Brighton & South Downs

Campaign for Real Ale

Campaign for Real Ale

Branch News

  • Minutes of Committee Meeting 23 March 2024 Tuesday 26 March 2024

    Minutes of BSD Committee Meeting Saturday 23rd March 2024 At The Dorset Inn, Lewes at 11.30am.

    Attendees

    Adrian Heft, John Kirkland, Eamonn Costello, Ursula Lockyer, Paul Free, Jim Elsam, Richard Williams, Jason Phillips

    Apologies

    Roger Coton, Graham Eaton.

    Chairman’s Report

    Jason reported on a discussion with SE Sussex sub-branch re the transfer of 360 Degree Taproom back to BSD Branch which was erroneously in their branch area.

    Jason and Graham met with the student society Brighton Real Ale Society and reported a positive meeting, with a jont commitment to keep in touch and for Jason to attend one of their social meetings as a guest to help build a pathway for their group to join CAMRA once left the student cadre.

    An update on outstanding POTY presentation scheduling. All arrangements will be posted on FB and Website.

    The Committee confirmed their vote for Paul Sanders. Jason to submit.

    Treasurer

    Balance of £2891. No contingencies beyond the £1000 to be in account as per HQ requirement.

    Membership

    We (as of today, Fri 22 Mar) stand at 1,148 members, down slightly on previously reported numbers. YTD we have had 33 lapses, and 18 new members, in the last 30 days we have gained 11 new members and lost 5.

    I am, as some of you may know, a member of the national CAMRA Membership Recruitment Working Group; we have been meeting every 2 weeks since early Feb and working in between to develop strategies to grow membership. It is going well, and I feel that there are some opportunities for us at branch level - more about this for a future meeting.

    Pubs Officer(s)

    See above re POTY presentations.

    Montreal Arms – 3 Committee objections comments submitted. Glynde Steamworks application for change of use is live for consultation. Chairman to comment in support and publicise on FB.

    What Pub Coordinator

    Nil report

    Tasting Panel

    I am pleased to report that he Mid-Sussex Tasting Panel has held its first meeting (at the end of Feb) at the Lockhart in Haywards Heath. There are currently 5 members (3 from BSD & 2 from North Sussex), and I am hopeful that this will increase shortly, as a number of members have expressed an interest in full taste training. I am working with Kevin Travers, our regional co-ordinator to arrange a training session later in the year. We have plans for our next meetings, including brewery visits. If you are aware of anyone who might be interested, please put them in touch with me.

    Media and Comms

    Graham and Jason are posting regularly with a range of (hopefully) interesting and topical posts, and am growing our base of followers - we now have 246 followers on X and 415 Facebook group members and is going well. I will start working on the publicity for SDBF shortly - a post has been sent on X already marking the fact that we are 50. It would be helpful to know when (roughly) we are expecting tickets to be on sale. I'll start promoting the Ale Trail as well shortly, including the launch

    Cider Rep/Social Secretary

    Cider POTY presentation being planned.

    SDBF

    A sub committee Zoom is planned shortly. Budget ready for submission and then tickets need to be put online and publicized ASAP.

    Ale Trail

    Jason described how the 50th anniversary prize (in addition to normal ones) will be funded by pubs paying extra for 2 stamps in passport or will be absorbed in normal profit from Trail. Ursuala is booking the coach trip for Sat 29 June. Will need to consider a non-pub lunch stop.

    Scheduling of future meetings

    Jason will send a list of future meetings to the Committee and put in Branch Diary on website. Most will be scheduled as Sunday morning Zoom meetings.

  • Winners of B&SD Pub of The Year 2024 announced Monday 4 March 2024
  • Minutes of Committee Meeting held Saturday 6 Jan 2024 Monday 8 January 2024

    Attendees: Graham Eaton, Roger Coton, Jackie Johnson, Adrian Heft, Jason Phillips, Richard Williams, Ursula Lockyer, John Kirkland.

