Branch Campaigns
CAMPAIGN TRAIL
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CAMRA
LocAle

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What is CAMRA
LocAle?
CAMRA LocAle is a new initiative
that promotes pubs stocking
locally brewed real ale. The
scheme builds on a growing
consumer demand for quality
local produce and an increased
awareness of 'green' issues.
The CAMRA LocAle scheme was
created in 2007 by CAMRA's
Nottingham branch which wanted
to help support the tradition of
brewing within Nottinghamshire,
following the demise of local
brewer Hardys and Handsons.
Everyone benefits from local
pubs stocking locally-brewed
real ale…
- Public
houses as
stocking local
real ales can
increase pub
visits
- Consumers
who enjoy
greater beer
choice and
diversity
- Local
brewers who
gain from
increased sales
- The local
economy
because more
money is spent
and retained
locally
- The
environment
due to fewer
‘beer miles'
resulting in
less road
congestion and
pollution
- Tourism
due to an
increased sense
of local
identity and
pride - let's
celebrate what
makes our
locality
different.
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What is being a member of Westmorland CAMRA all about?
We all need to get out more
There
is always scope for improvement and we are trying to generate
more interest and activity in our Westmorland Branch of CAMRA.
We are keen to enthuse potential new members to join and
‘sleeping’ members to get more involved. Here is a list of
activities that you can ‘pick and mix’ from to meet your
individual taste and
become involved.
These all centre around the appreciation of
Real Ale,
presumably why you are reading this, and will apply to most
CAMRA branches throughout the UK.
· Social
Events & Friendship
Join in
and make good friends.
Humans as a species are social animals; our physical and mental
well-being is positively affected by good social human
interactions and relations. Our branch is friendly and
inclusive, and we tend to sup responsibly and not to bite!
· Hike’n’Pint
We try
to organise four walks a year through the best of England’s
landscape taking in a couple of pubs. The walks are carefully
selected and the pace is always comfortable and set to cater for
all needs.
· Surveying
Westmorland Pubs and Breweries
We
regularly organise visits to pubs and breweries in our area in
order to keep up with the positive and negative changes in these
businesses. We also try and encourage members in more remote
areas to join us.
We as a CAMRA branch are going to work harder at this to
hopefully generate more CAMRA activity.
On
occasions we travel to neighbouring regions to visit other Beer
Festivals and other CAMRA events.
· Beer
Tasting.
We have
a CAMRA Cumbria Tasting Panel that is always keen to recruit new
taste buds. There are regular tutored tasting events at pubs
and breweries where we all get to understand more about how the
10,000 taste buds
in our mouth and olfactory system work. It is
great fun
and it can really increase your experiences and appreciation of
food and drink. One of the greatest benefits of this activity,
alongside meeting new people, is the fact that ‘we
beer tasters swallow’!
The results of all our hard work include positioning our
Cumbrian Ales in the Champion Beer of Britain competition,
providing tasting notes descriptions for the Good Beer Guide and
keeping checks on beer quality.
· Beer
Festivals
Help at
and
enjoy
our Westmorland Beer Festival each October:- see Festivals page
· Good
Beer Guide (GBG) Surveys and Selection
Annually Westmorland CAMRA selects and surveys 36-40 Pub
contenders for GBG. These are then put into a democratic
process which selects the 23/24 that enter the Cumbria pages
representing Westmorland.
· Campaigns
Campaigning, a core activity of CAMRA (arguably the UK’s most
successful campaigning organisation) is performed at local,
regional and national levels. Here is an important issue
amongst our current campaigns:
Is your local under threat? Promoting and protecting the pub
The
British pub is a unique institution, offering the combination of
social drinking, acceptance of diversity, conviviality and
atmosphere. Drinking proper beer at a beer festival or at home
is good, however the best place to savour a pint is in a good
pub. This great institution is under threat, CAMRA’s own
surveys suggest we are losing pubs nationally at the rate of
57 a month
and the
suspicion is that this may be an under-estimate.
We as
real ale drinkers
need to get out more
to support and safeguard our valuable community resource, and,
if not already members, join CAMRA . As CAMRA members we need
to work harder in organising ourselves and campaigning towards
protecting our traditional pubs.
Current
economic and societal changes place major threats to the
viability of our pubs. Diversity is a way forward and the
‘Pub is the Hub’
(PITH)
[see article below]
initiative is active and running in Cumbria. Rural pubs are
often at the heart of their community, PITH encourages support
for local services to help them stay that way. Research shows
over 70% of villages no longer have a shop or Post Office.
Indeed nearly 60% no longer have a village pub.
Pubs often provide the only meeting place, where for example,
there is no village hall. Rural pubs have potential to assume a
wider business and community role in the future as one-stop
shops for essential rural services helping to revitalise rural
economies and communities. As well as providing services that
may be lacking in a village, such as a Post Office or a shop,
they can often make the difference between economic success and
failure for the pub itself and support local suppliers.
Westmorland CAMRA is keen to assist in this process.
From October 2008, the Government will be seeking proposals for
a national action plan to deliver sustainable communities. The
Act will enable CAMRA to pursue measures including:
Increasing the number of pubs eligible for rate relief
Ensuring full planning permission is require to convert a pub to
another use
Outlawing the use of restrictive covenants that prevent a closed
pub being reopened.
Allocating funding to initiatives to promote local beers.
In
In the meantime please keep enjoying your responsible real ale
supping!
Chris Holland
Chair Westmorland CAMRA
Last Updated
29/03/2010 00:20 |