After eight or so years spending each late May bank holiday at the Central Council's annual meeting, I think it's time for me to step down as a Central Council (CC) representative for the LACR. I've had a good time, visiting various towns and cities across the country, and helping out for a couple of years on the CC Education Committee, but I'm so tied up with my paid job that this year I didn't really have time to critically review the annual meeting papers before the event.

I've concluded that I'm not making much of a contribution, so I should make way for someone who can do more. So there will be at least one vacancy from 2011 among the LACR's five CC representatives unless someone comes forward to take the job.

The formal procedure to become a Lancashire Association CC representative is to...

• Get yourself nominated (either by a couple of association members, or by a branch meeting);
• Get your nomination and your written consent to stand to the General Secretary by the end of October this year;
• Then, if there are more candidates than places, go through a postal ballot to see who should be our representatives;

...then fulfil the role for three years as a CC rep!

The same applies to the other LACR officers' jobs which are up this year (President, Ringing Secretary, Treasurer, Fund Raising Co-ordinator and Conservation Officer) but those are only two year commitments.

My view is that there are only two qualifications to be a successful CC rep. One is to recognise rubbish when you hear it or see it; the other is to be prepared to do something about the rubbish it when you spot it.

And in my view there are a number of things that you do not need to be a successful rep:

1. You don't need to believe that everything's fine with the CC. The thing has been around since 1890, so it shouldn't be a surprise that some bits don't work in the way they would if we were to invent the CC in 2010;
2. You don't need to believe that everything's wrong with the CC. Much of what the CC does is beneficial to all of us. For example, it's helpful that we share a common language to describe what we ring (anyone arriving in Liverpool to join a Pier Head practice will find that the Stedman Cinques or Cambridge Maximus we ring is recognisably the same as what they ring in Preston or London or New York or wherever). It's helpful to have Towers & Belfries and Education Committees to supply advice and training beyond the capacity of territorial associations. And it's helpful to have a CC President and General Secretary so if anyone wants a national view of what ringers think and do, there's someone to ask;
3. You do not need to be the world's greatest ringer. There is a real need for people who understand what the CC Methods Committee are getting at (and, as above, to recognise when the Methods Committee are spouting rubbish) but there's also a need for people who can give specialist advice - maybe on charity law and taxation, or on how planning authorities will handle an application to transfer bells from a redundant but listed church building to an active tower. And on top of this, there's a need for the non-expert - the people with common sense and open minds, even if no special knowledge, to keep an eye on the experts;
4. You don't need to be elderly. I will admit to being somewhat disturbed by the CC's age profile - at 44, I am well below the average age of CC members. But current members of the CC include some who have served for 40 or 50 years. These members may be aging - but they aren't ancient. So they must have joined the council while in their early 20s. Lack of grey hair should not be a deterrent to joining!
5. You do not need to be rich. For the last couple of years we have been prepared to pay expenses to our CC reps - tightly limited in sum, but in my view sufficient to get to and from the meeting without being too badly out of pocket.

Please consider who you know who could do this role well - and think about whether you could be that person!