    Apologies: Jim Elsam

    The following items were discussed:

    GBG survey allocation. All pubs allocated/

    POTY actions. Motion to change eligibility discussed but rejected by vote

    Treasure Hunt event for 2024 agreed. Adrian Heft to lead.

    Discussion on options to commemorate Branch's 50th anniversary.

    Jason and Graham to meet with student group (BRAS) in Feb.

    Next Branch meeting 3rd Feb. Next Committee Meeting 19 Feb.

  • Minutes of 2023 AGM held 2 December 2023. Tuesday 5 December 2023

    CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE: BRIGHTON & SOUTH DOWNS BRANCH

    Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Saturday 2 December 2023 at 2pm at the Poets Ale and Smokehouse, 33 Montgomery Street, Hove, BN3 5BF.

    Members present

    R Bray, A Elliott, S Pardoe, M Lawday, R Howe, M Tester, S Burke, S Obey, B Harpley, P Sandford, J Elsam, E Costello, A Heft, J Phillips, J Browne, J Kirkland, G Eaton, M Ashworth, B White, P Sanders.

    Apologies for absence

    S Floor, S Leyfield, R Williams, P Free, I Hodges, U Lockyer, R Coton, J Johnson.

    Minutes of previous AGM

    Proposed accepted J Phillips, Seconded J Elsam. Unopposed.

    Chairman’s welcome and report

    A copy of the report is posted on the branch website in the Members' Area.

    Welcome everyone. If we haven’t met personally, please do say hello to me in the break or after the meeting.
    Back in 2021 I set out my priorities for campaigning activity for the Branch: Supporting our breweries and pubs and to increase membership and volunteer participation. Let’s take a look at progress against each:

    Breweries & Cider Producers

    32 breweries.
    2 beer festivals.
    Awards for Heathen Brewers and Watchmaker’s from our branch area and Nuthurst Orchards in West Sussex The role of the Brewery Liaison Officer is an important one to maintain engagement with the breweries and sport them. We need more volunteers to fulfill this role.

    Pubs

    Socials and meetings held in pubs throughout the year.
    Pub Buddies for nearly 90 pubs who help collate info on them for WhatPub and Sussex Drinker promotion. Need for a central Brighton pub buddy.
    POTY has been invigorated last 2 years – generating a first award for HITW and this year’s winner of POTY Watchmakers progressed to as Sussex POTY and Surrey & Sussex POTY. Both firsts for one of our pubs. We have increased the number of awards made including runner’s up awards for The Foghorn and Duke of Wellington and XX highly commended awards. The Foghorn was our Cider POTY and The Keymer and Hassocks Social Club was awarded our COTY for the second year running.
    I organised this year’s Ale and Cider Trail, introducing new pubs in new locations to provide variety and support where needed. This year 226 passports were completed with 20 or more stamps collected. Most prizes have been collected and we have an opportunity to collect at the conclusion of the AGM today. This is almost exactly the same number as last year (222). There is some way to go to return to pre pandemic levels (circa 300) but it generates £30,000 of sales for pubs across our branch area.

    Membership & Volunteering

    Membership numbers will be provided by the Membership Secretary.
    We have gained a new cadre of volunteers for the SDBF and Sussex Branches Beer Festival at the Bluebell Railway and acting as Pub Buddies. This was much needed as the stalwarts of previous years are aging and less physically able. I hope we will gain more volunteers willing to help run a wider range of branch activities this coming year.

    This is a good time to thank all of my fellow Committee Members for their efforts over the last 12 months.

    PAUSE.

    Branch Objectives

    At last year’s AGM we set ourselves two objectives:

    • To review WhatPub entries for at least 10% of active / core pubs in the branch; and
    • To increase at least 10% the number of beer scores submitted.

    The objectives have been partially met – over 10% of WhatPub entries have been updated this past 12 months. The number of NBSS scores submitted has remained static at 2000 in last 12 months.

    Happy to answer any questions now – or please come and speak to me at the end of the meeting.

