What is the Young Ringer Fund?

It is a fund set up by SW Region to provide financial support to young ringers from the Region who wish to attend National – or perhaps even International – handbell events.

Who can apply?

Young ringers up to age 21 who are not in full time employment at the time of application. You should be able to show that you have an enthusiasm and talent for handbell ringing. Where assistance for a whole group or team is being sought, a single application from the group leader will be considered.

Must I be able to read music?

There is no absolute requirement to be able to read music but it may be necessary at some events (such as the National Ringing Week). The assessors will take this account.

I’m under 16, will I need a chaperone?

Yes, you must be able to nominate a chaperone who may (but need not) be a delegate and who must be in attendance whenever you are participating in the event. The fund will not cover the costs of a chaperone.

What will the fund cover?

Help with attendance at any National HRGB event (including National Rallies) or International Symposium. In particular:

•     The full or partial costs of the delegate fees (including accommodation where this forms part of the fee e.g. in the case of a Residential Ringing Week)
•     The full or partial cost of music required for the event.
•     The fund will not normally cover the costs of travel for the event.

Do I need to be an HRGB member?

Yes, unless you are a member of an innominate or junior team with group membership who are applying to attend as a group.

How can I apply?

Write a letter to the Regional Chairman giving details of the event and its cost at least 60 days before the registration date.

Then what happens?

A group of Committee members will consider your application and make sure that you will be able to cope with the event. If there is more than one applicant or if the amount involved is very large, you may be offered less than the full grant.

What else will I have to do?

Agree to attend all ringing sessions and other appropriate classes and provide a report, for the Newsletter, of your experience at the event.
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Report from Bournemouth Youth Handbell Team awarded funding in 2011

We were delighted last year to hear that we were being sponsored by the South West region of the HRGB to attend the 2011 National Rally in Egham, Surrey. They funded half of our costs and in return we would be one of the teams representing the region.

We started to fund raise the rest of the money we needed by performing in a number of concerts and weddings throughout Bournemouth and Poole and we managed to reduce the price per head from £210 to just £41! It was a short journey of about 90 minutes to reach Egham, and once we got there, (and worked our way around the spaghetti of roads in the campus!), we were kindly greeted by the staff, and were given our room keys and all of the ‘bumph’ needed to set us up for the weekend.

It was an easy enough start on Friday, just to get used to our surroundings and to have some food, but in the evening we had scheduled a special four-in-hand workshop to improve our technique, which definitely tired us out!

Saturday was the main day of the weekend, with a number of workshops and lectures and the AGM, culminating in the evening concert.
We did a number of workshops, including a bass bells workshop and a massed ringing workshop, while others were split out to hear the bell maintenance lecture and to do the bell choir.

A highlight was perhaps the intermediate/advanced bell choir, which explored a lovely piece called Grazioso by Arnold Sherman. In fact, our MD liked it so much we have since added it to our repertoire!

The evening ended with the evening concert, which had many teams from the various regions performing.

We prepared a number of our most loved pieces; one of my personal favourites was Fantasy on Kingsfold by H Dean Wagner which we played third in our section.
When the concert finished at around 9:30 we were very tired and had seemed to have had our fill of bell ringing!

Then, Sunday appeared!

It brought with it very sunny weather and a whole morning’s worth of ringing to finish off the weekend and I was surprised to hear that two bell ringers there, Gay and Alan Cooper had been on Britain’s got Talent the previous night! That aside, we had some great workshops to finish off what was all in all, a very thorough, entertaining and informative weekend.

Many thanks to the South East region for hosting us and all of the teams present and again, thanks to the South West Region for helping us with our funding!