How we work
Meetings
The Branch holds regular meetings on the last Monday of each month, public holidays excepted.
Meetings are open to all current and prospective members (though only fully paid up Branch members are allowed to vote). For the venue, check the Branch Diary page, see local press, Branch Newsletter or What's Brewing - it's usually a pub within the Carlisle area and at 8:00pm.
The Annual General Meeting is held on the last Monday in June.
Branch Campaign Goals
The Branch has three Campaign Goals that guide our activities:
1. To be well-informed about brewing and pubs in our area.
2. To promote real ale, real ale pubs and real ale breweries.
3. To encourage people to help the Campaign.
Other events
We hold regular social events, either travelling by public transport or by hiring a minibus. Seats are limited, and must be booked in advance through the Social Secretary. They are used to either survey pubs or are tied into our regular presentations.
Awards evenings - like the socials, but we aim to visit one or two other pubs before finally arriving at the chosen venue.
We present a Pub Of The Season (POTS) each quarter, and also a Pub Of The Year (POTY). The winner of our POTY goes forward against three other winners in the county - one each from Furness, Westmorland and West Cumbria branches. The successful winner then goes head-to-head with the Lancashire winner to become the West Pennines POTY, making it one of the top 16 pubs in the whole of the country!
Each year we are responsible for recommending pubs for inclusion in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide, published each September. Members have to first draw up a list of possible pubs and then visit them, sample the beer (somebody has to do it!) and write a description. During the course of a couple of meetings the list is gradually reduced until we reach our quota before final submission.