MINUTES OF THE SWALE CAMRA BRANCH OPEN BUSINESS MEETING HELD ON 11th OCTOBER 2023 AT 7.30PM AT THE QUAY, FAVERSHAM PRESENT: (15 MEMBERS): Les Bailey, Steve Bennion, Steve Bury (Chairman), Mary Cross, Howard Gates, Gary Holness, Simon Ing, John Kent, Glyn Parry (East Kent Area Organiser), Lin Peters, Richard Peters, Linda Thompson, Jeff Waller, Jane Wiles and Andy. APOLOGIES: Doris, Tony Hayes, Martin Knight, Nigel Mills, Jim Rogers John Sissons MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING HELD ON 13 SEPTEMBER 2023: Considered, noted, agreed as a factual record of proceedings, and signed off by Steve Bury. MATTERS ARISING: None. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT: Steve Bury said that he was slowly getting to grips with his responsibilities as Branch Chairman and would be having conversations with colleagues to better understand this. In common with other Branch Officers, he was slowly getting to grips with the Comms Tool. He flagged up that Swale Branch would have the responsibility for hosting the December 2024 Kent Regional Meeting. Les was asked to look at suitable venues and report back in due course. Previous meetings have been held in the Function Room at the Elephant, Faversham, which has good transport links to the rest of Kent. SECRETARY’S REPORT: Les reported that we needed to arrange a date and time, preferably before the end of this year, to present the Certificate to the Shipwrights Arms to mark 25 consecutive years in the Good Beer Guide. Les was asked to arrange a mid/late Saturday afternoon date in consultation with The Shipwrights Arms and Steve Bury and report back. TREASURER’S REPORT: Howard reported that the Swale Branch share of the surplus from the Hop Festival Beer Stall was £1,020.03. This meant that the current balance of the Branch Account stands at £2,468.18. This is substantially above the HQ guidance that Branches should only hold £1,000 plus anticipated expenditure in their account. As a result, Howard suggested that the Branch remit £1,000 to HQ. Gary indicated that the Branch Beer Stall requires new signage at an approximate cost of £100 - 150. Glyn advised that although advertising monies for the first edition of East Kent Drinker were in the process of being collected any shortfall would need to be filled with equal contributions from the three participating branches. Glyn and Howard would discuss this latter point further and a decision on how much to remit to HQ would be made at the November Branch meeting.

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY’S REPORT: Mary reported the following with all figures correct as of 8 October 2023 CAMRA TOTAL MEMBERSHIP – 151,223 NEW MEMBERS – 1,312 LAPSED MEMBERS – 1,632 KENT TOTAL MEMBERSHIP – 4,832 NEW MEMBERS - 21 LAPSED MEMBERS – 47 SWALE TOTAL MEMBERSHIP - 378 NEW MEMBERS - 1 LAPSED MEMBERS – 3 So unfortunately, membership is still in decline. I have sent a “New Members Greeting” email. I have continued to distribute membership/promotional materials to our pubs. On 21st September there was a zoom meeting for all branch membership secretaries held by Mike Lovell, Membership Marketing Officer for CAMRA which unfortunately I could not attend, but I viewed the record of the meeting afterwards. They spoke of the promotional materials currently available and discussed some ideas of how to attract younger members and retain members. It seems the main “source” of new members is festivals. This obviously is work in progress, but Mike is certainly enthusiastic, which is good. Steve Bury said that a major obstacle to retaining members was that new members had to actively opt in to receive information from Branches under the General Data Protection Regulations. A lack of information may be one cause of lapsed memberships. PUB OFFICERS REPORT: No report on this occasion in the absence of Tony Hayes and Nigel Mills. PUB NEWS: The Railway Hotel, Faversham (has now reopened after a second round of refurbishments to the kitchen and bedrooms); The Anchor, Abbey Street, Faversham (is planned to reopen mid – end November with new Licensees Patrick and Josie); The Paper Mill, Sittingbourne celebrates its 10th Anniversary 14/15th October; and the Yellow Stocks, Sittingbourne celebrated its 5th Anniversary on 5th September. GOOD BEER GUIDE – BRANCH PUB SELECTION PROCEDURE: Reference was made to the need to begin the process of selecting pubs for consideration for inclusion in the Good Beer Guide 2024. A discussion took place about the use of the National Beer Scoring Scheme (NBSS) to help select such pubs. Agreed: that a more detailed discussion on this subject should be added to the agenda for the November Branch Meeting. EAST KENT DRINKER MAGAZINE UPDATE: Glyn Parry reported that the next meeting of the editorial group was taking place on 12th October. The intention was to produce the Second Edition early in 2024. The First Edition had been published with a £2,000 loan from HQ. Advertising monies were in the process of being collected and there was growing interest from other potential advertisers. The standard and scope of existing and future articles remains very high. Branch members wishing to contribute articles can do so via John Sissons. Steve Bury indicated that he would be contributing an article.

BREWERY NEWS: Shepherd Neame: BLO John Kent said he had nothing significant to report since the last meeting but that he was meeting the brewers on 17th October. Mary Cross asked about a beer called “Kent Ale” (an amber ale) which was on sale in the Blacksmiths Arms, Wormshill and whether this would be generally available in their pubs. John will ask at his meeting. Mad Cat: BLO Les Bailey said that a Christmas beer will be produced. No details yet but will follow in due course. He had spoken to the brewery who would be happy to host a Branch visit, preferably on a Saturday lunchtime/early afternoon sometime in the Spring. Les was asked to follow this up. ANY OTHER BUSINESS: Secretary asked to add SOCIAL SECRETARY’S REPORT and WEBSITE OFFICER’S REPORT to future Branch Meeting Agendas. Howard asked that he receive copies of the Meeting Minutes and any other news or information so that he could add them to the Branch website. Gary advised that the yet unnamed new micropub in Chestfield will be opening on 11th November. John Kent asked about the proposed Branch Xmas Social. Agreed: that this would be a trip to Gravesend (Les Bailey volunteered to research the options and provide further details at the next Branch meeting). Recorded the appreciation of the members present to Tania Bourne and her staff for their hosting of this meeting and their hospitality. DATE(S) OF NEXT MEETING(S): WEDNESDAY 15th NOVEMBER – 7.30PM - THE BLACK LION, LYNSTED (to be confirmed by Les Bailey). SATURDAY 2nd DECEMBER – LUNCHTIME/AFTERNOON - XMAS SOCIAL OUTING TO GRAVESEND (further details to follow in due course) WEDNESDAY 13th DECEMBER – 7.30PM - THE PILOTS REST, SHEERNESS (now confirmed by John Sissons). WEDNESDAY 10th JANUARY 2024 – 7.30PM - THE YELLOW STOCKS, HIGH STREET, SITTINGBOURNE (to be confirmed by John Kent). The Meeting closed at 8.48pm.