Campaign for Real Ale

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in Luton, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs.

History

The organisation was founded on 16 March 1971 in Kruger's Bar, Dunquin, County Kerry, Ireland, by Michael Hardman, Graham Lees, Jim Makin, and Bill Mellor, who were opposed to the growing mass production of beer and the homogenisation of the British brewing industry. The original name was the Campaign for the Revitalisation of Ale. Following the formation of the Campaign, the first annual general meeting took place in 1972, at the Rose Inn in Coton Road, Nuneaton.

Early membership consisted of the four founders and their friends. Interest in CAMRA and its objectives spread rapidly, with 5,000 members signed up by 1973. Other early influential members included Christopher Hutt, author of Death of the English Pub, who succeeded Hardman as chairman, Frank Baillie, author of The Beer Drinker's Companion, and later succeeded by frequent Good Beer Guide editor, Roger Protz.

In 1991, CAMRA had 30,000 members across the UK and abroad and, a year later, helped to launch the European Beer Consumers Union.

In December 2022, CAMRA issued guidelines advising volunteers to avoid terms like "pub crawl" or "few beers with the lads" in order to promote a more inclusive drinking culture. The guidelines also discouraged "lad culture" and emphasised the need for "inclusive banter." This move generated public debate, including criticism from Conservative MP Bob Blackman, who questioned the necessity of such changes.