    Treasurer’s report inc Approval of audited accounts

    Treasurers Report

    1. General Summary

    The Bank account showed a credit total of £3,979.94 at the end of the Financial Year; Income and Expenditure throughout the year is as detailed below.

    2. Branch Activity

    Payments made by the Branch in FY 2023 included £2,071.60 for 2022 Ale Trail prizes, £389.19 for postage of Sussex Drinkers, £179.08 for POTY costs, £160.00 for copies of the 2023 and 2024 Good Beer Guides, £12.80 for postage of 2023 GBG Landlord Packs, £438.86 for 2022 and 2023 Ale Trail costs, £625.00 for Ale Trail Bus Trip costs, £112.50 for AGM costs and £25.70 for certificate frames for presentations.

    Income included £4,000.00 for Ale Trail Subscriptions, £1,325.00 for Ale Trail Bus Trip receipts, £230.00 for Ale Trail Postage, £32.50 for contributions towards cost of AGM Buffet and £108.00 for sales of the 2023 and 2024 Good Beer Guides.

    3. Festivals Activity

    The 2023 South Downs Beer and Cider Festival showed a Trading Surplus of £4,452.36 before the contribution due to CAMRA was made as shown below.

    4. General

    A total provision of£3,400 has been made for expenditure in the 2023/24 Financial Year which comprises estimates of £2,750 for the purchase of Prizes for the 2023 Ale Trail, £150 for postage of Sussex Drinkers and £500 for Harvey's invoice for beer supplied to the 2023 SDBF.

    A contribution of £6,000.00 was made to CAMRA HQ this Financial Year.

    The required Independent Examination of the Accounts for this Financial year was carried out on the 8 of November.

    I must thank all Branch members for their considerable help.

    I am happy to continue as Branch Treasurer for 2023/2024

    The Accounts will be offered for consideration by the Branch at the AGM on the 2nd of December 2023.

    Proposed by J Kirkland and seconded by J Phillips.

    Branch Officer’s reports, Sub-committee reports, other reports inc Tasting Panel & Beer Scoring

    Secretary’s Report

    Most of you will know that I offered my services as secretary at the last AGM to avoid a constitutional crisis (no one else wanted the job). Most of you also know that in the intervening year I have undergone two rounds of surgery and am on a second course of chemotherapy.

    I am happy to report that, all things considered, I am relatively active and well.

    To say that my duties have been light these past 12 months is something of an understatement, having only had to reply to a few enquiries generated by the branch website.

    As things stand, I am willing to continue in the role but, if members feel that someone with a longer sell-by date would be preferable, I would not take any offence.

    Membership Secretary Report

    Starting with the headline figures, as of 1 December 2023, the branch has 1160 members, compared to 1190 at the December 2022 AGM, and down from just over 1200 at the AGM in December 2021.

    The overall figure compared to last year is a small net loss (indicating some membership lapses), and Is reduced by a similar number (approx 30) from the previous year.
    Whilst there are, of course, many factors that can affect branch membership, it is intended to analyse this to better understand why we have a downward trend, and then consider strategies to address this. On a more positive note, we have been actively recruiting new members, with beer festivals remaining a key recruitment opportunity.
    There were 6 new memberships from the Lewes Beer Festival.
    As Membership Secretary, I have been continuing to meet and actively engage with Membership Secretaries from other branches and with CAMRA’s membership team, with the aim of learning what other branches do to encourage (and retain) membership, particularly among younger members.
    New marketing collateral available this year ‘The CAMRA story’ is contemporary and eye-catching, and will be used at South Downs Beer Festival (SDBF) in June 2024.

    As I stated in my 2022 report, in my opinion, the retention of existing members is as important as recruiting new members, and the branch has many plans for existing and new activities planned for 2024, to engage you, as members.

