The Inn Ringers have started their annual activities for the year with their charity concert in aid of the Donna Louise Trust at the Meir Heath and Rough Close Village Hall on Sunday 19th May.
Team secretary Rowena Dawson said “This is a charity which several members of the team have links with, they do the most amazing job supporting children, young adults and their families during very difficult times. We hope we can raise about £1000 for them”
Chairman for the team, Paul Mellor, went on to say “We do two concerts a year which we absolutely love doing, our Christmas concert and this one – our charity concert. It is a huge team effort to stage these events but they are always so well received and having the added bonus of being able to present a cheque from the proceeds of our efforts to a local charity makes it so worthwhile. This year we have decided to once again support the marvellous work done by the Donna Louise Trust. They rely entirely on the financial support of the public so it will be a pleasure to support them again this year”.
On top of their usual bookings, the team have also put together an interactive, informal presentation that they hope to take to local W.I. groups, community and church-based organisations and scout and guide groups.
The idea behind this initiative called ‘Bells & Banter’ is to try to get more people interested in the traditional art of handbell ringing, generate some new recruits for the team, get a few more concert bookings but above all, provide those the team present to with an informative entertaining hour where they can also try their hand at handbell ringing.
Chairman Paul Mellor says “It is so difficult to keep a team like The Inn Ringers going. We are hoping these presentations will encourage a few people to take up handbell ringing. It is a tradition that goes back years but it requires commitment from people to keep these things going”.
“A lot of work is going into putting these presentations together. We aim to take 30 of our 116 handbell bells and 6 ringers with us to give people an insight into handbell ringing and provide our audience with an opportunity to have a go for themselves”.
Churches have struggled for years to get people involved in ringing their bells, but handbell ringing used to attract quite a lot of young people, many established handbell teams boasted a junior team, members of which would progress into the main team but sadly these days there are too many other attractions and interests for young people to become involved with, it would be such a shame if these traditional arts were to become extinct.
To help combat the downturn, the team are also having an Open Evening on Monday 10th June at St Luke’s Church Hall, Tittensor at 7.30pm. Admission is free, they will welcome visitors, give them a handbell ringing demonstration and let their visitors have a go! It is hoped that maybe one or two will be interested enough to join the team. There will be some refreshments available.
If anyone is interested in booking the presentation ‘Bells & Banter’ please contact Rowena Dawson on 07816 545713 or email theinnringers@aol.com
