Campaigns
CAMRA campaigns nationally for the pubs, clubs, breweries and drinkers of the UK. This is where we bring those campaigns home to South Cheshire, and where you can lend a hand. Right now we are focused on two things: cutting the tax burden that is closing pubs, and protecting the pubs we still have as community hubs.
VATs the problem
VATs the problem is a united, sector-wide campaign calling on the Government to cut VAT on hospitality from 20% to 10%. It is backed by UKHospitality, the British Beer & Pub Association, the British Institute of Innkeeping and others, and championed by chef Tom Kerridge. Since its public launch in July 2026 it has passed 300,000 signatures.
The argument is simple. Pubs, clubs, cafes and restaurants are being squeezed by rising costs, including energy, food and drink inflation, wages, National Insurance and business rates, all on top of one of the highest VAT rates in Europe. In the Republic of Ireland the equivalent rate is now 9%. Cutting VAT to 10% would be one of the single most effective levers the Government could pull to keep local pubs open and people in work.
Every pub in our branch area is up against the same maths; whether it is a town-centre bar or one of the beautiful country pubs across our patch. Backing this campaign is one of the most direct ways we can help our valuable pubs and local breweries stay open.
How you can help
- Add your name to the petition and share it with friends, family and fellow drinkers.
- Mention it to your local landlord; many are already displaying the campaign in their venues.
- Use the campaign materials in the CAMRA volunteers area to help us spread the word locally.
Pub Preservation
Britain is still losing pubs for good. Government figures for England and Wales, analysed by tax specialists at Ryan, show that 366 pubs were demolished or converted to other uses during 2025, roughly one every single day. These are permanent losses, not seasonal closures: the buildings become housing, offices, shops or nurseries, and almost never return as pubs. By the end of the year the counted stock of pubs in England and Wales had fallen to 38,623. Across the UK as a whole, the British Beer & Pub Association counts more than 16,000 pubs lost since the year 2000.
A pub is rarely just a pub. It is often the last shared space in a village or on an estate: the place for the quiz night, the charity fundraiser, the wake, the first pint and the catch-up that would not happen anywhere else. When a pub goes, a piece of the community goes with it, and getting it back is far harder than keeping it open in the first place.
Losing a pub is not inevitable
When a pub is valued by the people who use it, it can be nominated as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) with the local council. If an ACV-listed pub is then put up for sale, that listing triggers a moratorium: a protected window during which the pub cannot be sold to anyone else while local people organise, raise funds and prepare a bid, and in some cases take the pub into community ownership. Alongside ACV status, planning protections and a strong local campaign can be the difference between a pub reopening and a pub lost. This is where a CAMRA branch can help, and where you can too.
Local focus
The White Lion, Barthomley
One of our own is a live example of why this matters. The White Lion at Barthomley is a Grade II* listed, timber-framed inn dating from 1614, standing opposite St Bertoline’s Church in the heart of the village. It closed in September 2023 when Marston’s 20-year lease came to an end, after more than four centuries as a pub.
Images of the White Lion by Ian Bray. Copyright IFB 2013. Tap a photo to view it larger.
The pub is now up for sale, and its Asset of Community Value listing has put a protective clock on that sale. On 26 August more than 70 residents filled Barthomley Village Hall to decide what to do, and voted to register a formal expression of interest in buying the White Lion. That step triggers a six-month moratorium, during which the pub cannot be sold to anyone else, giving the community time to put a plan together and raise the funds. Registering that interest carried no financial commitment at this stage.
There is a real task ahead. A survey commissioned for the sale has flagged significant repairs, including work to the thatched roofline, damp, and a bowed wall, with early estimates running into the hundreds of thousands of pounds. But for the first time in two years there is a clear route to keeping the White Lion as a pub, and a community determined to take it. South Cheshire CAMRA was at the meeting and will support the effort as it develops.
Tell the branch. The sooner we know a local is under threat, the more we can do, from supporting an Asset of Community Value nomination to rallying local support. Email us at pubdata@southcheshire.camra.org.uk.
Lend a hand
Campaigns like these are won by lots of people doing a little. Here is how you can back your local pubs, wherever you are in the branch area.
- Use your local. The simplest support there is: a pub that is busy is a pub that stays open.
- Back the campaigns. Sign the petitions and share them with people you know.
- Flag pubs at risk. Let us know early so we can act while there is still time.
- Join CAMRA. Add your voice to the biggest single campaign for pubs in the country.
This page tracks the campaigns we are actively supporting. It will grow as national CAMRA campaigns develop and as local issues arise. Questions or a pub to flag? Get in touch.