Ringing Forums

I talked through a few of the issues with developing young ringing during the St Martin’s Guild Summer Walk. If your branch, district or association is looking for something different to do, you can do worse than a long country walk, between a small number of towers and a couple of pubs. We’ve had a few of them, with weather ranging from monsoon (“there’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing”) and extreme heat. One thought shared with me was whether it is actually possible to inject young ringers into a tower if the rest of the band is of grandparent age. Have we left it too late? Recruiting to fill the missing age gap is also important. — @Simon Linford

In my experience with the older side of young ringers (university level), one thing I have noticed is the need for "safety in numbers". Some find older groups intimidating (and many towers are not welcoming places for young people). If a group of us go, young people are more willing to go. I think it comes down to the social differences between younger people and older people. Some of us are able to deal with it fairly easily (I went to a lot of meetings with the board of governors when I was a prefect so have experience with dealing with older people), but others will find the cultural differences too great to attend on their own. Even having a 30 year old, or the child/grandchild of an older ringer, in the band would help to bridge the gap.

So it is not impossible to inject younger ringers into a band given the right circumstances, but it also relies on the band wanting younger people.