Jennifer Woodward, a member of the Stepney Band, is also a member of the London Gallery Quire and invites us to their annual Christmas Concert of West Gallery Music at St George’s German Lutheran Church, 55 Alie Street E1 8EB on Wednesday 5 December at 7pm (doors open at 6.30pm). Tickets are £6 on the door. As the poster tells us this is an opportunity to see inside the oldest surviving German church in England – one of those Open House sites I’ve always meant to visit but so far haven’t incorporated into my jam-packed routes and I am intersted to learn more about the music (featuring in Thomas Hardy’s early novel Under the Greenwood Tree), so I’ll be there. See also the Historic Chapels Trust website for more information about the venue. http://www.hct.org.uk/chapels/london/st-georges-german-lutheran-church/17 Click on the poster below and then click on it again to see it at a more legible size. Hope to see many of you at the concert!

Thanks to David Cloake for spotting this and posting on Facebook

One must agree it makes a nice change from ringers drawn skywards on the ends of ropes.

Thanks to Andrew Larsen, who opened up Rotherhithe tower early one Monday and posed for the cartoonist of the South London Press, and for all the ringers who came along to help out at the Press Launch of the Churches Conservation Trust Bell Ringing for Fitness initiative the following day.

There are rumours of more press coming to Tuesday’s Bermondsey practice. Come and display your honed and sculpted biceps, triceps and pecs!

Just a reminder of this event coming up next week.This will be a press launch and is organised by Midas PR on behalf of the Churches Conservation Trust who have joined up to promote the fitness benefits of bell ringing. We’re hoping for a good showing of Docklands ringers. If you are coming to the Bermondsey practice and can manage the earlier gig at Rotherhithe, please let us know by visiting this link:

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/event/4797081199

Thank you! Hope you can come

Last winter a group of us joined the “sleepout” to raise money for the ecumenical ROBES project, which provides a night shelter for homeless guests throughout the winter months south of the Thames. It was a tremendous success, raising over £60,000, which meant we could provide advice and support for rough sleepers throughout the year, as well as buy new bedding for our guests this winter.

We’re asking for help again this year, when the Sleepout will take place on 30th November: if you would like to join the Sleepout yourself, please get the information and registration forms from http://www.robes.org.uk/2009/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=50&Itemid=64, making sure you fill in our team name which is “RINGERS FOR ROBES”. If you can’t join the sleepout but would like to contribute financially, my giving page is open at https://www.justgiving.com/Morag-Todd.

Please help us make this event an even bigger success this year!

Many of the 100+ visitors to Rotherhithe on Sunday 23 September 2012 expressed an interest to know more or to give it a try, either with us or in other parts of London. They have now all been contacted and sent details of towers local to them and association training officers who can advise or invitations to one of our practices. Within 24 hours we’ve already had some feedback! So to reward all the Docklands members who helped out at Rotherhithe on that rainy Sunday, here are our ‘user reviews’:

“Thanks very much for following this up and for arranging/participating in the splendid bell ringing display last Sunday – it was truly inspirational”

“It was a real privilege to see the ringing at St Marys on Sunday. We both enjoyed it. I will see if I could be involved. Thanks for the contact details.”

“I much enjoyed my visit to the Rotherithe tower at the London Open House 2012. Your hospitality was much appreciated and your ethusiasm infectious!”

Well done, team! You are inspirational!