recovery · 2020. 4. 15. · glasgow, g2 4jp. tea and coffee at 10am before a 10.45am start. a...

Your meeting in printMarch 2020 £1

SERVICEUNITY

RECOVERY

Special Themed Issue:The Home Group

2002.01 aa roundabout march 20.indd 12002.01 aa roundabout march 20.indd 1 07/02/2020 19:3307/02/2020 19:33

THE TWELVE STEPS1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives

had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

© 1939 by A.A. World Services, Inc. Reprinted with permission.


PreambleAlcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and

hope with each other that they may solve their

common problem and help others to recover

from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership

is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we

are self supporting through our own contributions. A.A. is not allied with any sect,

denomination, politics, organisation or institution; does not wish to engage in

any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any

causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help

other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.

© 1947 A.A. The Grapevine, Inc.Reprinted with permission

SERVICEUNITY

RECOVERY

Roundabout is the copyright of General Service Board, Alcoholics Anonymous Great Britain Ltd.

email: [email protected]: www.aa-roundabout.org.uk

Cover picture: courtesy of an AA member.

In This Month’s Issue

2 Sub-Committee Notice Board

3 Editorial

4 Why Have a Home Group?

5 Gro-up In A Group

6 The Benefits Of Being In A Group

7 What’s Your Address?

8 Is £1 Enough?

10 Changed Days

i-iv Diary And Service Pages – March 2020

13 The Roundabout Interview

16 I Joined A Group

17 Welcome Home

19 Doing Service The AA Way

20 For Those With Fankles

21 That Was The Week That Was

23 Subscribe To Roundabout


SUB-COMMITTEE NOTICE BOARD

Roundabout Liaison Officers’ Workshop 2020

The next annual Roundabout Liaison Officers’ Workshop has been scheduled for Saturday 14 March 2020 at the Renfield St Stephen’s Centre, 260 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4JP. Tea and coffee at 10am before a 10.45am start. A light lunch will be provided before the afternoon session which is expected to conclude by 3.30pm.

All intergroup and regional Roundabout Liaison Officers will be sent a formal invitation early in January and the Roundabout Sub-Committee are hoping for a full attendance.

The sub-committee will also welcome any other members of the Fellowship who have an interest in Roundabout or who are considering a service post either as a Liaison Officer or as part of the Roundabout Sub-Committee.

Roundabout Magazine Cover Photographs

Roundabout invites readers to electronically submit photographs for our magazine cover picture. Photographs, in portrait format, should be taken by yourself, free from possible identification of persons, should not feature identifiable private buildings, should not suggest or imply any endorsement or affiliation with any organisation and should not include any public notices or similar content.

Roundabout cannot guarantee to use a particular photograph in any particular issue of the magazine, and contributors will be acknowledged as ‘a member of the Fellowship’.


EditorialThis month, after receiving a number of articles centred around the home group we decided to devote the whole magazine to this theme. After all, that is ‘where it all begins’ for us in AA.

I have the fondest memories of my first home group. The first time I attended was to assess whether this particular group of alkies were ‘hardcore’ enough for me! Instead, I was undone by the kindness of one of the women who slipped her phone number into my hand and quietly said she could give me a lift the next week, if I wanted. I took that number, used it and became a group member the very next week.

A couple of years later when severe snow made the roads unusable, it was with her and another group member that I trudged the two miles, laughing and joking, to get our meeting open. I found my first sponsor in my home group. She calmly and quietly guided me for the next nine years as I first railed against the world before learning to live in it. Finally, it was in my home group that I was introduced to service and began doing for others what had been done for me.

Within Roundabout this month you’ll find an extract from The Home Group: Heartbeat of AA and two articles, over 30 years apart, writing about understanding Tradition Two by having regular group conscience meetings. Next, a letter from a current AA member asks us to reflect on the dues and fees collected at group level whilst someone else shares about the importance of having an address in AA.

We’ve also found cartoons to match the theme as well as adding two QR codes which will direct you to links for the Pink Form and to The AA Group pamphlet.

According to our archives, the last time Roundabout focused on different themes was in the Eighties. We hope you enjoy this issue as much as we have enjoyed putting it together for you.

