[Transcribed by Emily Watts]

Introduction to Kent Young Ringers

[00:00:00] JEN: It's vitally important that they have a spirit of camaraderie, of friendship, they have fun together.

We encourage their progression, their ringing, they encourage each other.

Ringing by the Society of Cambridge Youths

Introducing the podcast

[00:00:19] CATHY: Earlier in the year, I interviewed several people from the Kent Young Ringers. You can hear my interview with three of the members and a non-ringing parent in an episode already published. However, today we have Steph Runting, a young helper. But first.

Meet the Key Figures: Neil Jones and Jen Thomas

[00:00:33] CATHY: And now I'm interviewing two of the people who are instrumental to the success of the Kent Young Ringers. Neil Jones is currently the Chairman of the Kent County Association of Change Ringers and Jen Thomas is the Kent County Association Youth Officer. My first question is coming to Neil. Neil, can you tell me a little bit about the young ringers in the Kent Association?

Neil's Journey with the Young Ringers

[00:00:54] NEIL: Yeah, we're really lucky to have them. They've been in existence, for about 10 years now. I first got involved in the Young Ringers in about 2016 when my daughter, who was nearly 11 then was invited to take part in the Ringing World National Youth Competition in London. As a result of that, I tagged along as the responsible adult to look after her, and I then got involved with the practices and have attended all the Ringing World National Youth Competitions since with my daughter. Looking forward this year to going away without her to the London competition.

Jen's Role as Youth Officer

[00:01:29] CATHY: Jen, can you tell me how long have you been the Kent County Association Youth Officer?

[00:01:35] JEN: Yes, since 2016, in the autumn, the association appointed a Youth Officer at the AGM in April 2016. And there had been a few groups in the different districts getting together before that. I was involved with the Tunbridge district youngsters. We had a good number at the time, 2014, 2015, and there'd been a move to get them together at a county association level just before that, I wasn't very involved because I didn't do very much ringing for a couple of years, but then I was invited to become involved with the youngsters and our first group sessions were the practices for that Ringing World Contest in London that Neil's been talking about.

I went along with that and later on that year, I was asked if I would take up the mantle of the Young Ringers as a Youth Officer. And I was appointed properly in the following April and was instrumental with Neil and our other youth district coordinators, in drawing up a programme, which more or less goes along the same lines today.

[00:02:56] CATHY: Great. What do you think is the most important part of the role of being the county Youth Officer?

The Importance of Camaraderie

[00:03:03] JEN: Encouraging our youngsters to ring together where they sometimes come from towers where there are no other youngsters and they may be the only one. There are lots of youngsters in Kent. There are up to 60 or 80 at the moment. But they don't all come to Young Ringers because some of them are very happy in their own towers.

Very comfortable with their older ringers. And some of them aren't particularly interested in joining with other youngsters. But some of them are very interested in joining with other youngsters. And for them it's vitally important that they have a spirit of camaraderie, of friendship, they have fun together.

We encourage their progression, their ringing, they encourage each other.

I think that's that's the most important, don't you think, Neil?

Success Stories and University Connections

[00:03:54] NEIL: It gives them that, foothold perhaps, on ringing together as a group, and for some, it's a starting point to heading off to university and ringing with other young ringers there. So, they've had a good grounding with us, often getting something they might not be able to get at their own home tower.

[00:04:10] JEN: And I'm really, really reassured, thrilled actually, by the fact that all, those young ringers who have rung. Come up through the ranks and rung with our teams, either as reserves or ringers, or even not even being part of the team, but from age 18. They have all gone on to ring at university or in other parts of the country.

Not many of them have come back to Kent because their careers, their life has moved on, but they are all ringing where they are. And those who have stayed in Kent are actually helping our next generation of young ringers to progress.

I think that's just lovely.

[00:04:53] CATHY: What do you think contributes towards the Kent Young Ringers being a success?

Encouragement and Outreach

[00:04:59] NEIL: First of all, I think Jen does. There's a huge amount of encouragement going on. We hear about young ringers, and Jen will very often go and visit that tower, make herself known to the young ringers there. I've done the same as well with towers in my local area.

If there are young ringers, we'll tell them about the young ringers. It exists, making them aware that there is this group of youngsters who have a common interest with the ringing. Some, as Jen has said earlier, will take it up. They're happy to go along. Some are happy in their own towers, but we do make sure that parents are aware that young ringers exist.

[00:05:31] CATHY: And Jen, what else do you think contributes to the success?

[00:05:35] JEN: Their camaraderie. You know, they're joining together, they're having fun together.

Monthly Sessions and Competitions

[00:05:41] JEN: We have, sessions once a month. We have outings during the school holidays, we have our inter-district striking contest and I think that we are the only county association that has an inter-district striking competition and we have our own trophy for that.

There is keen competition to win that trophy between the districts. Daniel Brady set that up in about 2015 when he was a young Chairman of the Association, and he had that foresight and vision. And, in the rules for that we allow up to 25-year-olds to join in so that they can have the opportunity to enter a team from their own district, whereas if we were limiting them to only 18-year-olds and under, we wouldn't get enough teams together.

We've had weekends away, and we take part in the SEECON, the Southeast England Contest and the Ringing World Contest, and we have other like bowling afternoons so that we can have fun together that's not just ringing. We'll have an Easter egg treasure hunt out in the churchyard in April.

So, we try to do things that aren't just ringing, but all based around ringing.

Setting Up the Kent Young Ringers

[00:07:05] CATHY: What would you do if you had to set up the Kent Young ringers again? How would you start it?

[00:07:11] NEIL: It's a difficult one, it's something we haven't had to think about because as far as I'm concerned it feels like it's been there forever.

Leadership and Safeguarding

[00:07:19] NEIL: But I think the first thing is to get the leadership in place who are going to be supportive for young people. You've got to find the right sort of atmosphere for them. You've got to find the right sort of environment for them to gather in. It's also finding those youngsters who are keen to take part in that organisation. With Kent, we're a fairly large association. We've got about over 1,200 members. So, we're one of the larger associations in the country. Geographically, it is a big spread that we're gathering youngsters in from. So perhaps it is working at a smaller level, at a district level or branch level with some associations, beginning there. And from that little acorn, a great oak tree may well grow.

[00:08:07] JEN: And contacting the Ringing Masters of the different districts and asking them. What young ringers they may know of. That would be a good start. These days it's much more difficult with data protection. You can't just email out to all and sundry. So, you have to accommodate those restrictions.

[00:08:32] NEIL: As well as the safeguarding issues that we have to make sure we satisfy.

[00:08:37] JEN: And as Neil says, getting out into the districts, going to the district meetings, those people who are interested in leadership, and finding out what youngsters are around, I guess.

You've got to have a love of children and teenagers.

You've got to really want to encourage them. Engender a spirit of fun somehow, and you've got to give them their heads a little bit more than some people think.

They don't always have to behave very, very properly all the time. People who aren't involved with children and teenagers don't always understand that you actually get a lot of response from them when they don't appear to be responding. But you can work with that and give them a little bit of free reign and if you've got experience then you've got a pretty good idea of what's actually going on in the background for them.

They don't think you do know, but they do. But actually you've got a pretty good idea and you've got to be one step ahead of them .

[00:09:51] NEIL: And both Jen and I have a background in education, Jen, secondary education. I'm a primary school teacher.

 So, we've both had that experience with working with youngsters, and young people. And we know a little bit about how they think. And I think that is important when you're setting up a young ringers' group to have ringers who have a little bit of a background in educational, as Jen said, a knowledge of how young people work and how their minds work so that you can keep them engaged.

[00:10:18] JEN: But young ringers are quite eccentric in their own way. I can remember the first couple of sessions that we had they all stood around when they weren't ringing, they just stood around, didn't talk to each other at all and I stood there saying you are allowed to talk to each other and a year later it was quite difficult to shut them up at times, but in a nice, a nice way.

