ART Conference 2022 – join us in Birmingham!

The ART Annual Conference has become a regular feature in the ringing calendar. It is an inspiring and enjoyable weekend, with speakers sharing their own ringing and teaching ideas, as well as those from other activities and professions.

The conference is open to all ringers. We hope you will be able to join us for the 2022 Conference over the weekend of 7 and 8 May, at Erdington Academy, Birmingham – together we can make a difference.

» Book your conference place

If you are an ART member, patron, sponsor or friend, we will have sent you an email with a personal voucher code giving you a discount on your conference booking. You must enter this voucher code on the registration page to obtain your discount.

Registration opens on Thursday 10 March and closes on Friday 29 April. If you’ve not used our events website before, you’ll need to sign up on the site before registering for the Conference. The full conference programme can be downloaded here. It will help you plan which workshops and sessions you would like to attend.

ART Conference – Saturday 7 May

ART’s conference agenda this year includes a great line up of speakers. Our key-note speaker is not a ringer. Jen Saunders is a workforce transformation specialist and her talk – Building Resilience and Breaking Habits – speaks about building resilience both for organisations and for individuals as they adapt to change. Jen is joined by our other key-note speakers:

  • Jon Bint – Devon Call Change Ringing
  • Andrew Kelso – The Essex way
  • Julia Cater – Teaching ANYONE to ring heavy bells

A range of seminars will showcase innovative ideas and good practice from amongst the bell ringing community. These include:

  • Building and rebuilding a band – Matt Lawrence and Sonia Field
  • How can we be better teachers for our students – Arthur Reeve
  • Teaching with unusual methods – David Smith
  • Ringing up and down in peal – Graham Nabb
  • The Learning the Ropes Advanced Call Change scheme – Clare McArdle
  • Engaging and retaining young ringers – Colin Newman
  • Promoting equality and diversity in ringing – Chris Sharp
  • 50 Ringing Things – a tool to develop skills and motivate – Graham Nabb
  • Activating Cornwall – Hayley Young

We have also organised a lunchtime Devon Call Change Masterclass hosted by Ian Avery, Jon Bint and Graham Sharland from the Devon Association. Book early for this as places are limited.

CCCBR Stewardship & Management – Sunday 8 May

Continuing our successful partnerships with the CCCBR, the second day of the conference is organised by the Stewardship and Management Workgroup. There will be plenty of opportunities to share ideas and information and talk to specialists.

  • · Ropes and how to avoid breaking them – Tony Crabtree
  • · Rope splicing workshop – Tony Crabtree, Alan & Ken Yalden, Philip Pratt
  • · What does what in the bell chamber – David Roskelly
  • · A hands-on opportunity to explore parts of a bell installation – David Roskelly
  • · Keeping the tower and bells in good condition – Tom Ridgman
  • · From no bells to eight in two, not so easy, stages – Nick Wilkins
  • · Architects and their roles with ringers and bell towers – Alan Frost
  • · Sound control inside and outside your tower – Mike Banks
  • · Complaints about noisy bells – Robert Wood
  • · Ringers and bells – how do we work with "The Church"? – Jim Crabtree
  • · How secure are the tower and your ringers? – Peter McMaster

I hope that we’ve whetted your appetite for what the 2022 Conference has to offer, and I look forwards to seeing you in May.