EAR members at 2012 International Symposium

Welcome to the website of the East Anglian Region of the Handbell Ringers of Great Britain

The East Anglian Region is one of eight regions of HRGB and currently comprises around 60 teams, including the Regional Team which is made up of ringers from throughout East Anglia and further afield.

If you would like to join a team, help out with forthcoming events, book a team for your special occasion, or are interested in more information about handbell ringing in East Anglia, then please contact our Regional Secretary, Susan Duke.

Latest Updates

4th September 2024

The application form for the Broxbourne Handbell Ringers Read and Ring workshop on Saturday 10th October is now available for download. Please return all applications by 12th September.

20th June 2024

Please remember to get your application forms in by the end of this week for the Ivel Ringers rally on Saturday 6th July.

19th June 2024

We are saddended to announce the death of Rosemary Galloway.
Rosemary was a very significant person in the history of the East Anglian Region. She was a soloist, first accompanied by her husband Pat on keyboard, and then, after his death, with a recorded backing tape. She later set up Sound Appeal, with what seemed at the time an innovative approach to ringing a large set of bells with just five ringers, moving up and down the table according to the music; they played in the concert at the National Rally held in Nottingham. Sadly, in recent years she was unable to play due to severe arthritis. She had a long stint on the Regional Committee, first as Regional Membership Secretary, during which time she produced a regional directory of teams, and later as magazine editor. She also produced many handbell arrangements, especially of carols and classical pieces, and it is her arrangements which form the bulk of our EAR Music Scheme. She never wanted to conduct, though. In the early days of the Regional Team, she would record the pieces on keyboard, to provide a rehearsal CD for the players. She even planned for her eventual retirement from ringing by donating the Sound Appeal Bells to the region – they are currently being used for Symposium rehearsals.
Rosemary died in her sleep on Saturday 15th June, in her nineties.

Let's Rejuvenate

Handbell Ringing in the UK and HRGB is at a crisis point.

  • Every day the average age of ringers in the UK increases.
  • Every week there are sets of Handbells and Chimes going on sale and unsold.
  • Every month there are fewer new ringers starting than leaving the art.
  • Every year there are teams folding, or combining, and fewer HRGB members.

HRGB can only survive and thrive if there is an active and varied membership. It must also be at a level that is viable to allow us to provide all the benefits you need: from music to events, from financial loans to public performance enquiry management, from educational materials to on-demand advice.

We simply need lots of ringers to be able to find enough volunteers within the membership to cover the tasks required to run a charity in 2024, and to be able to grow the handbell art within and outside of the organisation.

Over the past decade, or perhaps even longer, the National and East Anglia Regional membership numbers have been in decline. Our region has withstood this better than most, but we are at a tipping point. If we do not reverse this trend, HRGB will cease to be and handbell ringing will decline as it did at the start of the 1900s.

The regional committee has been carefully balancing costs vs. benefits by saving where possible. This included engaging with you at the AGM in 2023 regarding cost reductions such as replacing posted with electronic magazines. We need to continue this conversation in 2024 so together we can reverse the trend and get more people ringing.

New ringers lead to new teams; new teams lead to more ringers.

We can turn the tables; we can rejuvenate!

How can we best help reverse the trend?

  • What are you screaming out for?
  • What are the if only HRGB did x?
  • What should we continue doing, stop doing, and/or do differently?
  • Where should the committee work to increase benefits or realign to your needs?
  • What should the committee be pushing for at the National Executive Committee?
  • How can we get bells into the hands of more people?
  • What would turn the non-HRGB members in your team or other local group into members?
  • What can you offer to help – materials, actions, activities or something else entirely?

Together we can make a difference to Handbell Ringing in Great Britain and further the art for ALL. Please send your thoughts and comments to Aidan Fozard soon and preferably before the AGM. We will use your feedback to shape our strategy and will report back following our next committee meeting.

We look forward to hearing from you and reporting back.

Guidance for Small Events

Thinking about holding a rally or a get-together with other ringers? Please click here for some helpful advice and a list of things to remember.

Young Ringer Support Scheme

Please click here for details of the new Young Ringer Support Scheme.

Crescendo Scheme

'Crescendo' is a staged programme to encourage you to develop your handbell ringing skills. It's meant for new, young ringers, although existing ringers are very welcome to join in too.

The scheme is free of charge, but if you would like the badges and presentation certificates, they cost £2.50 for each stage (including postage).

For more information, click here for an information sheet or visit the HRGB website.

The Frank Tomlin Bells

When Frank Tomlin died in 2006 he left the region £1000 in his will. After consultation with the membership the Committee decided to use this money to purchase a set of 12 Malmark handbells, to be used by the membership in a way not dissimilar to the Woodroyd Bells owned by the William Hartley Memorial Fund.

These bells were bought in 2008 and are appropriately named the Frank Tomlin Bells. They are available for lease to named individuals on behalf of a team, for a period of 6 or 12 months.

The only cost to the lessee is insurance for the duration of their lease - currently less than £30 per annum - and the only requirement (other than looking after the bells and abiding by certain formal conditions) is to perform at an EAR rally while the bells are in their possession.

This is an ideal opportunity to get a new team started, enabling them to fund-raise to buy their own bells, or to introduce handbells to a school or other youth group. Applications for the lease of the Frank Tomlin Bells are invited; please put your case to us, stating who would use the bells, how long you would like them and why the lease would be of benefit.

Send your applications via Susan Duke to the Regional Committee, who will assess their merit.

Ideas, problems or things to discuss?

Feel free to contact a committee member to air any ideas that you may have. Please inform them of any problems which you encounter and let them know of any help which you can give.