Membership of the Ely DA
The Ely Diocesan Association of Church Bell Ringers represents ringers who live in the Diocese of Ely, or who are ringers at a tower within the Diocese. Membership of the Association is open to all such ringers, and eligible ringers are warmly invited to join the Association.
The Association uses membermojo.co.uk for online membership management - existing members can use it to Manage their Membership and anyone can use it to Apply to Join the Association. There is a slideshow containing more information about the system and how it works.
By joining the Association you will be invited to ringing meetings, training courses and other events arranged by the individual districts and by the Association as a whole. You can also meet other local ringers, participate in planning meetings, courses and events, and help to ensure that ringers have a voice in their local communities and in the Diocese.
Ringers are usually attached to an individual tower in one of the four Districts of the Association (Cambridge, Ely, Huntingdon and Wisbech). A new member is elected by the existing ringing members of their District, generally at a meeting within the district of the tower to which they are attached. There is an interactive map showing the Ely DA towers with regular ringing. For more information, contact the secretary of any District, or contact the General Secretary of the Association (all contact details below). For example, a District Secretary can tell you which is your nearest active tower, provide details of the next meeting of the District, and supply a membership application form.
Ringing Members of the Association pay an annual subscription. The current rate for membership is £15.00 (from January 2025), with a reduced rate of £5.00 for Junior Members (that is, ringers under the age of twenty-one). Senior Ringing Members (a membership category prior to January 2018) are Ringing Members as described above, but have no obligation to pay an annual subscription. Subscriptions are due at the start of January; members elected after the Annual District Meetings in January liable for a subscription from the following 1st of January
Ringing Members are entitled to vote at meetings of their District and of the Association, and receive a copy of the Annual Report. A scheme of insurance for Personal Accident risks is in place, and covers all ringing members. Member's subscriptions support the the work of the Bell Restoration Fund in providing, maintaining and improving bells in the diocese along with their installations, bell towers and training facilities.
Members may purchase a rage of Association-branded merchandise.
The full rules of the Association are supplemented by a set of regulations, and include a formal statement of the objects of the Association: ringing for Divine Service, teaching and promotion of ringing, maintenance of church bells and bell installations, and maintaining a record of ringing activities within the Diocese of Ely.
The Ely DA takes privacy of its members very seriously as set out in this privacy statement for the Association. The Ely DA acknowledges its duty of care for the protection from physical, sexual or emotional abuse, of children (under 18 years of age) attending events organised at Association and District level in line with the published Safeguarding guidelines.
For more information about membership, please contact your District Membership Secretary, the Association General Secretary (secretary_at_elyda.org.uk), or email membership_at_elyda.org.uk.