Armistice centenary: 1400 bell-ringers wanted
TO MARK the final year of the First World War centenary commemorations, 1400 new bell-ringers are sought: the same number as lost their lives during that war. The campaign Ringing Remembers is being run by the Department of Communities and Local Government, in collaboration with the Big Ideas Community Interest Company and the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers. The steward of the rolls of honour at the Council, Alan Regin, who was appointed MBE in the New Year Honours list, told The Times that “several hundred” of the country’s 6000 working bell-towers had fallen silent for want of ringers.
www.bellringing.org/ringingremembers
Derelict goods yard to house new Derby school
DERBY Cathedral School, a new school due to open in September in temporary accommodation (News, 16 June), has found a permanent site: Friar Gate Goods Yard, a derelict site that has been empty for 50 years, the Derby Telegraph reports. The new building will take three years to construct. Derby Diocesan Academy Trust is now appointing staff and working with the head teacher designate, Gordon Inglis, on education plans and policies. The permanent site is a ten-minute walk from the cathedral. Faith is not among the admissions criteria.
BRISTOL CATHEDRALRose tended: Bristol Cathedral is celebrating the first restoration of its Victorian rose window since it was installed in the 1860s. It was made possible by an anonymous donor’s gift of £125,000. The glass depicts Christ in Majesty, surrounded by angels praising him, who are joined by people working in arts, crafts, professions, and trades
Thefts from Welsh churches draw out generosity
CHURCHES in Wales were targeted by thieves over Christmas. On Christmas Day, thieves stole electrical equipment, including a PA system and projector laptops, and silverware and brassware — including a crucifix commemorating the First World War — candlesticks, and a chalice, from St Lleurwg’s, Hirwaun, in Rhondda Cynon Taf. A crowdfunding site, set up by a local councillor, Karen Morgan, to pay the excess on the church’s insurance claim, raised more than £1000 in five days, and a further £1000 was donated directly to the church. Last week, it was discovered that money had been taken from a locked charity collection box outside the nativity scene at Swansea Unitarian Church. A JustGiving appeal to replace the money, raised for Matthew’s House, which helps the homeless, has raised more than £1000; the target was £200.
www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/swansea-unitarian-church
George Bell’s niece calls on Archbishop to resign
THE 93-year-old niece of the former Bishop of Chichester the late George Bell has called on the Archbishop of Canterbury to resign, after the publication of a review that criticised the Church’s handling of allegations against Bell (News, 15 December). His niece, Barbara Whitley, told the BBC that she wanted Archbishop Welby to step down, and a face-to-face apology from the C of E for its treatment of her uncle: “I’m determined to clear his name before I die,” she said.
ST AUGUSTINE'S, LimburySexagennial: Roy Meek, an organist who has been playing the same instrument for 60 years, will be celebrated at St Augustine of Canterbury, Limbury, Luton, this Sunday. “My ambition was to play a big organ in a lovely church, and that ambition has been fulfilled,” he said this week