The Campaign for...?

I have posted a couple of times here about my CAMRA activities - on how much fun and hard work the Great British Beer Festival is, and also on a trip to Norwich for the Annual Conference & Members Weekend a few years ago. The Campaign is facing a few struggles at the moment though - and it's that which has prompted me to write this post. Questions over our future have surfaced, and are rapidly seeming likely to split the Campaign in two, something which is quite horrible to contemplate to a long-term active member like myself.

First - some background. I worked at my first CAMRA beer festival when I was (I think) 10 years old - my Father could probably confirm as it is after all his fault, but I'm pretty sure that first one was Pigs Ear Festival 1982, working on the Guide Dogs for the Blind charity stall in the foyer. I've been a life member of the Campaign since 1996, met my now Husband (MrEH) working at a beer festival in 1997. I've worked at 20 Great British Beer festivals and am now a Deputy Bar Manager there, and countless local festivals including having for a time been organiser of a highly successful local festival in London. I have also been active at local branch level at various times although not currently. I'm not exclusively a beer drinker - at home I'm more likely to drink either gin or wine, but at the pub, a well kept Real Ale is my preferred beverage - I've never been a lager drinker - I don't get on well with CO2 and find that more than about half a pint of lager or keg beer tends to make me feel incredibly sick and uncomfortable. I don't drink any quantity of Coca Cola or similar drinks for the same reason.  Oddly enough, nobody has ever told me that I'm narrow minded, stuck in the past or a "dinosaur" for saying "Nah, you're alright thanks!" to a Pepsi though...

Further background: CAMRA is one of Britain's largest and arguably most successful consumer organisations with over 190,000 members at time of writing. From the Campaign's own website I take the following:

• We are independent and our policies and campaigning objectives are set by our membership
• CAMRA's decision making process is wholly independent of any commercial companies or other organisations
• We are not-for-profit and all proceeds are put back into achieving our campaigning objectives
• We are consumers. We have no commercial interests in pub or brewery ownership or management
• We are non-party political. 

to that I would also add the important fact that we are a volunteer-led organisation -with our many successful beer festivals around the country being run and staffed by a volunteer workforce. Although for some festivals people receive their accommodation and food on a subsidised basis, no actual payment is made for the many hours tirelessly offered by those who do it purely for the love of Real Ale (and Real Cider & Perry), the campaign and the massive social scene that has grown around our activities. The majority of the active members are incredibly proud to be involved with such a vibrant and enthusiastic organisation - indeed most of us will shout it from the rooftops at any opportunity!

The UK beer scene has changed massively in the past few years, let alone since CAMRA was formed back in the early 70's. (Coincidentally at around the same time I was formed...make of that what you will!) and continues to grow apace with the advent of "craft" beer. What is craft beer, you might be asking? Well yes, that's a question. The truth of it is that nobody actually knows what is meant by the term "craft beer" - it kind of doesn't mean anything. Brains and Adnams breweries, two of Britain's big regionals, both brew "craft" beers, so it isn't related to brewery size, "craft" beers are sold in cans, bottles and in over the bar dispense, so it's not related to serving method. The ingredients are mostly pretty much the same as for cask conditioned beer, and indeed some craft beers are also Real Ales - perhaps in fact all Real Ales are actually craft beers too? Real Ale is also brewed by breweries ranging from huge enterprises right down to "one man and his dog in a shed" sized, and perhaps most surprisingly to a lot of folk Real Ale can be found in cask form, bottles and indeed cans. What can't under any circumstances be said though is to suggest that all craft beer is Real Ale - that's a long way from the truth. Real Ale has a solid stated definition, and has to contain live yeast to be considered "Real" - in fact at the Great British Beer Festival we have access to clever microscope wielding folk that can show you the little...ummm...yeasts....floating (swimming?) about. High tech indeed! With a name like the Campaign For Real Ale you'd think it was pretty well established what we're in favour of - it's pretty up front and out there, and if anyone had signed up and was taken by surprise by it, then I'd be amazed. As for what we're against - well, nothing really. We're not keen on bad pubs, definitely not keen on closed pubs, and not big fans of the sorts of people who would tell you that drinking is evil regardless of quantity or quality. Against though? No, nothing. People drink lager? Fine - most of us tend not to - and we'll have a great go at introducing the average lager drinker to something with a bit more taste and a lot more provenance. If you want to carry on drinking lager though it's a rare CAMRA member who will berate you for it. Similarly a lot of our members drink non Real Ales at least sometimes - from a bottle perhaps, or in some cases a "craft" keg beer in a pub. Grand - each to their own, their choice even if not for me, but if it's not Real Ale, realistically, nobody would expect the Campaign for Real Ale to be actively supporting it, would they? And there is the sticking point - as seemingly there is a number of folk out there who rather than thinking "Hmmm...I like drinking this tasty keg stuff, but it's not Real Ale. Hey, tell you what, why don't I join an organisation that supports and promotes that?!" (like the Campaign for Really Good Beer for example - which already exists!), prefer instead to change a different existing Campaign (CAMRA) to suit their end. Logic would say that two strong organisations with like-minded individuals, and many "in common" interests like pubs, pub-based socialising, and a vibrant UK beer & brewing scene, could work together on the things that they were in agreement on, and perhaps even be stronger that way, no?

A lot of the debate on the subject is in the usual way of things within CAMRA, good natured. Talked out online, or over a pint in the pub, people disagree, but agree to disagree. As ever though a minority are refusing to listen to any other point of view to their own, to see anything good in the subject of change at all, shouting down those who don't share their view or choosing intimidation as the best way of trying to silence opposing views. Couple that with a very opaque and one-sided presentation of the changes that are being proposed, and a lot of conflict is resulting, leading to bad-feeling and in some cases real unpleasantness. People have put forward reasonable requests for the right to present an alternative view, and have been declined. (Our local branch has gone ahead regardless and emailed all local members on the subject.) Others have suggested that a clear statement of intent could be issued to clarify what is meant by a particular phrase which is currently causing a lot of worry - and so far nothing has appeared on that, either. This has lead to misunderstanding and suspicion from some folk, along with a groundswell of protectiveness towards the Campaign from many of those who are most involved with it - all we truly want is clarification and a clear statement, in order that we can make our minds up on the proposals with a full picture to work with - and without that it's almost impossible to do anything other than vote against, as to vote for the proposals in full as drafted currently means that we'd potentially be allowing a dramatic change to the raison d'etre for the Campaign that we are members of. Fact over speculation is invariably helpful in these sorts of situations, and the thing that is frustrating most of the more level headed members currently seems to be the lack of clarity on one of the key points and the unwillingness to allow the other side of the argument to be heard. with just 6 weeks to go now until the members weekend and conference, it now feels as though time is running out to reach a sensible conclusion to this.

Robyn