    Whether it is being seen and heard at beer festivals, campaigning, delivering Sussex Drinker and membership forms to pubs and generally being active in our area, is crucial for both potential and existing members to view us as an active and vibrant branch. I would like to take the opportunity to remind you, that as members of our branch and of CAMRA that you are our greatest advocates, and so I would like to ask you to promote CAMRA and hopefully persuade your friends and family to join CAMRA. Perhaps buy them a gift membership for Christmas!

    Social media (X, formerly Twitter)

    In addition to the branch website, we actively use Facebook and X, (formerly Twitter).
    I’d encourage you to follow us on these if you are not already doing so – for example, the Twitter feed is being actively used, to promote and highlight local events (beer festivals, branch meetings and other interesting information and facts such as national beer days) as well as highlighting national campaigning events, contacting MPs and national CAMRA issues such as CBOB etc.
    It is also an indirect recruitment and retention tool, and as such. it is an excellent way to promote our branch, and it's good to note that the number of followers are increasing as of 1 December 2023, there are 218 followers, up from 154 followers in Dec 22 and 73 in Jan 2022).
    Let’s keep up the momentum.
    Please do follow the branch on Twitter at @downscamra if you don’t already do so.

    Press and Publicity

    My responsibility for publicity for the branch blends well with my role as Membership Secretary, as it is important to promote the activities of the branch, as well as ensuring that key messages from CAMRA are made known to branch members and to gauge and understand reactions, so in effect, keeping my ‘finger on the pulse’.
    This year, I have strived to ensure that good connections have been made, particularly with local media and other excellent websites (e.g. Beer Today) which can publicise branch activities and local events, and being alert to opportunities.
    We were delighted that the Watchmaker’s Arms was voted Regional (Surrey and Sussex) pub of the year, meaning that it is one of the top 16 pubs in the UK.
    This created an excellent media opportunity for both the Watchmaker’s Arms and the branch.
    My role in co-ordinating copy (pub scratchings, reporting on awards and other events) for Sussex Drinker has, in my view been helpful in highlighting the activities of the branch in the past year.
    I was responsible for publicity for the SDBF in June 2023, and I felt that reaching out to some new (as well as existing) channels for publicity was a success.

    Mid-Sussex Tasting Panel

    I organised a taste training session at the Haus on the Hill, Brighton, in June 2023, and this excellent session was given by Kevin Travers (London & South East Tasting Panel Co-ordinator/Deputy Regional Director, and Mick Bell (Chairman, Surrey Tasting Panel/Chairman Surrey & Hants Borders branch).br>Being delighted to be appointed as Tasting Panel Chair for the mid Sussex region (comprising Brighton & South Downs and North Sussex branches), I am looking forward to establishing the new panel, and to encourage engagement, with a view to arranging social events where tasting can take place, at breweries, beer festivals and pubs, taking on board views and desires of the panel members.
    Tasting panels are important as they help CAMRA decide which beers should go forward as CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain competition, and they write tasting notes for the Good Beer Guide. Being a member of a tasting panel is an excellent way for a member to become involved; if any members would like to find out more, or find out how to become part of the tasting panel, please contact me for more details.

    I would be pleased to continue as Membership Secretary, and in my other roles in 2023/24.Graham Eaton.

    SOUTH DOWNS BEER & CIDER FESTIVAL ORGANISERS REPORT

    Firstly, I must tender my apologies for non-attendance at this AGM, this is due to a prior engagement.

    Secondly, although I will single out the members of the organizing sub-committee for special thanks; John Kirkland, Mark Lawday, Mark Tester and Jason Phillips, every single person who worked at the festival no matter how small their contribution deserves acknowledgement.

    I am happy to say that over 80% of the available cask beer was consumed, with good sales for membrane-keg (Key Keg).
    The cider/perry sales were also good.

    The beer of the festival was The Watchmakers Pendulum Chocolate & Hazelnut Porter; the cider of the festival was Southdowns’ Rhubarb and the perry of the festival was Nuthurst Orchards’ Fred’s Perry.

    A charitable donation in excess of £550 was made to the Guide Dogs charity.

