Welcome to your latest Bolton CAMRA Branch Update
Annual General Meeting
Bolton CAMRA Branch held its Annual General Meeting on the 2 November 2023. Members can see the minutes of the meeting here. One of the purposes of the meeting is to appoint people to the various roles within the branch. Graham Walsh, the chair of the branch had already decided to stand down and I would like to thank Graham for all his hard work in steering the branch through the last 8 years. This included guiding us through the pandemic when Bolton suffered repeated restrictions and branch meetings and socials had to move online. I am delighted that Graham will remain active in the branch as Pub Promotions & Awards Co-ordinator.
There are still a number of vacancies for roles within the branch and if you would like to get involved in promoting real ale, cider and perry and the pubs and clubs where we drink it, have a look at the Volunteering page on our website here.
Meetings and Socials
The next branch meeting will be on 11 January 2024 at the Spinning Mule, Bolton. Although there is no branch meeting in December, there are two socials to compensate. The first is on Saturday 16 December in Bolton Town Centre and on Friday 29 December we will have a Yuletide trip to Wigan. Details are on our website and everyone is welcome.
Good Beer Guide
At the January branch meeting we will be presenting the longlist of nominations for the Good Beer Guide 2025. This list is based on beer scores provided by CAMRA members throughout the last year. Any member can score beers so if you would like to have an input into which pubs get selected, make sure you record your score using WhatPub.com. You can get guidance on how to score beers here. Full details of the selection process for the Good Beer Guide can be found here.
Campaigning
The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement in November contained some good news for the hospitality industry with continued support for business rates and a duty freeze until next August. However, there was a missed opportunity to cut the duty on draught beer and cider to encourage pubgoing during this difficult time when pubs and clubs are struggling with the cost of energy and other overheads. I would like to thank all those members who wrote to their MP ahead of the statement seeking support for our pubs and breweries.
Having consulted on the introduction of a Late Night Levy earlier in the year, Bolton Council will be consulting again on a revised scheme, following a change in the law. Late Night Levies are paid by premises holding a late licence to contribute to policing costs. Whilst recognising the need to regulate aspects of the night-time economy, CAMRA is generally opposed to these schemes as they impose an additional burden on small businesses and rarely have the impact intended. We will consider our response once the new consultation is published.
Details of all our campaigns can be found on the Campaigning Page of the branch website.
Season Greetings
Finally, I would like to wish all our members and their loved ones a Merry Christmas. Although a pub is not just for Christmas, it is a great time to get down to your local to meet friends and family and raise a glass or two of locally brewed real ale, cider or perry.
Cheers!
John Mitchell
Chair