The Master David Strong, supported by the Honorary General Secretary Clare Griffiths, the Honorary General Treasurer Michael Bubb and Minute Secretary Pam Thompson, asked Canon Barry Fry to open the meeting by leading in prayer.
The other members attending were Diana Bishop, Charlotte Colliss, John Davey, Nicky David, Barry Fry, Keith Gillings, Christine Knights-Whittome, Viv Nobbs, Maureen Routh, Tony Smith, Mary Tester, Lucy Hopkins Till, Mike Hopkins Till, Barbara Townsend
Roger Barber, Andrew Byford, Andrew Case, Michael Church, Jonathan Hetherington, Janet McCoy, Peter Niblett, Bruce Purvis.
The minutes of the meeting held on 19th November 2011 had been distributed with the agenda for this meeting. With the amendment in paragraph 10 that “Districts with more than 100 members were entitled to elect an EC Rep” they were signed by the Master as a true record.
Under paragraph 16.5 Tony Smith said that it was illegal to request blanket CRB checking of ringers. John Davey replied that if churches request such checking, it was Winchester Diocesan policy that they were entitled to ask for it. Guidance was available on the Church of England website and this provided a good basis for discussion if such a request was received.
Viv Nobbs had prepared a report for Guild Officers and a copy for each District on the Wellesbourne Conference “Change Ringing for the Future”. David Strong said that the full report would be put on the Guild website and would be sent out through the “WinPort” mailing list as well.
The Guild Display boards were now on the Isle of Wight and Viv Nobbs was drawing up a list of people who might be asked to refurbish them.
Clare Griffiths’ report had been circulated with the agenda.
Mike Bubb’s report had been circulated with the agenda. It was noted that the figure for the total financial assets held by the Guild was £27,937.35 not £24,731. Insufficient books on “Bells of the Channel Islands” had been sold to cover costs and it was agreed to ask John Palk to put an advertisement in the Guild Report. Money had been transferred at the end of the year to cover Public Liability insurance. Seconded by John Davey, the reports and accounts were carried.
Bruce Purvis’ report and accounts had been circulated with the agenda. Tony Smith suggested that the prices be omitted from the appendix listing the publications which had recently been added to the Library. The names of the various periodicals and books should also be capitalised as appropriate. With these two amendments, the reports and accounts were seconded by Tony Smith and carried.
David Strong agreed to email the amendments to Bruce Purvis with a copy to John Palk.
Jonathan Hetherington’s report had been circulated with the agenda. With the proviso that “Ed” be amended to “Edd” and “Woodruffe” with a capital W, the report was seconded by Diana Bishop and carried.
The BSC accounts and Restoration Activity reports had been circulated with the agenda. In the absence of Roger Barber, Mike Bubb told the meeting that there was a drop in restoration work and the lowest number of grant applications for several years. With the amendment of “woks” to “works” the report was seconded by Keith Gillings and carried.
David Forder’s report and accounts had been circulated with the agenda. Seconded by John Davey and carried.
Mike Bubb reminded members to inform Rosemary Oakeshott of any changes of officers and for the District Secretaries to check their data and inform Rosemary of any changes.
Christine Knights-Whittome’s report and accounts had been circulated with the agenda.
Christine agreed to include more detail on last year’s events and to align the figures in the accounts. With these amendments, they were seconded by Diana Bishop and carried.
Charlotte Colliss’ report and accounts had been circulated with the agenda. Tony Smith requested that the accounts be put into the same format as all the other accounts and Charlotte Colliss agreed to speak to Julia about this. The accounts were then seconded by John Davey and carried.
A few typing errors were pointed out and clarification was requested that it was the 8-bell competition held at Romsey.
It was noted that there was no record kept of the order of the bands which were judged so there was no summary of the results. It was agreed that the results of the competitions would be included in the Annual Report. With these amendments, the reports and accounts were seconded by Mike Bubb and carried.
Alan Buswell’s quarter peal analysis and comments were discussed at the meeting. Nicky David queried the figure for the number of methods rung in the Channel Islands. David Strong would ask John Palk to check with Alan Buswell.
David Strong thanked all the officers who had prepared reports and accounts during the year.
Andrew Case had indicated that he would be resigning as BRF Trustee for personal reasons at the next AGM. Barry Fry expressed a vote of thanks on behalf of the meeting for Andrew’s work as a BRF Trustee.
A new Portsmouth Diocesan Representative would be required for one year as the triennial elections would be taking place next year at the AGM. David Strong outlined the work of a Trustee to the members present.
The accounts had been approved by the Trustees and final approval would take place at the AGM.
Mike Bubb told the meeting that New Alresford had proposed that the grant be reduced to nil as they did not now need the money. This was carried.
Dummer had donated back the grant to the BRF with the request that the money should be used in the Basingstoke District. This was agreed and the grant was reduced to nil.
