2. A Prayer for Members who have died
3. A Welcome from the Wotton-under-Edge Branch
4. Results of the Striking and Best Kept Tower Competitions
5. Minutes of 2009 AGM
Copies have already been circulated to all Branches and are on the Website
but a further copy will be available in the hall.
6. Matters Arising not covered by this Agenda
7. 2009 Annual Report and Accounts
8. Election of New Members
9. Ratification of Belfry Elections to Non-resident Life Membership
10. Election of Officers
Nominations Received:
Ringing Master: Steve Coleman
Chairman: Hugh Evans
Treasurer: Philip
Twentyman
Peal Secretary: Mark Davies
All these nominations were made by all twelve Branches.
Secretary: No
nominations have been received but Steve Coleman is content to continue as
Acting Secretary.
11. Election of Central Council Representatives for the Triennium 2011
- 2014
Nominations Received - in alphabetical order:
Derek Harbottle
Pat Hickey
Bill Nash
Angela Newing
John Nicholls
There are five vacancies.
12. Election of Independent Examiners
The Management Committee recommends the re-election of Charles Woodd and
Michelle Harris.
13. Subscriptions for 2011 - The Management Committee recommends that they
remain unchanged as follows:
Seniors: £10 of which £7 goes to BRF, £1.50 to General Fund and £1.50 to
the Branch
Retired Members: £5 of which £4 goes to BRF, 50p to General Fund and 50p to
the Branch
Juniors: £2.50 of which £1.50 goes to BRF, 50p to General Fund and 50p to
the Branch.
The subscriptions were raised to these amounts from 1/11/2007.
14. Affiliation Fee 2011
The Management Committee recommends that it remains unchanged at £10 - last
raised from 1/1/1994.
15. Peal Fee 2011 et seq
The Management Committee have raised the Peal Fee from 25p to 50p from 2011
- last raised from 1/1/1997 - and seek ratification of that decision.
16. Annual General Meeting 2011
The Management Committee recommends that the Stroud Branch's kind
invitation to host the AGM on Saturday 9 April be accepted.
17. Child Protection Policy
The Association’s current Child Protection Policy – approved and adopted by
the 2005 AGM – needs to be amended to fit in with the new legislation. As the
Association’s Child Protection Officer, Hugh Evans has drawn up amendments
after consultation with The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers and
these have been considered in detail by the Management Committee. He will
propose their adoption.
These proposed amendments are below, and full discussion will most
definitely be welcome. But this is an important yet complex matter which it is
important to get right. So if you feel there should be further amendments
or additions to the Policy – or you are concerned about any part of it
– please phone Steve (01452 831197) or Hugh (01242 241678) beforehand to
talk about it. Making significant amendments on the hoof at the meeting, might
put us in breach of the law.
18. The Annual Report
Following representations from members, the title of what we now
call the Annual Report was considered at the Branch Officers'
Meeting in March. By a margin of 2 to 1 the Branch Officers wanted a change.
Their feeling was that the prime role of the Report is as a handbook of
current year information, and that putting the previous year in large letters on
the cover makes it look a year out of date. They therefore wanted a change such
that the current year's document would have been called Handbook 2010
or Directory 2010 rather than Annual Report 2009.
Their views were considered by the Management Committee who, by a
majority, agreed. So on their behalf, the Secretary will
propose that that change be made from next year onwards, with the
words "(Incorporating the Accounts and Reports for 2010)" in smaller letters
underneath.
But although the Secretary is proposing the change, the Management
Committee are certainly not trying to railroad
anyone into supporting something they don't feel comfortable with. Those
who want things to stay as they are feel that the Report is
primarily a report of the previous year activities - accounts,
obituaries, peals, etc - and that the information relating to the current
year - lists of members, Branch Officers, tower details, telephone numbers,
practice nights, etc - is incidental. They also feel that Annual
Report is the traditional name and they want to stick with it.
So as we simply wish to implement the will of the majority, please
vote and speak exactly as you feel.
19. Best Kept Tower Competition
Despite considerable efforts to encourage towers to enter this Competition,
interest is always extremely low. In 2009 only three
Association towers entered, and this year there was a long term high of
nine - out of a possible total entry of almost 300.
