CAMRA campaigns nationally, regionally and locally to achieve our aims.
Through numerous books, guides, awards and presentations, we reward good practice and encourage high standards, whether in brewing, pub cellarmanship, pub design or simply running a good pub. The Great British Beer Festival, the Good Beer Guide, the Champion Beer of Britain Awards and the Pub of the Year are all national in our scope, but our 180 local branches run local festivals and awards, and produce their own local guides.
CAMRA campaigns against all brewery take-overs because they lead to brewery closures, loss of established beers, higher prices and reduced choice. We also campaign when good pubs are threatened with closure because of the impact this will have on the local community. According to our most recent research around 56 pubs close around the UK every month. Lively campaigns are mounted at local level, with backup from our national headquarters and MPs, councillors, trade unions, licensees and workers often also become involved. Tactics we have used include petitions (including online petitions), threatened boycotts and lobbying at both national and local levels.
Nationally we will make submissions to the shareholders when a brewery is threatened with closure, and to regulatory authorities such as the Office of Fair Trading and the Monopoly and Mergers Commission, and, for very large mergers, the European Commission.
We produce a hard-hitting newspaper, "What's Brewing", which goes free to our members, the brewery trade and the media. It plays a major role in informing beer drinkers and putting across our views. CAMRA branches also use meetings, local newsletters and local websites to inform members about developments in their area.
Regular local beer festivals play a major role not just as fund raisers but also to keep people informed about CAMRA's work, and the vast range of beers that are still available. This continuous background work has doubtless helped change attitudes towards real ale.