Our new bells were delivered here on Monday 18th December and since then two installation teams from Taylor's, assisted by volunteers from the village, have installed the bells in their new home and they will be test rung later today. We are therefore well on course for their first public ring on Christmas morning!

The generosity of our donors has meant funding of £112,000 is now in place to complete the project, which we are hoping will be by Christmas. We are also most grateful to all those volunteers who have assisted the professionals from John Taylor & Co in moving the physical work forward so speedily. This involved removing the 3 old bells in September and then replacing all 3 floors in the tower with 2 new ones, thereby creating a new Ringing Chamber and enlarging the Bell Chamber to take the increased number of bells. More work will be necessary when the new bell frames arrive on 6th December and the bells during the following week. It will be a tight run thing but we are optimistic the new bells will ring out over the village for the first time at 0900 on Christmas morning. More details of what has been achieved can be seen on our Facebook page 'Over Kellet Jubilee Bells Project' So that we can thank you in person for your support of this project we do hope you will be able to attend some, or all, of our weekend of Celebration and Thanksgiving on February 17/18. A full programme is below and for catering purposes please return the proforma, or email lesleygee54@gmail.com, if you would like tickets for the ceilidh (these are limited so please don't delay!) or are staying for the 'soup & roll' lunch after the Sunday service. We do hope to see you then! OVER KELLET JUBILEE BELLS PROJECT A WEEKEND OF CELEBRATION AND THANKSGIVING SATURDAY & SUNDAY FEBRUARY 17TH & 18TH 2024 PROGRAMME You are invited to join us for all or any of the weekend’s events: Saturday at St Cuthbert’s Church 1400 – 1530 An opportunity to view the new bells and hear about the project 1530 – 1630 For those who so wish, an opportunity to find out more about bell ringing and have a try at ringing the new bells 1630 – 1730 Open Ring. 20 churches in the area will be opening their towers during the day for visiting bell ringers from around the country, finishing their day at St Cuthbert’s 1730 – 1820 A Quarter Peal will be rung 1800 – 2230 A celebratory Ceilidh in the Village Hall, dancing to Ceilidh band ‘Orchard’ Doors open at 1800, Pie & Peas supper from 1930. Sunday at St Cuthbert’s Church From 1000 Pre-service ringing 1045 A service of Thanksgiving will be conducted by Rt Rev Philip North, Bishop of Blackburn, and Rev Matt Gilder, Vicar of St Cuthbert’s Church, Over Kellet From 1200 A ‘soup and roll’ lunch will be served in the Church The first Full Peal will be rung, under the direction of Simon Percy, Ringing Master, St Cuthbert’s Church For catering purposes we need to know the numbers attending the Ceilidh and the lunch after the service. If you would like to attend these events please let us know as soon as possible and by 31st January 2024 at the latest, by either emailing the completed form to lesleygee54@gmail.com or posting to Cockle Hill Barn, Over Kellet, Carnforth, LA6 1DD. There is no charge for any of the above events, apart from the Ceilidh, for which a donation is asked of £10 for an adult, £5 for a child (5-18), or £25 for a family (2 adults and all children of the family age 18 & under). Tickets are limited and early application is recommended. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Name_________________________Address________________________________________________ Email: __________________________ Telephone: __________________________ I/We would like to stay for a ‘soup & roll’ lunch after the service. Number of people: ___ I/We would like tickets for the Ceilidh ___Adults @ £10, ___ Children @ £5, ___ Family ticket @ £25 Please state if any of the above require vegetarian pies _______________________ I enclose a cheque/cash for £ ____ or I have made a bank transfer of £ ____ to a/c: The Over Kellet View, a/c no.: 90135119, sort code: 20-47-61. Please delete that which does not apply

