Chair's Chat May 2025

Dear Ringers,

Firstly a huge apology that this newsletter has taken so long to get

finished and sent out.

Firstly our treasurer, John Boon, had a fall followed by an operation and

stay in hospital, so Valerie has been a little busy! I’m very pleased to say

that he is on the mend and we wish him a continued recovery.

As there had been a delay, I decided to wait until after our recent

committee meeting to finalise the newsletter in case there was anything

pertinent to add. Having allocated time over the Bank Holiday weekend to

get everything ready to go out, my laptop screen then decided to

malfunction. I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to get the

newsletter out! [I should reassure you that everything was backed up, I

just couldn’t get to it!]

Anyway – I am now in possession of a shiny new laptop and can access all my

files again. Phew!

It was lovely to see so many people at our AGM Rally down in Meonstoke,

and we were able to welcome some teams to their first regional rally. It

was also lovely that so many of the committee had made the journey,

bringing their own bells so that could participate as individuals and pairs.

We welcomed Barbara Kimber to the committee – as an active ringer and

someone who attends many regional events, I’m sure she will be an asset.

You may notice in the minutes of the AGM that Martin was not elected to

the committee. Fear not – at the following committee meeting, he was co-

opted back onto the committee, so he is still very much involved! Obviously,

his main focus at the moment is the 2026 International Symposium in

Aberdeen. We very much hope to see lots of HRGB SE members there.

Yesterday we had our South East Region Bell Orchestra Concert – celebrating 25 seasons of the orchestra. It was lovely to ring pieces from previous seasons and to see so many past members of the orchestra in the audience. More photos to follow next time, but here is just one as a taster of the afternoon!

We have some more rallies and workshops coming up over the next couple of months. At the end of May we are heading to East Kent, and Sue tells me that we can squeeze a few more in if anyone hasn’t yet sent back a form.

In June we have workshops for the two ends of the bell ringing spectrum! On June 14th we have a day to explore advanced music under the baton of Debbie Rice. And on June 21st we have an afternoon workshop for anyone thinking about starting a team for or including young ringers in their current team. You can come as a team leader with or without any young ringers! Forms for both these events were sent out in March.

And finally, accompanying this newsletter is the form for our final event before the summer break – a Staycation rally – for anyone who is not already on holiday!

I look forward to seeing many of you at an event soon.

Yours,

Helen HELENLSECKER@GMAIL.COM