And again, we've got a few now who are a bit quiet and reserved and when they come to Young Ringers, they're not quite always sure what to expect until they find their feet and join in with the others.

Recruitment Strategies

[00:10:57] CATHY: And how do you recruit young ringers in the first place? How do you engage young people to become ringers?

[00:11:04] NEIL: We've got three or four groups in the Association, of school children who are learning to ring. Where the churches have established links with, the school that's associated with the church. And I know I've got one group locally, year sixes that are doing a taster session.

Jen has done some work with some Year 5s and 6s in another village church, and there's other churches where one of our other leaders has got involved with the school across the road from that church. So that's a very good way in. If it's like my daughter, it's the parent bringing the child along to have a go at ringing, and then being quite persuasive about them having a go, and the mornings or the evenings they don't fancy coming to ringing, you say, "Well you might enjoy it when you get there". And they usually do. So that's another way in for young people. But it is really trying to make sure that Ringing gets that promotion. And perhaps with the Ringing 2030 campaign, and I know you were talking about that recently, That, I think, is going to help us immensely if we can get that off the ground at the younger end, as well as looking at the whole ringing population in general. If that can really address itself for the younger generation and that liaison with schools and other educational establishments.

Engaging Activities and Traditions

[00:12:23] CATHY: What do you think keeps the young ringers engaged?

[00:12:27] JEN: They enjoy ringing together.

 We try to help them with a bit of guidance to run the sessions themselves. That doesn't always work, but sometimes it does. Sometimes they're not sure quite what the progression is for some of the youngsters. We've tried a bit of a buddy system at times, where an older, more experienced ringer can be the one who talks to a newer person and find out what it is that they want to ring.

And then keep it going. Oh, and ringing Quarter peals together.

They can enjoy doing that and building them up so that they're the person calling the Quarter peal. Often, we can have four or five youngsters with one or two adults or more calling Quarter peals. But sometimes we actually get Quarter peals with just the youngsters.

And somehow, they need to appeal to each other's spirit of fun. We've had Quarter peals here where there was a strawberry plant was the focus of the Quarter peal and then the strawberry plant died so they rang a Quarter peal as an ode to the dead, deceased strawberry plant. There's quite a tricky, ring of Bells at East Peckham, where one of our young ringers lived, and it was like an initiation ceremony for them to come and ring a Quarter peal there, and they enjoyed that, so you became one of the mad ones if you'd rung a Quarter peal at East Peckham.

Handbell Adventures

[00:13:57] NEIL: Don't forget the handbell quarters in that as well.

[00:14:01] JEN: Yes, I was going to say that.

[00:14:02] NEIL: In cars,

[00:14:03] JEN: We had a group of youngsters who were very keen on handbells and it started off with two of them ringing handbell quarters everywhere they possibly could, minimus, on four bells,

[00:14:14] JEN: At lunchtime by the pond, walking from tower to tower, in the car.

Yes, there was a Quarter peal rung at midnight in the rain under a tree outside a youth hostel. They were ringing handbells on the ferry going from Hythe to Southampton and actually that Quarter peal I think was rung I'm not sure if it ended up as a Quarter peal, but they were ringing that while eating carrots.

And carrots have somehow become a tradition for young ringers. And five, six years later, we are still ringing with carrots for some reason. Some things we, it's better not to know why.

Opportunities for Growth

[00:14:55] NEIL: It's also providing opportunities for some of the individuals, at a higher level. There have been members of the Young Ringers team who need that opportunity to stretch themselves. We've got one at the moment who's branching into ringing on twelve. So, giving that encouragement for that member to go to Benenden to have a go, ringing at the twelve there. Or it's perhaps looking at opportunities within towers and encouraging the tower captains to let the young ringers there have a go at calling things, whether it be call changes or a touch to something. Trying to encourage those opportunities outside of the realm of the young ringers' meetings.

[00:15:33] JEN: I'm very fortunate in that I have a link with the Middlesex and London Guild who very kindly allow me to take three or four or five youngsters to ring at St Mary le Bow for the Lord Mayor's procession in November every year, so that gives them a chance.

