Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families - UK

UK INTERGROUP MEETING - was held on 10.12.11. The minutes are at the bottom of the page.

MINI CONVENTION, Manchester 31.03.12. Theme - Unity and Working the Steps.

Sponsorship is very important. With small groups and uneven sex distribution it is sometimes difficult to get a local sponsor. We are looking for members who are willing to distance sponsor newcomers. If you have worked the steps and can help, send in a brief cv. If you are looking for a sponsor and theres no one local, contact us for list.

Minutes of ACA Intergroup meeting held on 10.12.11 at Etheline Holder Hall, 5B Denbigh Road, London.

Those present -

Alex M – London, Catherine M – Manchester, Clive – Totnes, Derek – Manchester, Jo – London, Julia C – Chelmsford, Justyna – London, Martin C London, Michele – London, Pat – Salisbury, Sarah R -Manchester, Tommy V - Manchester
The 12 traditions were read.

Reports -

Alex (chair) - The last meeting was in 2005. This meeting instigated by Martin. Alex will be resigning.
Jo (treasurer) – Bank account has been credited £10/month plus odd donations. Balance is £73.76. £180 paid in last year. £161.81 paid out last year (£67.16 tel help line, £95 PO box). Jo will circulate bank details so we can pay contributions directly. As the PO box is not being used it was agreed that it would not be renewed.
Catherine (lit sec) – 27 pieces of literature reviewed in 2000. We agreed to place this lit on website for download. The meeting suggests using the UK version of the steps.

Groups -

Manchester – 2 meetings, planning 3rd. One of the meetings is a closed step meeting.
Totnes – 10-12 attending. Struggling with sponsorship/steps.
Salisbury – 5 members about 6 attend weekly. Been running 7yrs.
Chelmsford – Been going 3 months. 1-2 phone calls per week. 6 attend per week. Changing venue due to insurance problems.
W Yorks. - Penistone – 4 attend ?closing in new year. Holmfirth. Sheffield – 7-10 per week.
London – 13-15 attend. All posts filled, solvent. Use red book and meditate.
Newcastle – from 3rd party – changing venues.
Aberystwyth – from 3rd party – running ok.
Frome – no contact.
London Polish – no contact.

Discussions

New meetings - Martin – Any new meetings. Yes - ?Norwich, Brighton. We need a PI officer.
Big Book - Martin – Big Book is expensive when shipped from US. ?PDF ?Kindle ?someone bring over a load in a rucksack! In the end we agreed to get together with local meetings to get the best discount.
Conventions – Tom (Manchester), Clive and Julia were voted in to organise conventions. Later in the meeting it was decided to hold the next Intergroup in Manchester in the early part of 2012 as part of a day miniconvention.
Communication – Facebook is good but some people worry about anonymity. Clive will set up a blog on the website. We used to have a newsletter – no volunteers to keep it going. The difference between ACA and AcoA explained. It was agreed that we should have a central helpline but no one wanted their details made public. One member wanted more info about ACA on the website – Clive said the site is due a revamp and it will be bigger. Contact details of those present were taken.
Why is ACA so small? (Jo) - “people feel vulnerable sharing”, “no strong tradition as AA”, “lack of central organisation – until now!”
Sponsorship – No one seems to be doing traditional AA type sponsoring. Most people doing co-sponsoring, either 1 to 1 or as a group. Several groups have step meetings which fulfil this (Manchester, Frome). The chapter in the Big Book is v useful. Clive had proposed distance sponsoring by phone for people who couldn’t find a local sponsor. He explained that it seems to be working with one sponsee using an AA type model. No one else seemed keen on this.

Jo shared how co-sponsoring is how they used to work it, successfully. Alex suggested that the passage in the Red Book about co-sponsorship was added to the literature on the meeting table and this was generally agreed.

Online meeting – A meeting by Skype was proposed. Clive has since investigated and it is possible to do a conference call with up to 25 people. We would need a leader to coordinate it. He/She would need to take requests from people and dial all their numbers at the meeting time. It would need a fairly strict protocol to work – Secretary, please note. Would you like to call for volunteers to lead it?
The PO Box was discussed and voted on not renewing it.

Elections.

Chair – Martin
Secretary – Julia
IT – Clive
PI – Pat
UK Intergroup rep – Martin
Call taker – Alex

AOB

Michelle offered to start a counselling helpline service. Alex said that we would have to take advice from ACA WSO and Martin said that anyone giving service must be a regular ACA member and invited Michelle to the London meeting.

The next ACA Intergroup meeting will take place in March in Manchester along with a mini convention. Exact date TBA.