Roundabout is published by the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous (GB) Ltd. and is the official journal of Alcoholics Anonymous in Scotland, though views expressed in thearticles are not necessarily those of Alcoholics Anonymous. All articles, cartoons and contents of Roundabout are copyright material of the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous and Roundabout.

The Editor invites the submission of articles and letters which should be sent to:

ROUNDABOUTNorthern Service OfficeAlcoholics Anonymous50 Wellington StreetGlasgow G2 6HJTel: 0141 226 2214or by e-mail to:[email protected]

Articles and letters will be attributed to ‘Anonymous’ if the writer wishes, but the original submission to the Editor should include name, address and telephone number (these details will not be published).

The Editor cannot guarantee to publish all materials submitted or return contributed matter. Payment for any submissions cannot be made.Roundabout does not publish poetry or obituaries. Contributors are asked to accept these conditions.

Payments and administrative enquiries should be sent to:

AA ROUNDABOUTAlcoholics AnonymousP.O. Box 110 Toft GreenYork Y01 7NJ

Telephone enquiries can be made between 10am and 2pmMonday to Friday on 01904 644026


Why Have a Home Group?September 1986

...To many, their AA is only the home group. If this is so, what should the home group be to the member, and why should a member have a home group?

When we took those first faltering steps to recovery, many of us would have stumbled and fallen once again if we had to make what was to be a miraculous change by ourselves. In my case, the first ray of hope came from those sometimes loving, sometimes cantankerous old geezers who sat around the table in my hometown. A long time before I believed, or even heard, what they told me, I began thinking there might be a chance simply because I thought if they could do it, so could I.

The first slogans I heard came from them. Later, when I heard the same things from speakers at a convention, I thought it was so wise; but it was months before I realized that I first heard those thoughts from the fat little guy who I thought was so windy and who eventually became my sponsor. I thought I needed to go to conventions, assemblies, and forums to get my batteries recharged because things were so dull and routine in my home group.

Now I know that it’s... those wonderful people sitting around the table in my hometown who loved me when I could not love, who waited for me to quit lying, who tolerated me when I would be part of nothing, and who never asked me to leave when I was obnoxious. Because of their love and patience, I was able finally to get outside of myself and make some sort of commitment to the group…

It is where we first learn to take responsibility so that we might eventually take responsibility for our lives… It was there we learned to do Twelfth Step work so we could eventually pass on to others what was so feely given to us, thereby ensuring the very future and survival of the Fellowship. It was there we first learned about the rest of the Fellowship, and someone began answering the questions about all the mysteries of what makes the whole thing work…

R. B.

Neosho, Missouri

Editor’s note:Read this article in its entirety in The Home Group: Heartbeat of AA, p8.

page 4


An article taken from The Roundabout Magazine: May 1980.

GRO_UP in a GROUPTo-day I feel thankful for the privilege of being a member of an active A.A. Group. Most important for me is the fact that being a member of a group has helped me to maintain my sobriety. In this group I have found friendship understanding and a feeling of belonging and that is good for me.

In our Group Conscience meeting which begins with a member reading the Preamble and closes with the Serenity Prayer, we discuss Intergroup business, rotate service responsibilities and in general speak about all that a healthy A.A. group involves itself in. We also steer clear of all that our Preamble tells us not to get involved in.

The first thing that I became aware of at these meetings was the evidence of our 2nd Tradition, which I think is worth reading at these meetings. This has brought home to me that no longer can I look for everything to go my way. This was a lesson that took time for me to appreciate. I used to leave these meetings feeling frustrated especially when things did not go the way I had wanted.

To-day is different. I have learned to accept that I am not always right, and I am learning to keep my mouth shut and not have something to say about everything. I have also learned to speak up when I think it’s important to offer the group my ideas.

These new attitudes I have learned, are also most helpful in my home and at my work. It no longer amazes me that by suggesting something quietly and not allowing myself to be involved in controversy that the correct answers do emerge. Learning that others are entitled to their say and their way, can not only be helpful to me but also fun. I laugh to-day at some of the strange ideas, sometimes twisted thoughts I had.

To-day I have a far more mature attitude to life in general, and this has been influenced greatly by my participation in our Group Conscience Meeting.To the members of the Big Book Group, Alexandria I say Thanks for helping me to grow up.

