Thank you to all who completed the member’s survey last year. The aim of the survey was to find out what you wanted from your membership of CAMRA. Some cynics suggest that people join CAMRA simply to benefit from the perks that membership provides rather than taking an active role in campaigning for real ale. This they say is why so few members actually get involved in volunteering. I don’t think that is the case.
Research by The Office of National Statistics has found that during the 10 years from 2005-2010 people are drinking alcohol less frequently and yet the membership of CAMRA continues to rise.
I believe that people join CAMRA because they are discernible drinkers who prefer quality to quantity but I needed to find out. I also wanted to discover what our members wanted from their membership.
The vast majority said they visited a pub weekly and 70% of them had a favourite pub. 53 different pubs were named, some were acknowledged more than once. The Mermaid and The White Hart Tap both in St Albans were mentioned most, followed closely by The Sportsman at Croxley Green, The Black Horse at Hertford and The Hare and Hounds in St Albans.
Our members want to know more about giving feedback for WhatPub and providing quality scores. Helping at beer festivals, WhatPub inspections and attending branch meetings was also high on the agenda. Watch this space. Over the coming weeks more information will be provided on all of these topics.
60% of those who responded to the survey would like to see more brewery trips. Your Social secretary, Ian Boyd works hard to provide quality trips so keep an eye on our social calendar which is advertised on this website and also in Pints of View. Some brewery trips have restricted numbers so get in early. The next brewery trip is on Saturday May 5th to The 3 Brewers of St Albans followed by a visit to some local pubs. Keep an eye on the website for more details. If you attend a branch meeting you will find out about these trips before anyone else.
In collaboration with John Crowhurst we are putting together some pub trails, once completed these will be published on this website. These should be published very soon in time for the warmer weather!
As a result of some of the comments that were made at the end of the survey a Family Fun Day has been planned by Activation secretary, Sandie Taylor at The Hare & Hounds on April 7th from 13:30. The Hare & Hounds has a large child friendly garden and the lounge has been booked in case the weather isn’t kind. South Herts will provide some garden games suitable for all ages. Come along, enjoy a pint of quality ale and join in the fun. Food for the children will be provided.
This is a branch first and if it proves popular it will be repeated at other child friendly pubs in our region.