So, this last year, there were two who'd never rung on twelve bells before, an eleven-year-old and a thirteen-year-old. Just absolutely really, really enjoyed the day and we give those youngsters a chance to have a go at something different.

[00:16:14] CATHY: So, creating opportunities.

[00:16:16] JEN: And we've been with the handbells, Neil said, you know, we are very fortunate now. We were given handbells in memory of one of our Kent ringers who died. So now we have our own Kent Young Ringers handbells, which is just great.

So, we try to promote that a little bit as well.

Striking Competitions

[00:16:34] CATHY: And the striking competitions, what part do they play in, encouraging everybody to to focus on things?

[00:16:41] JEN: Yes, well, as I said, we've got the Inter-district Striking Contest and trying to encourage each district to put in a team of six to ring call changes or a method.

And, we have a trophy. And it's engraved every year with the winners. So, they are very keen. The Canterbury District is particularly keen to win this trophy. And despite having had some very experienced ringers in their team, they've actually not quite managed it.

And then we go on to the SEECON Southeast England contest in April.

We've entered that since 2017.

[00:17:19] JEN: And then, that's our springboard to preparing for the ringing World national contest in July.

Improving Striking Techniques

[00:17:27] CATHY: How does everybody improve their striking? What sort of methods do you use to do that?

[00:17:33] JEN: Lots of practice and exercises.

[00:17:36] CATHY: What sort of exercises?

[00:17:40] JEN: That might be giving away.

[00:17:41] CATHY: Yes.

Achievements and Trophies

[00:17:47] JEN: have won the Editor's trophy for excellence twice. Once in Liverpool in 2019. And bearing in mind the first time we entered was 2016 with a very, very new team, we were really pleased to win that. And then in Worcester in 2021, we had a team of six because it was straight after Covid, and we won there as well.

So, we're really very keen to try and win again.

July 2024 Competition in London

[00:18:17] CATHY: Tell me about the next competition that's coming up then.

[00:18:21] JEN: London. On the Saturday the 6th of July, headquarters for the day is St Mary le Bow and the two contest towers are St James' Garlickhythe and St Olave's Hart Street.

So, the six-bell contest takes place at St James' Garlickhythe and the eight-bell at St Olave's Hart Street.

Encouraging Young Ringers

[00:18:43] JEN: And we have an eight-bell team this year, last year our youngsters took part in the Kent Call Change competition . So, they were the only team of youngsters competing against other adult teams from different areas around Kent.

And previously to that, we, in Farningham, when David Hilling was here, we had a fun competition going on there for a wooden trophy. And we went along and took part in that as well. So, it's all about encouraging them.

[00:19:20] CATHY: So now, is there anything else you can think of that we should touch on before I ask you each the last question

Support from the Association

[00:19:27] JEN: Well, we're very fortunate because the Association supports our young ringers so well. They pay for our accommodation, catering for our youngsters, the travel for our youngsters going to the competitions. So, there are no questions asked about financial needs, whether anyone can afford to come. You know, we've been to Liverpool, York, Worcester, Exeter.

The Association has always funded us, absolutely no quibbles. They support us really, really well, and we're so grateful to that. Even from the shirts that the youngsters have, to their accommodation and travel.

[00:20:16] CATHY: Excellent.

[00:20:17] JEN: That must make a big difference,

[00:20:19] JEN: There's no reason why every Association can't fund their youngsters.

[00:20:23] CATHY: Is there anything you wanted to add?

Investment in Young Ringers

[00:20:25] NEIL: Yeah, I was going to say with that, I've been wandering around with my chairman hat on to various events and quite often talking to members of other associations, they are quite surprised that we are, investing in our young ringers but Kent is a very interesting county.

We've got areas of incredible deprivation within Kent, as well as areas of which are completely the other end of the scale financially. But to make that sort of investment in our young ringers, we think is really important as an association. They are the future for ringing.