Neil

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The Benefits Of Being In A GroupI felt prompted to write into Roundabout about being part of a group. I have been a member of AA for circa 20 years and in that time I have been fortunate enough to be part of several groups for varying lengths of time. My experience of being in groups is that it has kept me anchored in AA, especially when life has been difficult and very busy. This is important for me as my default position seems to be ‘to drift’ away from things which keep me well unless I make a conscious effort otherwise. Being committed and turning up to do service, weekly, for a group certainly helps with this.

Being in a group has also provided a platform for me to mature and grow (up) as a person. Relationships have always been a prickly subject. I don’t think I have ever been a natural team player. This is precisely another reason I need to be in a group. The constant potential for differing views and opinions with other group members reminds me to check for personal, selfish agendas which may contravene Tradition Five or unjustly hurt other group members.

A reference to Tradition Two may be salient here also. The group I am currently a member of is small, you might even say intimate. Intimate in terms of being open and honest with the kind of sharing which allows group members to be themselves. I think AA calls this the ‘language of the heart’. We have not been very well attended for some time but we have the resources to keep the doors open for the still suffering alcoholic. I need to remind myself, even after all this time in AA, that an AA group is not a popularity contest nor is it necessarily a direct reflection on me or the group members. Every group I have been in thus far has cycled between being well supported at times and then not at others. This seems to be the nature of AA group attendance.

When all is said and done, for me, being part of an AA group is vital for my mental and emotional wellbeing. It also helps me to meet my responsibilities as a father, husband, brother, son and friend, as well as to fulfil my primary purpose.

PaulWishaw Pather Thursday

Submit your article to [email protected]


What’s Your Address?Quite a few years ago now I joined my first group. I was asked by a group member, who incidentally became my first sponsor, if I would like to join. I was sober but a few weeks so I felt quite important that a long term member had asked me. My self-worth at that time was very low and this was the boost I needed.

“Be down half an hour before the meeting starts.” I was told. My job was to welcome everyone to our meeting. I felt a valued member of the group right away. This was the beginning of my service in AA. Although I had been attending meetings almost every night now I really felt I was IN, a member of AA. Even when I was sharing I would introduce myself as “belonging to the Midcalder Saturday Night Group” which is now closed.

That was over 27 years ago and I haven’t forgotten how important it is to be a participating member of a home group. To be there on time, to do my area of service that night with a welcoming smile and sincerely welcome everyone attending is what is required of me. Without active members groups wouldn’t survive to carry the AA message to others. Doing service in my group also helps me to remain sober, which is the first part of my primary purpose.

Being in a home group is also my ‘address’ in the Fellowship. Another bonus is that members looking for me can usually find me there. Many thanks to my own home group for giving me these opportunities as well as all other members who play this vital part in keeping their home groups open for me and others.

MargaretCleland Monday Night 12 Step Group


Is £1 Enough?When I first joined AA nearly 10 years ago the only voluntary contribution, if you chose to make it, was the nominal sum of £1 for tea/coffee and biscuits because it was an easy and convenient unit of currency most people had on them and could afford. I’m sure many of us have at some time tipped a waiter, taxi driver or hairdresser, often without thinking, because it is the custom and practice to do so. Even when the service/journey/trim was fairly routine we still showed our gratitude by adding a little extra.

The customs and practices of AA’s 7th Tradition state ‘we are self-supporting’ and ‘there are no dues or fees’, which is a great and worthy principle and ensures we are not beholden to outside influences. Unfortunately, many AA meetings take place in premises such as church halls, community rooms and schools etc, who do not share AA principles and who do, in fact, have dues and fees of their own to meet their overheads. Ten years of accommodation increases and general inflation have diminished the nominal £1 contribution to the value of present day loose change, causing many smaller groups to struggle to break even.

If we are able to tip strangers without thinking, perhaps it is time we ‘Think, Think, Think’, about what the service AA provides to thousands of people across the country may be worth. Perhaps it is time to show a little more gratitude, if possible, to a great institution that asks for nothing in return. The price of a supermarket tea or coffee would be a great start.

