiser, at Anthony Nolan, said: “The fundraising that Julie is doing makes such a big difference to people with blood cancer. It costs £60 to recruit each person to the Anthony Nolan register, so fundraising is a vital part of our lifesaving work. The more fundraising we do, the more potential donors we can recruit onto the stem cell register and the more lives we can save.”

The sponsors of the peal (in early January) - have donated over £10,000 our grateful thanks to them.

This total has now reached an amazing £37,000!

• About 2,000 people in the UK need a stem cell transplant from a stranger every year.
• Ninety per cent of donors donate through PBSC (peripheral blood stem cell collection).
• This is a simple, outpatient procedure similar to giving blood. * It costs £60 to add each new donor to the register.

 Roy Cox

In the photo are: - Pauline Kennard, Roy Cox, Iain Davey, Julie McDonnell, Alan Pink, Stephen Pocock, Chris Cooper and Rosemary Cox (click to open in new window).