Update from Darren Statham who has taken over as Chairman

Hope this email finds you well now that the restrictions have started to ease & we can at least get to a pub!

It's not perfect. Some pubs like the Pestle & Mortar, our Pub of the Year, cannot feasibly open due to having limited/no outside space. But it's a start.

There have been some changes to the branch over the past couple of weeks. I have somehow become the Chairperson (Dad's Army fans may be quoting Private Frasier's "We're doomed" at this point).

This means I will be vacating the position as Treasurer. I am pleased to report that we have had a volunteer step forward for this role.

That leaves us with the role of Branch Secretary as vacant. To date, we have not had anyone step forward to take this on.

To be clear, we need to fill this vacant committee position if we are to viably continue as a branch.

I appreciate that standing up & speaking in front of lots of people can also be daunting. However, no one would stand alone & the rest assured that anyone wishing to volunteer will receive support from the rest of the committee as well as the wider branch. Remember, without someone volunteering for this role - there is no branch.

Also, there is the possibility that the role could be shared if you are a couple, for example.

Thirdly, I would say that you also do not need to be a real ale 'connoisseur'. One or two of the committee (i.e. Me) know very little on the subject.

Please, if you are interested in the role, please contact myself by return email to ku.gro.armac.htrowsobdnayelkcnih@rerusaert (I am having some issues with the Chairman email at present & will notify everyone once this has been resolved).

A description of the role can be provided upon request. You will also receive a free pint of beer courtesy of myself.

On to some positive news, the Good Beer Guide 2022 is going ahead as usual (Despite the pubs being closed for most of last year). The consensus amongst CAMRA hq has been that branches run with their full allocation of previous entries.

That left us with a dilemma of how do we survey the pubs to check that last year's information is still relevant & correct?

I am pleased to report that our minutes secretary, Michelle Tyrtania, volunteered for the task of ringing round all our GBG candidates & conducted a telephone survey. As a result, our 8 entries & 2 reserves, have been checked & submitted to the GBG team at CAMRA hq.

Now on to another negative...

You'll probably have seen the update on the website that the beer festival has once again been postponed. Due to the timetable for easing of restrictions, we felt that it was not viable to schedule a beer festival within such a short time period. What we didn't want to happen was to order a load of beer only for it to be disposed of if the government's roadmap changed. Also, we felt that taking trade away from pubs at this critical time was counter productive. I can only apologise to you all. I am sure that everyone is keen to resume some sort of normality after a year's worth of restrictions & enjoy a long awaited beer festival.

On that note, we have some stock left over from the 2019 Rail Ale of Tynt Meadow, a 7.4% English Trappist Ale, brewed at Mount At Bernard's abbey, just outside of Whitwick. Details on the beer can be found on the website:

http://www.mountsaintbernard.org/tynt-meadow-ale

2 dozen or so bottles are available (330ml). They are £2.75 each & all money will go to the branch.

Unfortunately, the best before date on them is 7 May, on/after this they will have to be disposed of.

If you are interested, please email our beer festival organiser, Jackie Wallis at ku.gro.armac.htrowsobdnayelkcnih@ofb

On that note, I'll end on a positive. Hopefully there will be more to follow in the coming weeks.

Stay safe

Cheers & Kind Regards Darren Statham