CAMRA has a long and successful history of organising campaigning awards.

This document sets out the policies that must be followed to ensure that all competitions and awards are fair, transparent, and adhere to wider CAMRA policies. This content has been reviewed and updated by the Campaigning Awards Committee and is published to provide clear guidance to all competition and award organisers, as well as participants.

These policies apply to all awards, whether branch, regional or national. It is important that they are always followed as they protect CAMRA’s reputation, promote consistency, ensure transparency, and help meet our campaigning objectives.

Campaigning Awards Committee is responsible for the following awards:

Pub/Club-based awards

• Pub of the Year.

• Club of the Year.

• Cider & Perry Pub/Club of the Year.

• Pub Saving Award.

• Pub Design Award.

Pint-based awards

• Champion Beer of Britain.

• Champion Winter Beer of Britain.

• Champion Bottled Beer of Britain.

• Champion Cider of Britain.

• Champion Perry of Britain.

People-based awards

• Campaigner of the Year.

• Pomona Award.

• Club Recognition Award.

Various discretionary awards, including:

• Inclusion, Diversity and Equality Award.

• Parliamentarian Achievement Award.

• Technical Innovation in Beer Award (Dan Kane Award).

• Environmental Recognition Award.

• CAMRA International Recognition Award.

Campaigning Awards Committee is not responsible for the following awards:

• Branch Magazine of the Year.

• Branch Website of the Year.

• Membership awards.

• Awards for beer, cider or perry at festivals that are not part of the Champion Beer of Britain qualification process (other than to ensure the wider Awards policy is met).

• Region or branch-specific people awards.

Going forward, updates will be made as necessary to respond to new challenges and changing circumstances. If you have any comments or suggestions, or you need any advice, please contact the committee by emailing awards@camra.org.uk.

At all times, we must:

• Ensure that all activities comply with the Volunteers’ Charter, and Member Code of Conduct.

• Act with impartiality and fairness.

• Follow proper financial practice.

• Strive for quality, raise awareness, and educate.

• Ensure opportunities to nominate for and judge awards are widely promoted and accessible for as many members as possible.

• Promote responsible drinking and condemn irresponsible alcohol promotions.

• Strive to be inclusive of all minority and protected groups in society and actively seek to include those from under-represented groups.

• Strive for environmentally responsible practices in all our competitions.

• For our events, ensure that all legal and health and safety guidelines are followed.

We should not give awards to pubs, clubs, breweries, cider makers, or individuals if they:

• Sell, produce, or are connected with beers or ciders that have offensive or discriminatory names, packaging or advertising materials.

• Are misleading consumers whether on price, provenance, ingredients or dispense.

• Restrict entry to licensed premises on discriminatory grounds or display names, signs or objects that are offensive to a consumer due to their discriminatory nature.

• Are misleading consumers by applying CAMRA (or non-CAMRA) award status to their establishment or product (including dispense format/package, and provenance) for which the award was not given.

For further details, see the Campaigns Policy Document on the CAMRA website.

Other policies that cover all awards:

• All awards must have the relevant year displayed.

• Where possible, judges should not be the same people as the previous year, or previous stage of the competition.

• No award is to be sponsored where there is, or is perceived to be, a conflict with the award itself or the aims of CAMRA.

• Competition organisers and judges must not have any conflicts of interest with the competition (or aspect of the competition) they are involved with.

• Competition organisers may claim reimbursement of expenses that they necessarily incur to administer the competition.

• Overnight accommodation and/or a judging companion must be approved in advance by the Chair of Campaigning Awards Committee and confirmed by the Finance Director.

When a branch award is made, the relevant Regional Director must be informed.

When a regional award is made, the relevant Branch Chair, Branch Contact, and County Co-ordinator must be informed.

When a national award is made, the relevant Branch Chair, Branch Contact, County Co-ordinator and Regional Director must be informed, along with the relevant regional official, e.g. Regional Cider Co-ordinator, or Regional Clubs Officer.

For branch and regional competitions, wherever possible, judges should include a woman or non-binary person and a person under 30.