    As regards the 2024 festival, I am willing to stand as festival organizer, I would suggest that Jason Phillips be appointed as set-up manager, this will enable me to concentrate on receiving and dealing with beer deliveries during the set-up period.
    Although Mark Lawday is unable to act as staffing officer for 2024, Simon Renshaw has agreed to take on this role.

    Date for next year’s festival is the 14th & 15th June with the set-up starting on the 12th June.

    Paul Free

    Pubs Officer Report(s)

    There is a separate presentation covering Good Beer Guide selection, Pub of the Year selection and Beer Scoring.

    Let’s start with the good news – as you probably know our Pub of the Year, the Watchmakers Arms, was Pub of the Year for Sussex and Surrey, and reached the last 16 of the national competition – an excellent achievement

    As last year, a big issue for us, and CAMRA nationally, is the number of pubs that are closing.
    This seems to be mainly due to increased costs, principally for fuel and beer raw ingredients, arising from the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia causing supply chain issues.

    There is little we can do to impact this other than encouraging everybody to support our local pubs – go out and be social rather than buying beer from supermarkets to drink at home.

    Personally I support minimum unit pricing, as implemented in Scotland and Wales, as this would give pubs a competitive advantage over the large supermarkets; however this is not, as yet CAMRA policy. A MUP of 50p per unit would mean a pint of average strength beer would need to be sold at 98p or more, so hardly a problem for pubs.

    Among the pubs in our region that we have lost, whether temporarily or permanently, are Craft Beer Co; Brighton Beer Dispensary; Battle of Trafalgar and The Hanover.

    On a more positive note the Sussex Cricketer has re-opened (albeit in a very different guise) and the old Cliftonville in George Street has been replaced with another pub; there is also a new micro pub in Hassocks.

    We don’t have time or space to list every opening or closure in this meeting, suffice to say the situation is constantly changing.

    So my message is – go to a pub, drink real ale and while you’re there submit a beer score.

    Beer Scoring Co-ordinator Report

    The following summarises the beer scores for our branch pubs in the period 01/01/23 to 01/12/23:

    This is a very disappointing result as it shows we are heavily dependent on visitors for a reasonable number of beer scores.

    There were two examples of branch members not adhering to the guidelines with scores of “5” being a significant proportion of their total scores.

    There were other examples of deliberate attempts to lower the scores for certain pubs, e.g. somebody saying our Pub of the Year didn’t serve real ale! Special thanks to the following branch members who each scored more than 20 pubs:

    Paul Free, Roger Coton, Stephen Pardoe, John Kirkland, Steven Leyfield, Mark Tester, Jason Phillips and David Porter

    The highest scoring pubs over the above period were:

    Foghorn, Hove
    Swan Inn, Falmer
    John Harvey Tavern, Lewes
    Brewers Arms, Lewes
    Gardener's Arms, Lewes
    Quench Bar & Kitchen, Burgess Hill
    Royal Oak, Lewes
    Old Boot Inn, Seaford
    Evening Star, Brighton
    Haus on the Hill, Brighton
    Elephant & Castle, Lewes
    Watchmaker's Arms, Hove
    Great Eastern, Brighton
    Stanley Arms, Portslade
    Duke of Wellington, Shoreham
    BN6 Craft Beer & Tap, Hassocks
    Hole in the Wall, Brighton
    Lewes Arms, Lewes
    Steamworks, Seaford
    Brighton Bierhaus, Brighton
    Lord Nelson Inn, Brighton
    Blind Busker, Hove
    Black Horse, Lewes
    Neptune Inn, Hove

    Adrian Heft.

