I am sure you that it will not come as a surprise to you that the striking competition committee have taken the decision to postpone the Guild 6 and 8 bell inter tower striking competition until later in the year. I am not in a position to offer a date at this time as we feel that we need to wait to see how things develop with the covid-19 virus and the rest of the Guild calendar for a few weeks.
It has unfortunately been decided to stop ringing, both for the Sunday service and Wednesday Evening practice, as part of precautions considered under the present worldwide Corona Virus outbreak.
Arrangements are in hand to extend the tenor bell to allow tolling from the ground floor. Normal ringing will be resumed as soon as it is thought sensible to do so.
After further consideration and reviewing the content of the agenda, the Principle officers and I have decided to postpone the EC meeting on Saturday until a future date. The covid-19 risk is probably low but there is still a risk and your safety is paramount.
The only time critical item on the agenda is the approval of the reports for the handbook. These have been distributed to you by email with the EC papers and we would ask that you review them and if you have any comments / questions that you email Adrian by midnight on Monday 16th March. If we don’t hear from you by that time we will assume that you are ‘in favour’ of acceptance of the reports.
The reports are proposed by Pete Jordan and seconded By Adrian Nash.
Any other business on the agenda can be deferred to the next meeting or covered outside the meeting.
I will discuss with those who have information agenda items if they would like Adrian to send information to you by email or defer to the postponed meeting date. At this time I am unable to confirm when this will be however.
I know that this is not an ideal situation but I am sure you will understand in light of the current pandemic.
With Best Regards
Pete Jordan
Master  – Winchester & Portsmouth Guild of Church Bell Ringers
All Saints, Odiham bells will be out of action during refurbishment from Monday 10th February 2020 until end of March/early April, unless otherwise stated. Therefore, practices on Wednesday evenings will be held elsewhere. Wednesday 12th February it will be held at St Mary Herriard, venues of future practices will be notified when known.
Winchester and Portsmouth Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers
