Thanks to Ian Round (former Chairman) for all his good work. His knowledge of the campaign, patience, tact and diplomacy will be sorely missed. A hard act to follow!

Thanks to all the members who supported me at the AGM. I am delighted to be taking over this important post at a time when the Doncaster & District Branch is vigorous, lively, busy and, above all, very effective in furthering the cause of real ale. We have a very enthusiastic, dedicated committee.

The annual Beer Festival goes from strength to strength, Donny Drinker has recently increased circulation to 4,000, we are supporting over 160 real ale pubs and clubs in our area and forging close relationships with local breweries.

As Chairman, I want to help consolidate and continue the excellent work so far and reflect on how successfully our local campaigns promote the fundamental aims of CAMRA so that we can always be looking for new areas of development.

I hope we can encourage even more of the Branch’s 840 members to join in with the activities of the branch. If you could help – by delivering Donny Drinker, supporting some of the many organised pub visits, contributing up to date information about your local pubs to the branch database, working at the Beer Festival in April or in any other way, please let us know. Better still, come along to a branch meeting and volunteer – there is always work to be done! A broader base will strengthen the branch by reducing its reliance on a large amount of work from just a few individuals. I would particularly like to encourage new, younger members keen to carry on the good work into the future.

Here’s looking forward to an exciting year.

Bob Kiddle
Chairman