The Future of Ringing

[00:21:01] NEIL: If we look at the figures, we know that we were looking at 15 per cent of ringers or so who are under 40. So our young ringers, if we don't do something about it now, where are we going to be in 10 years, 20 years time?

[00:21:17] CATHY: And you're saying that statistic is for the UK, is it? The 15 percent under 40?

[00:21:21] NEIL: The estimate is about 85 percent of ringers are over 40, with the ringing in 2030

estimates. So that leaves 15 percent under 40. That's a worrying number.

[00:21:31] CATHY: Yes, yes, okay.

[00:21:34] JEN: We revolve our youngsters around; we rotate around the middle of Kent so that it's accessible by public transport and then the holidays we have outings to go out to the outlying areas.

Entertaining Car Conversations

[00:21:48] JEN: Those are run by car, so we have lots of fun. And the conversations in my car over the years have been very entertaining.

[00:21:57] CATHY: What sort of conversations? Can't you give that away?

[00:22:00] JEN: No, definitely not. What's said in my car stays in my car, unless I would have a safeguarding concern, in which case I would definitely pass it on. For some of them it's their only chance to have really good, probing discussions, here most of them go to single-sex schools and for, years 12 and 13 to have a chance to have proper, interesting discussions has been really entertaining and interesting.

And they have to have evidence-based arguments, they can't just pluck a thought out of the air.

That's not allowed.

Remarkable Experiences in Bell Ringing

[00:22:37] CATHY: I'm going to end by asking you the question that I ask all my guests.

 What remarkable thing has happened to you that wouldn't have happened if you hadn't taken up bell ringing?

[00:22:48] JEN: Well, for me, lots of things, but two things really stand out for me and that was our Kent Young Ringers ringing Plain Hunt 11 at York Minster last summer. It was just really lovely and that my outstanding memory is of our youngsters. Along with, I don't know, 80 or 90 other youngsters ringing at Liverpool Cathedral after the contest in Liverpool.

And that was just such a wonderful atmosphere. It was a fabulous, fabulous event. It was just stunning.

[00:23:25] CATHY: Thank you.

[00:23:26] JEN: Very atmospheric.

Personal Growth Through Ringing

[00:23:28] NEIL: For me, on a personal basis, if I hadn't started ringing, I don't think I would be the character I am now. It really has helped me, starting as I left the university, to get involved with ringing there. It really helped me to come out of my shell a little bit with a lot of things. Subsequently, perhaps the evidence is now with the mantle of the Chair of the association, which I don't think I would have done. From a young ringer's perspective, walking into Exeter Cathedral in 2022 and listening to the sounds of mini rings, Handbells, loads and loads of young ringers wandering around inside there. And as Jen said about Liverpool, it was the same in Exeter. The atmosphere inside that building, the Dean and Chapter had worked wonders to welcome us all in.

And the atmosphere was just so welcoming and a really good advert for ringing at all levels.

[00:24:27] CATHY: Thank you very much.

Stephanie's Journey with Kent Young Ringers

[00:24:28] CATHY: Stephanie Runting is 23 and is with the Kent Young Ringers. Stephanie, when did you start ringing and when did you join the Kent Young Ringers?

[00:24:36] STEPHANIE: So, I started ringing when I was 12 years old, about to go into secondary school, and I have been with the Young Ringers for almost 10 years now, as I joined them when I was 14.

[00:24:48] CATHY: And what have you done with the Kent Young Ringers and what are you doing now?

[00:24:51] STEPHANIE: So, we have done a lot together in the last 10 years, we've been to so many places across the UK for competitions, we've been to places like Liverpool, Worcester, Birmingham. Unfortunately, I couldn't join them on those trips because I was unavailable. At the moment, the youth officer, Jen, is actually bringing up new young ringers.

And that means that because I'm now a lot older than the new young ringers coming in, I get the opportunity to actually help them out at practices and bring them up to what we used to be able to do.

Striking Competitions and Achievements

[00:25:26] CATHY: What striking competitions did you say you've been in with the Kent Young Ringers?