Allan Anniesland Wednesday


Changed DaysIt’s Saturday morning in my house and all is quiet. 8.23am. I’ve just finished my prayers and meditation. I’m tired and I still have some worries but I’m up and sober. It’s a long way from where I was just over six years ago.

A neighbour has fired up his petrol hedge trimmer and the early morning silence is broken. A little thoughtless perhaps but I can live with that. Previously, I would have found the sound really aggravating for my tortured, hungover head and would have been halfway across the street to rage at my industrious but inconsiderate neighbour and thinking of ways to retaliate. What a waste of mental energy which would have just made me feel even more bitter and helpless.

If a time machine had transported me forward six years from 2013 to now, this is how I may have thought when I opened my eyes this morning...

“Where am I? I do not recognise this bed, this bedroom and the woman lying next to me is clearly not the mother of my children. When can I get a drink? What day is it? Where are my children? Whose house is this? What happened last night?”

It’s true. I would not recognise my life today as being my own. I live in a different flat with a new lady in my life and my two boys are having a weekend with their mum. I don’t need or want a drink. I have a fair idea of what day it is and I know exactly what I did last night. The biggest change is that I am sober and can find peace, even in a turbulent world. For this I am very grateful. I rarely found peace in my adult life until I started on the AA Programme.

I have seen some huge changes in my life. Some of it fast; some of it slow. I would have been around 45 when I first came to a meeting, although my drinking really got started in my 20s and continued at an ever-increasing rate, causing all sorts of problems at home, at work and in my head. I had no idea how selfish my behaviour was. I would lie about my drinking which was

Points To Ponder“Just as the aim of each A.A. member is personal

sobriety, so the aim of our services is to bring sobriety within reach of all who want it. If nobody did the group’s chores,... then A.A. as we know it

would stop.”(Alcoholics Anonymous Comes Of Age, pg 120)


transparent to my partner. We had been together many years before she caught me in the corner of the kitchen one day, chugging a bottle of whisky by the neck. That was in 2001 and I still had another decade and more of serious drinking to navigate. I lied about my alcohol intake because I knew it was wrong and I felt bad about it. My partner felt she could not trust me. If I lied about drinking what else was I lying about?

I was so stuck on drink that half way through a heavy schedule of chemotherapy I managed to get to the supermarket and secretly drink a bottle of wine. Hungover, I passed out the following morning when the IV line went in. Not a good mixer. My partner lost all respect for me and eventually, having patched me up after splitting my head open one drunken night at home, enough was enough. I had to go.

I put a positive spin on this new situation. At least if I was somewhere else I wouldn’t have to hide the bottles or be sneaky or be challenged anymore. Of course, I got worse. I drank fast and hard. My life became truly unmanageable. I was now living in the house of my recently deceased mother and was drinking myself into a stupor every day to avoid my life. Desperately unhappy, even I realised that this couldn’t go on. I telephoned a treatment centre (Amy Winehouse’s ‘Rehab’ was popular at the time) and figured if I took a week off work I could get straightened out and cured.

The folks at the treatment centre were kind and patient with me. They said that I definitely had a problem and that it was going to get worse. They could help but it would be costly and I might not see my family for months. They also said that they thought I could do this ‘on the outside’ but there were things I must do and if that failed, I should come back and see them again. Tell my GP. Get a psychologist. Stop drinking. Go to AA.

They may not have been in that order but certainly the last two were the most important. They told me that alcoholism was beyond the point of logic. If drinking is the problem, just to stop drinking would appear to be the simple answer but from experience I knew I could not stop, even when I wanted to and that was frightening.


Remarkably, I did exactly as I was told. I knew I was as low as I could go. My GP didn’t make a lot of difference although I suspect he appreciated me being honest. I got a lot of value from the psych but the best treatment was free.

I stopped drinking and I was introduced to a local AA member. She took me to my first meeting, which for some reason was not on, so we sat outside and talked for an hour or so. I will always be grateful to her. She is sadly no longer with us, (sober to the end) but I have her AA books. The following night I went to a meeting in Palmerston Place, Edinburgh, alone. I was very raw and shaky, not knowing what to expect. Someone welcomed me with a cup of coffee and sat me down and I listened. I went back and I didn’t drink between times. It was a Step meeting and a lot of it didn’t make sense but I must have sat through the whole cycle of 12 Steps three times before I got a sponsor who was patient and kind with me. Challenging too, and we got results.

