How the Wensleydale Ringers recruited 20 ringers in 2 months!

Here is the step-by-step guide to how they did it and how you might do it too!

1. Meet up with some (5 or 6?) dynamic ringers from several nearby towers and choose a name like Crinkly Dale Ringers or whatever, especially include towers that are short of ringers. Appoint one member to be the coordinator and take overall charge.
2. Check their Tower Captains are happy to receive new recruits and impress upon them the need to respond promptly when a recruit is allocated to them so the recruit feels wanted.
3. Create a central information store on e.g. dropbox, onedrive or icloud that your team can access / deposit stuff like final version posters, responder log.
4. Think about setting up e.g. Crinkly Dale email account (gmail?) so that all communications are centralised and accessible to the team.
5. Meet to design publicity (or amend ours to suit you)
6. Meet to create a list of publicity destinations like FaceBook groups, local newsletter editors, church notice sheets, personal emails, poster locations, regional newspapers, local radio, allocate them to your team (see the template we used) and agree timescales of publication followed by the start date of Learning Groups
7. Allocate two of your team to present/co-present the presentations to your Learning Groups: review and modify our powerpoints, update text if you like (e.g. the title screens), perhaps update slide presenter notes and print off, be familiar with Powerpoint, RR and Wheatley, try a presentation with some of your own team and/or existing ringers, invite me to join in if you wish. Co-presenter does the Ringing Room bits.
8. Ideally have a paid Zoom account that will give you more than the standard 45 minute session. Alternatively, factor in breaks to coincide with this.
9. Make your own cluster Crinkly Dale Ringers Ringing Room that learners will log on to – see RR help on how to do this or ask me for help
10. Receive enquiries, record in spreadsheet (see our template Log of Responders) and reply using our suggested emails
11. Wait for enquirers saying yes, allocate them to Learning Groups of say up to 6 and let them know of start date (using our suggested email) including links to Zoom and Ringing Room, keep spreadsheet up to date
12. Record feedback and who attends
13. After Taster session or Week 1 you may wish to introduce them by email to their local tower captain for initial visit to tower, perhaps start on tail. Impress upon tower captains the need for their bands to be warm, welcoming and patient, so that recruits are met and enter the tower with pleasure rather than apprehension.
14. All the PowerPoint presentations, templates (eg for publicity materials) and advice is free – contact David Scrutton and Jonathan Couchman by email at wensleydaleringers@gmail.com
15. Do ask David Scrutton, of the Wensleydale Ringers for help.