For national competitions, judges must include a woman or non-binary person and a person under 30, unless there is a justifiable reason why this cannot be achieved.

For judging regional competitions, reasonable travel expenses may be claimed by no more than one member (pre-authorised) per branch per pub/club visit. Claims should be made on the standard form, authorised by the Regional Director or Award Co-ordinator and will be paid centrally.

For judging Super-Regional competitions, reasonable travel expenses may be claimed by no more than four members (appointed) per pub/club visit. Claims should be made on the standard form, authorised by the Chair of Campaigning Awards Committee, or relevant Award Co-ordinator, and will be paid centrally.

For judging national competitions, reasonable travel expenses may be claimed by no more than members (appointed) per pub/club visit. Claims should be made on the standard form, authorised by the Chair of Campaigning Awards Committee, or relevant Award Co-ordinator, and will be paid centrally.

The year of the award will correspond with the year that judging takes place.

Requests to consider withdrawing a pub/club award are to be made to the Chair of Campaigning Awards Committee with reference to the policy breached and photographic evidence if available.

Awards may be withdrawn if winners are found to have breached active policy in the period since the award was made. Decisions to withdraw awards will be made by Campaigning Awards Committee and ratified by Campaigns and Communications Committee.

Awards can only be withdrawn for years where the policy or policies breached were active.

If an award is withdrawn the local branch will be informed via the Regional Director and the pub/club will be requested to return any certificates or plaques.

The use of ‘Champion Beer of’ can and must only be used for awards that are part of the official pathway to Champion Beer of Britain or part of an official Champion Beer of Britain Area Competition.

Award recipients are not permitted to use CAMRA rosettes, crowners, or logos unless they have been issued by the CAMRA Office. Rosettes, crowners, or logos will only be issued once the signed paperwork to agree to correct usage has been completed. Any use without this paperwork is an infringement of CAMRA’s copyright.

When a beer award in a Champion Beer of Britain competition is made, the relevant Brewery Liaison Officer, Branch Chair, Branch Contact, Brewery Liaison Co-ordinator and Regional Director must be informed. This can be directly by the Area Co-ordinator or through a ‘cascade’ system if contact details are not immediately available.

When the national awards are made, the relevant Area Champion Beer of Britain Co-ordinator must be informed.

When a cider or perry award is made, the relevant Regional Cider Co-ordinator, Branch Cider Rep, Branch Chair, Branch Contact and Regional Director must be informed.

Festival Organisers are encouraged to host an Area Champion Beer of Britain and an Area Champion Bottled Beer of Britain category judging at their festival, and should work with their local Champion Beer of Britain Co-ordinator to identify any support required to do so.

For all Champion Beer of Britain category competitions, wherever possible, judges should include a woman or non-binary person and a person under 30.

For Champion Beer of Britain Area competitions all beer for a competition must be purchased as a part of hosting the event. Discounts must not be asked for nor expected. The only exception is if a reasonable quantity is being purchased, and one container is offered free.

Beer, cider, or perry for a competition must not be ordered until the event's business plan has been approved, or a Third-Party Agreement is in place.

Beers for Champion Beer of Britain competitions (including bottled categories) must meet the eligibility criteria for availability (style or category specific), naming, and labelling/point of sale material.

Judges for panels are not entitled to any expenses.

The year of the award will correspond to the year of the event where judging takes place.

When a national award is made, the Branch Chair, Branch Contact, County Co-ordinator and Regional Director must be informed.

When a Pomona Award is made, the Branch Chair, Branch Contact, Branch Cider Rep, County Co-ordinator, Regional Cider Co-ordinator and Regional Director must be informed.

When a Club Recognition Award is made, the Branch Chair, Branch Contact, Branch Clubs Officer, Regional Clubs Officer, County Co-ordinator and Regional Director must be informed.

For national awards, judges must include a woman or non-binary person and a person under 30, unless there is a justifiable reason why this cannot be achieved.

Judges are not entitled to any expenses.

If you have any comments or suggestions, or you need any advice, please contact the committee by emailing awards@camra.org.uk.