NEWS FROM OVER KELLET JUBILEE BELLS PROJECT…AND AN INVITATION… First, an apology this is a bit of an impersonal letter going to everyone who has supported us in this project since it was launched in June of last year. Thankfully there are a lot of you and our thanks again to everyone who has helped us move the project forward so speedily; our target of having the new bells ringing in time for Christmas looks very much as if it will be achieved. All the work to install the new bells is now fully funded and we are just awaiting the outcome of our grant application to the Lancashire Environmental Fund for extra work in the Ringing Chamber/classroom and additional soundproofing. A second apology to those who may receive this twice as we have two different databases for donors and volunteers! We had a successful ’Twelve Months On’ Open Day in June when Simon Adams from Taylors Bells explained the process of getting the new bells installed and ringing again and Simon Percy, our Ringing Master Designate, spoke about the art of bellringing. We were delighted at the number of people who volunteered to help with the installation of the bells or expressed an interest in learning to ring them. On Monday (September 4th) a team of village residents will be assisting the professional bell-hanger from Taylors with the removal of the current three bells from St.Cuthbert’s tower. The 1499 bell will then be refurbished by Taylors for re-hanging as a ‘chiming only’ service bell. The other two (the 1664 and 1824) will be going to the Keltek Trust for re-homing. In October the three existing floors in the tower will be removed and replaced with two new ones and during the latter part of Nowember and early December the eight new bells will be installed ready, we hope, for ringing on Christmas Day. As previously explained, because of the size of the tower, only five of the redundant eight bells removed from Church Kirk are to be used and three new, smaller, bells are to be cast by Taylors to make up the new ring of eight bells. The 28” bell will be cast on Thursday 21st September and the 29” and 35” bells will be cast on Thursday 5th October. The 35” bell will be the village commemorative bell. Taylors are happy to welcome up to 30 visitors to their works in Loughborough on either or both these days and in addition to watching the casting they will arrange a tour of their extensive works. If there are enough people interested to travel by coach on the October 5th date, rather than making their own arrangements, we will consider booking one. Although we would need to make a charge for this we would also try and use some of our funds to provide a subsidy towards the overall cost. It would probably leave Over Kellet at approximately 0800 and return by about 1800, depending on traffic. Given that places will be limited to 30 on either date we do need to know in advance who wishes to go so that we can notify Taylors accordingly. If more than 30 wish to go, places will be allocated to donors and volunteers on a first come basis. If you are interested in visiting Loughborough on either date and if you would be interested in travelling by coach on 5th October if there are enough to merit this, please email me as soon as possible and before Sunday 10th September (nkdw01@gmail.com). With best wishes and renewed thanks Nick Ward, on behalf of the Over Kellet Jubilee Bells Project Committee

First, we are of course delighted to reach our Spacehive target and a big 'thank you' to all who have supported our project. Although we now have enough money to fund the work on the bells and their installation in St Cuthbert's we still haven't enough yet to pay for all the ancillary work needed in the tower including the sound insulation. One problem has been the lack of Gift Aid, which at the moment is only showing to be a few hundred pounds when we were relying on it being several thousand. We are not sure why this is the case and wonder if a lot of donors missed the small 'Gift Aid' button on the pledge page (I did first time around) or whether for some reason it did not register. Spacehive advise that donors who are happy for their donation to be 'gift aided' are asked to complete a new declaration and email it to me. This will mean we can claim back from HMRC 25% of the relevant donations, which we calculate is potentially in the region £3500, whereas at the moment it looks as if this will only be about £600, which makes quite a difference!. If you are an eligible UK taxpayer we would be post grateful if you would complete the declaration below and email back to me at nkdw01@gmail.com. Alternatively if you would like me to send you a hardcopy form, or you have any questions, please email me or telephone on 01524 733947. ." I .......................................................of ....................................................................................................................... confirm I would like the Parochial Church Council Over Kellet to reclaim the tax on any donations made now or in the future, or have been made in the past four years to the Over Kellet Jubilee Bells Project. I understand I need to pay enough Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax to cover the Gift Aid claimed on all my donations otherwise it is my responsibility to pay any difference. I understand the charity will reclaim 25p tax on every £1 that I give" I am really sorry to be asking you to take time on this after you have generously supported the project already but if all eligible donors can do this as soon as possible it will make a big difference. Many thanks Nick Ward