St Agatha’s, Portsmouth had made a new application to the BRF for a brand new ring of bells. The building was leased to the St Agatha Trust from the Council. The Trustees had asked for further information on this application.
The next meeting of the BRF would be held before the AGM in July 2012.
It was noted that the 2011 200 Club draw had taken place at the Portsmouth ADM. The results of this draw had not been made available so Mike Bubb agreed to ask Mark Esbester to produce the results of the draw to send out.
The recommendation by John Palk that Bullington be transferred from the Andover District to the Winchester District would be carried forward to be approved at the AGM.
Tony Smith reported that the committee had decided to make a booking at the Royal Beach Hotel, Southsea, which had a meeting room which could accommodate approximately 250 people. A deposit of £500 had been agreed which would be recouped against the sale of the tickets sold. The deposit had been paid on the authority granted at the last meeting empowering the principal officers to make the decision.
The new Co-ordinator was Caroline Blatchford who was a member of the Winchester Cathedral band. Volunteers were welcome to help in the Cathedral Refectory from the whole of the Guild area and not just the Winchester District.
A proposal had been put forward by David Strong that the Striking Competitions Committee budget for 2012 be increased to £100 and that a loan of £50 made from Guild General Funds for the security deposit on Hawkley Parish Hall be ratified.
This was proposed by Mike Hopkins-Till and seconded by Christine KnightsWhittome and carried.
Districts had been asked for their views on the future of Guild Striking Competitions. Members from each District summarised the discussions which had taken place at the ADMs. The general consensus of opinion was that inter district competitions should continue and there should be a discussion on inter tower competitions. Bands should be encouraged to take part on 28th April 2012.
It was noted that information on the rules for the Striking Competitions was on the website but as this was difficult to find there should be a link that was easier to see. Clare Griffiths said she would contact Rosemary Oakeshott to arrange this. The SC Committee should be contacted if there were any problems.
David Strong had produced a paper proposing that the “Guild Service Booklets” be regarded only as a resource and not as service books. The resources section of the book was still of some use but many ministers preferred to use their texts or service sheets. After some discussion, David proposed that the booklets should be regarded only as a resource and not as service books and should be pasted with a label:
Pages 1 - 14: Resources Section
Pages 14 - 30: ASB Evening Prayer (now superseded)
Labels would be printed and District Secretaries were asked to let Clare Griffiths know how many copies of the booklet they kept.
This was seconded by Keith Gillings and carried with two votes dissenting.
It was proposed that the resource section be put on the website and Tony Smith offered to try and locate the original format as he had undertaken the typesetting of the booklet when it was first printed.
It was noted that these posts were still vacant and members were asked to try to make some proposals for nominations at the AGM.
| Guild Inter-Tower 6-bell | 28th April 2012 | Botley | ||
| Guild inter-Tower 8-bell | 28th April 2012 | Bishops Waltham | ||
| Guild Inter-District 8-bell | 7th July 2012 | Hawkley |
| District Officers’ Forum | 24th March 2012 | Southampton | ||
| Guild Dinner | 28th April 2012 | Holiday Inn, Winchester | ||
| Annual General Meeting | 7th July 2012 | East Meon | ||
| Executive Committee Meeting | 17th November 2012 | Southampton |
David Strong confirmed that he had contacted each District about the District Officers’ Forum and asked for topics for discussion.
Charlotte Collis reported that the sale of tickets for the dinner had been sluggish. Clare Griffiths would send out a reminder to members on the WinPort mailing list.
Arrangements for the AGM at East Meon were almost complete.
Viv Nobbs reported that there was an open day on 21st April 2012 at Newport Minster on the Isle of Wight for the Jubilee celebrations. This was an opportunity to encourage lapsed and retired ringers back into the exercise. The tower would be open from 10 am - 4 pm with free admission.
David Strong proposed that details of special ringing for the Diamond Jubilee should be collated and forwarded with a suitable message to Her Majesty. He proposed a cut-off date for receiving such details as the 30th June 2012. This would be reported at the AGM and any specifically organised piece of ringing for the Jubilee would reflect the efforts of the membership of the whole Guild. A suitably worded greeting from the Guild would be discussed at the AGM to accompany the details of the Jubilee ringing. This was seconded by Mike Bubb and carried. District Officers were asked to take this back to their own Districts and to advertise it as widely as possible. It would also be put on the WinPort mailing list.
A letter had been received from Libby Alexander to the Bishop of Portsmouth to remind us all to ring for St George’s Day on 23rd April 2012.
John Davey proposed the idea of a Central Guild Bookstore. However, six Districts already had their own bookstalls and it was agreed that this was sufficient.
Keith Gillings told the meeting that Basingstoke held a number of certificates signed by former Guild Masters and Secretaries.
The Master closed the meeting at 12.13 pm.