At its meeting on 30th May, the Central Council agreed to set-up a review group (“the Central Council’s Review Action Group or CRAG for short”) to undertake a detailed review of its rules and activities, to make recommendations for modernisation and to report with recommended changes to the 2017 Council Meeting in Edinburgh.
The CRAG Group held its first meeting at St. Martin’s-in-the-Bullring, Birmingham on Saturday 13th August and we are very grateful for the support given to us by the St. Martin’s team.
Prior to the meeting, we were informed that one of the Group’s members would not unfortunately be able to serve. To ensure that our composition reflects as far as possible the desired breakdown between current members, ex-members and non-members of the Central Council, we are seeking an additional ex Council member to join the Group. We invite further volunteers to get in touch via email.
The Group elected Phil Barnes (KCACR) to be its chairman, with Alison Everett (Sussex Association) as its deputy chairman.
The Group concluded that its remit to consider modernisation (rather than merely technical efficiency) required it first to take into account the wider landscape of ringing, the future opportunities which will exist, and the place which the Central Council will occupy within the Exercise.
CRAG has proposed a single sentence Vision Statement to encapsulate what we feel the Central Council’s vision for ringing should be. A draft of this will be published in the Ringing World and elsewhere on 9th September and we invite written submissions on the Vision Statement until 30th September.
Review of responses will inform a high-level Mission Statement including several objectives to summarise how the Central Council should pursue its Vision. Ringers and other interested parties will be consulted on this between 7th and 31st October.
Alongside this work, as part of its information gathering and at the formative stage of consultation, the Group will interview current Officers and Committee Chairmen of the Central Council in order to understand what they feel works well in the current organisation and what could be the subject of improvement. As well as asking for ideas from within the Council they will also invite and listen to suggestions from outside the Council to give others the opportunity to feed in their overall comments.
However, as an independent body CRAG will of course make recommendations based on its own assessment of the various forms of information available to us.
The Group’s work will conclude with recommendations setting out practical measures which will assist the Central Council in managing future change and taking the steps necessary to achieve its desired end-state.
Ruth Marshall and John Harrison proposed the group and have facilitated setting it up, they kindly agreed to support the Group’s work going forward and may attend its future meetings, but will not take an active role in its deliberations or developing its conclusions.
Alison Everett, Public Relations Officer, CRAG Group. 01.09.16.