[00:25:30] STEPHANIE: So, I've been in a couple, well actually three thinking about it now. We've done the inter-district competition which is where Lewisham, Rochester, Maidstone and the other ones all join together for a day, I think it's in February or March. And they all come together to ring at a tower for the day as an inter-district competition.

And then you've got the Ringing World competition, which is where you've got 200 to 300 youngsters who actually ring all together. And the Southeast competition, which is held in a tower, in the Southeast of England, and that's also where you've got other ringers from different counties in the South of England coming together to ring as well.

[00:26:16] CATHY: And you said you've been to the Liverpool.

[00:26:22] STEPHANIE: And that was back in 2019. That was a great success for the Young Ringers because we came first in the call changes, and it was just an absolutely amazing weekend. We got to ring at the Cathedral, which was absolutely fantastic, and there were so many Young Ringers up there, it was just amazing.

Social and Competitive Aspects of Ringing

[00:26:38] CATHY: What do you enjoy about ringing with the Kent Young Ringers?

[00:26:42] STEPHANIE: There's quite a lot I enjoy about it. Definitely, it's a confidence boost because you don't often get the chance to ring with young ringers on practice nights. Communication skills as well for definite because like I say you don't often get the opportunity to ring with them that often and for the young ringers in Kent it's usually once or twice a month we get to meet up.

And potentially for quarters. But yeah, I definitely think it is a huge confidence boost, communication, and you just, you get to meet new people all the time, who are older than you, younger than you, yeah.

Kent Young Ringers - success factors

[00:27:17] CATHY: What contributes towards the Kent Young Ringers being a success?

[00:27:21] STEPHANIE: Our Youth Officer, Jen. She's given the group so much motivation and encouragement over the last however many years she's been with us, which I can't even count. She pushes us when we're doing competitions, like we won't leave a practice until we've got everything in order, basically. So, she, yeah, she's a huge contribution to it and she brings up cake and lots of special drinks as well to the practices, which makes it all the better.

Starting a Young Ringers group - and keeping it going

[00:27:48] CATHY: If someone in another part of the country that didn't have a young ringers group wanted to start one, what do you think it would be important for them to start up a good one?

[00:27:57] STEPHANIE: I'd say if they have any form of social media, or maybe even get in touch with somebody in their ringing group, then it could start from there because one or two youngsters could potentially lead on to that base area of getting another four, six people and then you suddenly got a band of six or eight to get going with ringing and then you can promote it around and then see how many other people want to get involved with it and do videos to really get the news around about it.

[00:28:27] CATHY: And once it's going, what do you think is important to keep it going?

[00:28:31] STEPHANIE: Definitely, regular posts, regular videos, everything like that. Keeping the news up to date with what's happening with the group, getting them involved in competitions within the country, because if anybody else sees what's going on within that same area, they'd say, "Oh, it'd be a really, really good opportunity to start in that group".

And then the group just gets bigger and bigger and bigger without really realising what's happening.

Encouraging more young people to take up ringing

[00:28:54] CATHY: How do you think that bell ringing could be made more appealing to young people who've never had a go at it?

[00:29:00] STEPHANIE: So, I think one of the groups that Jen has at, I think it's Seal Chart, is actually connected to the primary school. So, with that is obviously a link to another area that obviously holds young people within a school. So that's definitely somewhere that it could grow from. And I think if you have that link between a ringing society and a school or even a university, then youngsters and university students can actually see what's going on and think, "Oh, that looks really interesting. I'll have a go at that". And with the Coronation, I think, and obviously the passing of Her Majesty, that was a very good, motivation for people to get ringing as well, because a lot of youngsters got the badges that were promoted on Facebook. So, I think it's definitely things like that, that do get youngsters into ringing.

Competitions

[00:29:52] CATHY: What do you particularly like about ringing in competitions?

[00:29:56] STEPHANIE: I really like the competitive area, because you're competing against so many other teams and it's just a really, really great environment to be in. And you get to know so many people on the day or even the weekend that you're there. And there's so many different ringing abilities as well, and if you see somebody struggling with rounds and call changes, then you can ring, say, Plain Hunt, Surprise, all that kind of thing.

Then you can give them a helping hand as well, and then that makes them feel good, and you feel good at the same time, and it's just such a great environment to be in.

Why Steph likes ringing

[00:30:31] CATHY: What do you like about ringing?

[00:30:33] STEPHANIE: I really love the social aspect of it and just the general fact of being able to meet a lot of people. Like I said earlier, you've got the younger generation, you've got the older generation as well. And I get to go to so many practice nights across the week. Like a few years ago, I was going to three or four practice nights a week.

And from that, you can also help people who can't ring as much as you can progress. And there's also the social side of it as well. I admit, I do go to pubs a lot with ringers, which is obviously a huge part of the social area. And you just have a really, really good laugh with everyone. And it's just, that's one of the main reasons I do enjoy it.

And the outings, the competitions, there's just so much to offer and the different towers you get to ring out, you get to travel everywhere. You just get to meet so many new people. It's just an amazing thing to be part of.

Challenges and Achievements in Bell Ringing

[00:31:29] CATHY: What's been the hardest thing to learn in bell ringing?

[00:31:33] STEPHANIE: I think probably the jump from call changes to plain hunt because I was talking to some people about this on Wednesday at my practice night and saying that with the call changes people do that by numbers so obviously you say three to one, five for two, get to Queens. With Plain Hunt I know people say don't learn it by numbers which is great but you've got the call changes which is by numbers and then you've got the plain hunt which you do by rope sight or counting places and I think when I started learning Plain Hunt that was definitely a huge jump for me because I thought I've got to learn it all by numbers and I just got really put off it so quickly thinking I have to memorise every single row and then somebody said to me oh if you just do it by places and rope sight it'll become so much easier and as soon as I did that that was it I was off doing so many other things.

[00:32:27] CATHY: What's been your greatest achievement as a bell ringer?

[00:32:31] STEPHANIE: I've got a couple of things actually,

The first one was definitely coming first place in the call changes at the Ringing World in Liverpool, because that was my last Ringing World competition, and to have that achievement was just absolutely amazing.  

 The second one was, I think it was a few months ago, I rang my first peal of Surprise Royal. I'd learnt the method for quite a while, but it was quite a big step for me to do that. And I thought, "Oh this is really, really scary." But I had a really supportive band around me, and it was a really, really good achievement .

Tips for learners

[00:33:06] CATHY: Do you have any tips for people who are learning?

[00:33:09] STEPHANIE: Take your time, don't stress about it. Yes, the time it takes to completely depend on the person and their learning abilities. And also, it depends on how many people are learning at the same time as you because if you're the only person in your tower who is learning then you're going to get a lot of that one-to-one attention.

If there's a group of you learning to ring, then You're gonna have to take it in stages and take it in turns and unless you have, dedicated nights for training, it will take a while.

Kent Young Ringers higlight for Steph

[00:33:42] CATHY: So I'm going to ask you a last question now, which is what's the best thing you've ever done with the Kent Young Ringers?

[00:33:50] STEPHANIE: Again, I think it's just been the Ringing World Competitions, to be honest, because like I always say, you meet so many new people, and you're with so many youngsters the whole day, and it's just a great environment. And like I said, Jen pushes you so much to be a really good team to bring in it, that it's just amazing.

Final Thoughts and Acknowledgements

[00:34:13] CATHY: Thank you to my guests. Neil Jones. Jen Thomas and Steph Runting for telling us all about what it takes to organise the Kent Young Ringers. If you've enjoyed this episode, then please share it.

This podcast was put together by a team. Special thanks go to Anne Tansley Thomas, Emily Roderick, John Gwynne, Emily Watts, the Society of Cambridge Youths for the ringing at the beginning of the show. And for the video at the end of the show of the ringing by the Lilliputter's Guild, YouTuber, Simon Edwards.

Thank you.

[Bells ringing call changes]