I think this misses the point that we have lots of older learners and many of them still have 30 years of ringing ahead of them when they learn. — Lucy Chandhial
That no ringer should hit a barrier to their own progression
I hope that the recent trial survey of ringers shows that we have many ringers over 40 and over 60 who have been ringing less than five years and less than ten years so there is no obvious reason to assume that if you don’t learn under 20 (or under 40) that you won’t become a regular ringer who builds experience and rings for many years to come. — Lucy Chandhial
I think we should be careful not to focus exclusively on recruiting young ringers and be careful not to leave older learners feeling unwanted, uncared for or disregarded when we look at the future of ringing for 2030 and beyond. — Lucy Chandhial
Did the trial survey show any trends in educational subjects? Should we be asking ringers about their other hobbies / regular activities? How do we know whether someone is more likely to definitely enjoy and commit to bellringing? — Lucy Chandhial
it would be silly to reject or accept people because of a stereotype. — John Harrison
The strategy should attract a younger cohort without alienating older, experienced ringers, and engage with relevant institutions and social media platforms. — YellowYoyo
Craft a compelling brand story that highlights the heritage, inclusive community, health benefits, and intellectual aspects of bell ringing, appealing to both younger and older generations. This would form part of the positioning framework above. — YellowYoyo
without alienating older, experienced ringers — Tristan Lockheart
I agree that there is no clear strategy for specifically improving the opportunities available to older (50+) learners, but without the interest of people willing to put the time and energy into it, such a focus won't happen. — Tristan Lockheart
Youth recruitment is important for all the reasons you give, but believing that that it's the cure for ringing's current problems is ridiculous — John de Overa
ageism is pervasive throughout ringing and now seems to be official CCCBR policy — John de Overa
Is anyone saying it is the cure for all problems? — John Harrison
It seems obvious that we need far more effective youth recruitment than we currently have — John Harrison
I don't see the evidence. — John Harrison
When people are working on a voluntary basis and have a lot to be getting on with already, you have to bid for their attention, and perhaps include a contribution of your own time as part of the bargain. Young ringers are a bit more of an exciting and mainstream project than improving the environment for older learners, so it's not entirely surprising that more people are developing initiatives for the former than the latter. It's not a great pitch but I don't think there's any point sugar-coating the issue!You aren't exactly making a compelling pitch. Why would anyone put their time and energy into something that appears not to be considered worthwhile or valued? — John de Overa
This is what my quotes from the report are in response to. It has made its way into the branding report, and the point has been raised at several subsequent meetings too. That is not to say that more lobbying wouldn't be valuable to raise the issue's profile amongst the CC's volunteers, particularly the new Executive.as far as I can tell that has been ignored and my feeling is that I wasted my time participating. — John de Overa
Perhaps you are fortunate to ring in an area where it isn't an issue. But that's certainly not the case elsewhere — John de Overa
We certainly have issues in this area but I'm not aware of ageism being one of them. — John Harrison
I would recommend getting in touch with Allison Devine who is the public relations officer (proatcccbrdotorgdotuk) and can point you in the the right direction. There is a report and a PowerPoint; both are fairly long and may not be entirely relevant throughout for local situations, but nonetheless would be most useful. I understand that there are plans for wider circulation.Tristan Lockhart mentioned the Yellow Yoyo report. Please could it be made generally available, urgently?
The reason I ask is that our tower has a massive recruitment opportunity, with a new town being built on our doorstep. But we need to know how to run our sales pitch, and for that it would be a big help to see the Yellow Yoyo report. — Barbara Le Gallez
Harking back to the top of this thread, in 2030 (let alone 2040) will there be the churches to ring in? "Others & none" may be happy to ring, but they won't keep churches open and the residents of "All Saint's House" might not want a group of odd bods arriving at 09:30 on a Sunday to wake them up, or for that matter at 19:30 just as they are trying to get the baby down. — J Martin Rushton
It is very possible that Wigan could be without change ringing within five years or a decade. — Tristan Lockheart
f the ringing room is damp and grubby, with fly-blown out-of-date notices, then people won't be inspired to take up ringing as a hobby; ditto if the ringers are set in their ways and not welcoming of newcomers, and so on. — Robin Shipp
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