We worked through my Step Four and I started to make amends where I could. The one I feared most was to the boys’ mum, my long-term drinking partner from whom I was now separated. I expected her to be vicious but she said that she could see I really had changed. I completed the Steps and found my Higher Power, giving me strength and serenity.

I love my home group. There is so much friendship and wisdom there. I visit other meetings when I can, wherever I am. I could always be more grateful and can’t do enough for AA. Service is essential. My biggest challenge is to get over the burden of self. To see beyond myself and walk with my Higher Power, my understanding of which will evolve throughout my life.

I just need to acknowledge that there are at least two things more powerful than me in my life. One is alcohol and the other is my Higher Power. It’s an easy choice now to decide which one to follow. Thank you all for keeping me right.

MattHaddington Monday

I am responsible.When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help,

I want the hand of AA always to be there.And for that: I am responsible.


The Roundabout InterviewMany thanks to Fiona, Clydebank Friday 1pm.

What brought you to AA?Fear. I didn’t want to die. For a long time I’d been praying that I would die; then praying that I wouldn’t. I was physically very ill and mentally my head was a mess. Peripheral neuropathy and alcoholic paralysis meant I couldn’t walk the short distance to the off-sales without sitting down for a breather. I was badly malnourished, in terrible pain with my liver and was being sick all the time. I could barely keep the drink down. My two daughters conspired between themselves to get me to my GP. I thought I’d get some anti-sickness medication so that I could drink, which shows how crazy my thinking was. I was dying on my feet but my only thought was to get a drink inside me. The doctor took one look at me and my swollen liver and ordered an ambulance. In the hospital the surgeon told me I had the liver of a chronic alcoholic and I thought “How dare he say that!”

Was there one thing that made you realise you had a problem with drink?The hospital admission brought it home to me just how bad things were. I was terrified of dying. Without really knowing what it meant to be an alcoholic I knew I was one as I couldn’t stop drinking. However, even knowing that, I was still in denial as far as doing anything about it was concerned. I was always able to justify my behaviour. My alcoholism had progressed over the years yet the signs were there along the way, though I only see them now. Drinking took me away from myself which was something I wanted. Although it started as weekend drinking, the weekends got longer and the days not drinking became fewer until I didn’t know what day of the week it was.

How did you contact AA?After I came home from hospital my sister looked AA up. I’m not sure where but she told me she was taking me to an AA meeting in Clydebank. She was going to take me the next day too but couldn’t make it so I went myself.

What do you remember about your first meeting?I can’t remember much although I did notice the word ‘God’ in the scrolls on the wall. I was so desperate to get well I would have believed in anything, even the devil if it helped. I felt ashamed but I didn’t want pity from you. My pride had kicked in.

What was your initial impression of AA?I judged everyone without knowing anything about them. The women were well-dressed and had make-up on while I was sitting there in burst trainers. I didn’t

page 13


think they were like me at all. Maybe they had a wee drink problem but they definitely wouldn’t have a clue about the physical pain and mental torture I was suffering from. They wouldn’t know what it was like for me. I was so wrong.

Was there anything you didn’t like about AA at first?Everything! You took my pal from me. I didn’t want to stop though I knew I needed to. I didn’t like that fact one bit.

What helped you most in AA?Realising you were right. I drank again after seven weeks and I suddenly remembered something I’d heard at a meeting – that if you were alcoholic and drank again it would get worse. I’d thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse for me. A close family member, who was my drinking partner and who believed she didn’t have a problem because she could be off it for a few weeks at a time, said I couldn’t be an alcoholic if I could stop drinking for seven weeks. Neither of us knew how mistaken that idea was. I had no thoughts about drinking, had no plan to drink but I did. Almost before I’d even taken the first sip I was thinking about the carry-out I’d need later. Then I came to in hospital after taking seizures. It had gotten worse.

In a way that drink was my best drink. It was my convincer. I came back to AA after lying in bed for two weeks at my daughter’s, scared and ill. Realising I wasn’t alone and that other people thought like me helped. However, at five months sober I was demented. I was leaving meetings feeling worse as my pride meant that I was unable to tell anyone what my head was like inside. Suicide became a serious option. One day at a meeting I burst into tears and couldn’t stop crying. That was when someone offered to take me through the Programme and thanks to that I learned a lot more about alcoholism. I’ve accepted I’ve got it, learned about myself and got a Higher Power, a God as I understand it, into my life.