    Pubs Preservation

    I'm afraid I must give my apologies for Saturday's meeting.
    It's my granddaughter's sixth birthday on 2 December, and I'm on a three-line whip to go to Poole.
    I don't have much new on the heritage front.
    You'll have seen that the Brighton Beer Dispensary (under the new name The Rook) is set to reopen this week.
    I haven't had a chance to look inside it, so I don't know whether there have been significant changes.
    The Colonnade Bar still seems to be closed.
    I've written to the project team asking whether an opening date has been set.
    The last I saw on The Albert is that the planning application relating to the former garage next door has been withdrawn.
    It's not clear whether a new application will be made, and if so for what.
    A search of the Brighton planning website has revealed nothing new of interest.
    I took a look at the Lewes planning website, and noted that an application had been submitted in August to subdivide the ground floor of The Bridge Inn in Newhaven, to create a two-bedroom flat.
    This is shown as undecided on the website.
    It's a pub I'm not familiar with (is it within the BSD branch boundary?).
    The White Hart hotel in Lewes has closed and has been sold to Heartwood Collection.
    Media reports say that it will undergo a significant refurbishment, before reopening next summer.
    The movable contents are all for sale.
    I suspect that although the pub is listed (or so the Lewes planning site suggests), the listing description doesn't cover the internal fabric of the place, and therefore the new owner will consider he has carte blanche to make changes to the interior.
    I'll try to check this out.
    No planning application has yet been submitted, so far as I can see.

    I see that a CAMRA Pub Heritage Group team will be visiting Brighton on 8 December to review the actual and potential heritage pubs in Brighton and Hove (including the Great Eastern, which is not currently recorded on the heritage inventory).
    I hope to be able to join the research trip for part of the day, and in any case will let you know the outcome when I hear it.

    I dropped in to the Poets Ale and Smokehouse the other day, and they seem to be looking forward to our visit on 2 December.

    Just to repeat what I said in an earlier email, I'm content to carry on in my current branch role for the next year.

    Richard Williams.

    -------------------------10 minute break------------------------

    Election of Branch Officers and Sub-committees

    Paul Sanders assumed the Chair.

    Jason Phillips re-elected as Chair for 2024 unanimously and reassumed the Chair of the AGM.
    Nominated by S Pardoe Seconded A Heft.

    The following Officials were re-elected or elected without opposition.

    Vice-Chair Graham Eaton - Nom J Phillips - Seconded S Burke

    Secretary Jim Elsam - Nom J Phillips - Seconded J Kirkland

    Treasurer John Kirkland - Nom J Phillips - Seconded Mark Tester

    Pubs Officer Adrian Heft - Nom J Phillips - Seconded S Pardoe

    Pub Preservation Richard Williams - Nom J Phillips - Seconded J Elsam

    WhatPub Roger Coton - Nom J Phillips - Seconded J Kirkland

    Membership Graham Eaton - Nom J Phillips - Seconded S Burke

    Media Graham Eaton - Nom J Phillips - Seconded A Heft

    Cider Steve Leyfield - Nom J Phillips - Seconded S Burke

    Social Secretary TBC

    SDBF sub Committee – Paul Free

    Ale Trail sub Committee – Jason Phillips

    Motions/items for discussion

    Draft Constitution motion proposed by J Kirkland, seconded J Phillips. Unopposed.

    Future known events for your calendar

    SDBF on 14 & 15 June 2024 at usual venue.

    AOB

    P Sanders gave an update on the CAMRA Regions and Branches Review. He will stand for SE England Region Director but encouraged others to apply. Election by Branches in New Year.

    A Heft thought our Branch area is too large to manage.
    J Phillips suggested mergers a solution to maximise the efficiency of active members.
    E Costello pointed out that the name of our branch may be a barrier to wider involvement across the Branch area.
    R Bray (BLC) raised several issues regarding Pilgrim and the non automation of brewery reports for Sussex Drinker and the issue of BLO adding new brews to Pilgrim to assist Tasting Panels.

    Meeting closed at 16.15 hrs.

  • Ale and Cider Trail prize distribution by post Wednesday 1 November 2023

    If you requested your prize(s) posted to you; they will commence week of 13 November 2023.

