Our Impact in 2025
2025 has been a busy and purposeful year for Women On Tap CIC. As the only social enterprise operating in this space, we’ve continued to reflect deeply on where we can have the greatest impact - balancing our expertise, experience and passion for this work with the reality of severely limited resources.
Despite those constraints, the outcomes speak for themselves.
Women On Tap CIC hosting a conversation on gender diversity at BeerX 2025 (Credit: SIBA BeerX)
In our first year as campaign lead, International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day (IWCBD) 2025 brought together more than 800 participants worldwide, further consolidating the global women’s beer community. Through collective action, voice and visibility, IWCBD continues to help forge a more inclusive path for those coming through the industry.
This year also marked a step change in fundraising impact. £27,000 was raised for women’s causes through IWCBD, following the formalisation of fundraising as a core part of the campaign. This shift enabled a more focused and ambitious fundraising drive - with tangible results.
Education remained a cornerstone of our work. 22 women were awarded free, globally recognised beer qualifications through our IWCBD education partnership with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), helping to remove financial barriers to professional development.
With the support of 10 sponsors, we are set to pilot a new WOT Bursary Scheme, which will launch fully in January. This initiative will provide direct financial support to those wishing to take part in IWCBD public brew days but facing barriers such as travel costs, childcare needs, or unpaid leave. We hope to expand this support across other activities going forward.
In partnership with the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA), we created the first Diversity Champion of the Year award for the 2025 Business Awards - placing inclusion firmly on the main stage at the UK’s biggest beer and brewing event, and spotlighting those leading by example. The award is now a permanent feature.
Our volunteer Advisory Board continues to be instrumental. Originally formed in 2024 for a six-month strategy project, the Board has now met 11 times over 18 months and will continue through 2026. With eight external members bringing expertise from within and beyond the beer industry, we are deeply grateful for their ongoing time, commitment and insight.
We also launched two Changemaker schemes this year - one for individuals and one for organisations. Presented as an online sign-up on our website, it provides the simplest way yet to support our work and be part of our growing community, and will help us to build a vital financial lifeline.
Through our ongoing partnership with SIBA, we successfully introduced one additional element to the annual Industry Report Questionnaire. As a result, for the first time, this will give us data on who is running UK beer at the most senior levels - a vital missing dataset that will allow meaningful tracking of progress over time.
Looking ahead
We’ve succeeded in securing increased support from both SIBA and WSET to help us uplift the reach and impact of IWCBD, and the 2026 campaign is already underway. Alongside this, we’re developing a major new research study, and beginning to shape early plans for a special 10th anniversary WOT celebration in 2027.
This year has been one of continued reflection, but also of real delivery. Significant impact has been made, and important new seeds have been sown to help us take steps closer to realising our vision.
As a final note, I plan to address the resource challenges we have faced by increasing my own commitment to the social enterprise in 2026 as Executive Director. I’m excited to dedicate more hours to developing our work and exploring new projects and partnerships, building upon the strong foundations we have worked so hard for.
Thank you for being part of this journey in whatever way you have this year. We hope you’ll join us for another year as we dig in and prepare to rise up and go again.
Rachel Auty, Founder and Executive Director, Women On Tap CIC