The aim of the Competition is to encourage better tower maintenance, but
the Branch Officers at their meeting in March decided that it no
longer achieves that aim. Very few towers enter, and those that do,
already have a high standard of maintenance. Essentially, it is now a
Competition in which the same few towers enter repeatedly, yet
the time and money involved in judging is very considerable
indeed.
The Branch Officers most certainly share the view that encouragement
of good maintenance is extremely important. And they also thoroughly
approve the offer of home tower advice and instruction that the Belfry
Advisers offer all towers every year. But they do not think that the
Competition should continue in its present form, and cannot immediately
think of a workable alternative.
On behalf of the Management Committee, the Secretary will therefore propose
that the Competition be no longer held.
20. Honorary Life Membership
The Bristol Rural Branch Officers have proposed that the
mechanism for creating new Honorary Life Members be removed from the Rules,
and having heard their views, the Management Committee agrees.
Their view is that the 40 year membership list provides the clear
recognition of outstanding long service to the Association that those
members most certainly deserve; and set against that, the HLM category provides
little extra. Yet it causes everyone considerable doubt and
difficulty because no one knows how the word "outstanding" in Rule 3.iii
should be interpreted.
Under the Rule, the Management Committee, must receive the
name of a potential nominee confidentially, and then decide whether
that person's service has been "outstanding." But in an Association where
the service of so many members has been so very great - often in very different
ways - this is very difficult indeed to do. And since we are now
an Association in which members expressly clearly, genuinely and from the
heart their thanks to one another, their view is that the honorary life
membership system is no longer needed. If anything, it only
downgrades the immense contributions made by those very many members
who aren't HLMs.
On behalf of the Management Committee, the Secretary will therefore propose
that the current wording of Rule 3.iii be removed and replaced by the words,
"Honorary Life Members elected before 2010. (The election of Honorary Life
Members was discontinued by the 2010 AGM.) " This will result in the status of
existing HLMs being unchanged but no new ones being elected in future.
21. Thanks
22. Any Other Business - All items must be notified to the Chairman
before the Meeting
23. Closing Prayer
Proposed Amendments to the Child Protection Policy
Page 1, Para 3:
" The requirement for CRB checking for those working
with young people has been a general requirement of the church actioned through
the local Parochial Church Council. The
requirement stemmed from the Church of England's own policies and does not
reflect upon individuals invited to be
checked. With regard to ringing members of a congregation who lead
bellringing activities, the only practical change resulting from recent
legislation will be that, eventually, CRB checks will be
accompanied by registration with the
Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). The other
difference is that, for those teaching youngsters from
scratch, the checking and registration requirement is a legal
necessity."
Page 1 (Association and Branch
Officers) 2nd sentence:
"Two CRB checked and ISA registered members - preferably
Officers .......etc"
Page 1 , note 3: Add to last sentence,
"... and that transport formally arranged by the
Association is with a CRB cleared person".
Page 2 note 8:
"If, exceptionally, an event - such as a Training Day -
includes transport arrangements specifically arranged by the
Association these should be arranged so that young people do not
travel in a car with just one adult. In the event, exceptionally, of
this being necessary, the young person should sit in the back of the
vehicle. In all cases drivers must have been CRB
cleared."
Page 2, note 9: Add,
" The name(s) of those running the event should be
recorded and whether they hold CRB clearance"
Page 2, Additional Note 3:
This will shortly need to be altered to refer to "The Home
Office Publication - Vetting and Barring Scheme Guidance Notes"
Page 3, Additional Note 8: 3rd sentence
on,
"Each person so required will need to be cleared by
completing a confidential form and having information checked by the Criminal
Records Bureau (CRB) and, once cleared, registered with the Independent
Safeguarding Authority (ISA), both being Home Office agencies. This process does not infer any doubt of the person's character but
serves as a positive certification that the individual is suitable to work with
children, a qualification which can be transferred for use with other youth
activities such as choir, scouts and the like. Irrespective of PCC
requirements, we recommend that at least two members of
every band be cleared, preferably one of each sex. The process is free for
ringers as volunteers and you can find out more information at
www.disclosure.gov.uk"