  • Minutes of Committee Meeting held 7 October 2023 Friday 13 October 2023

    Brighton and South Downs Comittee Meeting 7th October 2023 on Zoom:

    Attendees: M. Tester, R. Williams, A. Heft, P. Free, J. Kirkland, J. Phillips, J. Elsam

    Apologies: R. Coton, J. Johnson, S. Leyfield

    Minutes of Last Meeting Agreed.

    Chairman’s Report:

    Presentations at The Watchmakers and The Anchor Inn Ale Trail – including venues and staffing discussed. The AGM will be the second collection day after Brewer’s Arms festival.

    Sussex Branches Beer Festival update from P. Free – 90% ale and cider consumed, two new members signed up and Roy Bray will make the announcement for best ale of festival.

    Good Beer Guide promotion to utilise anniversary awards as next year we have some on 20 or 30 years. Arrange a member’s event to welcome first time entrants suggested.

    Good Beer Guide distribution will be looked at for our 2024 guide nominations as we have so few ‘Country’ pubs in this year’s guide.

    Treasurer

    The Bank Account shows a credit total of £4,562.57 to date.

    Payments since the last report for the Branch Meeting on the 1st of July were:

    1. Expenses for cost of replacement Ale Trail Stamp – £16.98

    2. Expenses for postage for distribution of Sussex Drinker – £73.34

    3. Expenses for postage for distribution of GBG Landlord packs – £12.80

    4. Supply of 10nr copies of GBG 2024 – £80.00

    Income to date is:

    1. Ale Trail Subscriptions for 4 Pubs – £400.00

    2. Cash Receipts for 3 copies of GBG 2024 from members – £36.00

    3. Receipts of advance payment for postage of Ale Trail prizes – £45.00

    Beer Festival Activity

    Payments since the last report for the Branch Meeting on the 1st of July were:

    1. Various expenses - £533.02

    2. Payments to Guide Dogs UK for Tokens collected - £554.90

    Income to date is £100.00 for cider sold to Black Horse, Lewes.

    Pending expenditure is for the cost of beer delivered to SDBF, estimated at £550.00, yet to be invoiced by Harvey’s.

    Pending income is £154.00 for advance tickets from the Evening Star.

    As required, a Remittance of £6,000.00 was sent to CAMRA on the 30th of September at the end of the 2022/2023

    Financial Year.

    The annual Audit for the Financial Year 2022/2023 will be carried out in November prior to the Branch AGM

    I am willing to continue as Treasurer for 2023/2024

    I must, as always, thank all Branch members for their considerable help.

    John Kirkland.

    Secretary

    Nil to report but Jim willing to be re-elected at AGM

    Pubs Officer & Protection

    Still expecting a new Micropub to open in Burgess Hill. Work at Glynde Station Steamworks still not completed. Royal Oak in Barcombe to reopen for village bonfire with new tenants. Collinade Bar at Theatre open. Brighton Beer Dispensary being monitored as no clarity on if it will reopen. Champion Beer of Britain voting now on – to be publicised on website etc.

    Membership

    Membership now 1169 and net increase of 6. Graham has attended a meeting on how to engage with younger members and is investigating the new promotional material available from HQ.

    Media

    Very good media coverage of POTY in the Branch this year. Engaging with ‘Beer Today’ to promote our activities as has a good reach.

    Social

    We will call our next social gathering on Friday 27 Oct at The Southwick Beer Engine festival a ‘Member’s Event’.

    WhatPub

    197 updates of WhatPub since AGM, 20 of which in Sept 2023.

    AGM planning

    To include intentions of current Committee members and additional items for the agenda

    Dates for Your Diary:

    Southwick Beer Engine beer festival social – Friday 27th October

    Ale Trail Prize Collection in Lewes – 10 & 11 November 2023 Brewers Arms Beer Festival.

    AGM 2 December 2023 in upstairs room of Poets Ale & Smokehouse, Hove at 2pm.

    Gardner’s Arms dark beer festival 21 – 24 Feb 2024.