Alcoholism is a disgusting illness and it took almost everything from me, very nearly my life. I thought just not drinking would be enough but it wasn’t. There is more to alcoholism than being unable to control your drinking. I needed to change to get peace of mind and the Programme helped me do that.

How do you feel you have changed?That’s a hard one to answer as the idea that others see the change in us better than we see it ourselves applies to me but I do remember the first time I didn’t react. It wasn’t until I’d gotten home and sat down did I say to myself “Wow! Who would’ve believed that?!” I started to laugh and thanked God. I’d finally dealt with something calmly. I hadn’t lost the rag. In the darkness of alcohol I didn’t care about others.


That’s changed and today I am a good employee. I do my job well instead of not opening my workplace for two days due to an alcoholic blackout. People trust me today. I’m no angel but I respect others and try to do my best.

What has AA done for your family?AA gave my daughters their mum. Not their mum back because I was too wrapped up in myself before to be a mum. Now I am emotionally there for them and my grandsons and I have a great relationship with them all. AA and the Programme also changed the relationship I have with my mother. I had huge resentments towards both my parents and for a few years, in sobriety, I had to keep my mum out of my life. Now she is in a care home and I spend time with her. Not because I have to but because I want to.

Do you have a favourite AA slogan or phrase, and why?‘This too shall pass’. I used to hate it but now I love it. My first few months in AA I was in terrible, exhausting, non-stop pain because of my damaged liver and whenever anyone said it to me I wanted to hit them. But, the pain eventually did pass. Everything does, good or bad. Now, when I say it to others I have a silent laugh to myself wondering if they want to slap me!

What does ‘putting back into AA’ mean to you?Being in a group. Doing service when I can. Sharing from a top table when asked (even though I hate doing it) and helping others in and out of AA. Before my working hours changed I took my turn on The AA Helpline for a long time. The very first person I spoke to had had an almost identical experience with drink as me. It was weird but I reckon it was my Higher Power at work.

Has Roundabout played a part in your AA journey?I read it a lot in my early sobriety and it helped me to understand the illness of alcoholism.

What do you say to a newcomer?I share a bit about what I was like and how I felt when I came at first. About how nervous and scared I was.

Anything else you’d like to add?Looking back it’s mind-blowing that I don’t drink and haven’t, one day at a time, since February 2011. I didn’t think it was possible for me but AA shows that, as it says in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, ‘no matter how far down the scale we have gone’ it is possible.

- o – o – O – o – o -


I Joined A GroupI wish I could say I was Mr Perfect but for nine years I mucked about in and out of the rooms, even once getting asked to leave a meeting. I upset everyone who was trying to stop drinking. I hated everyone and never had a good word to say about anyone. The women were fat and ugly. The men were all gasping for a drink. I got my comeuppance at a Step meeting where I got caught out telling lies. I was taken outside the room and told to get on the Programme or go to the nearest pub and not to come back. My whole life changed that night. I approached a priest I knew who took me through the Steps. There was one thing that held me back but I got rid of it in Steps Four and Five.

During my sober years I have held down a job as a traffic warden but that went by the wayside when I was given early retirement. Later I was diagnosed with Type Two Diabetes. Then, to cap it all, I was told I had prostate cancer. I will take medication for the rest of my life but it has now stabilised.

Three years ago I approached the local minister and asked if he had a spare hall. He agreed to give us the Thursday evening. It is a lovely room and we usually get between six and nine folk at the meeting.

Finally, I have good friends, male and female, to whom I can tell anything that’s bothering me.

Traffic Warden PeterAberdeen Share Thursday

- o – o – O – o – o -

IT’S EASIER THAN EVER NOW TO SEND US AN ARTICLEVisit our national website at:

https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.ukand navigate through AA Members Area > Fellowship Magazines >

Roundabout Magazine > Roundabout Flyer > this link.Type your article directly into the blank field then click

‘Submit Article’.


Welcome HomeIt’s strange where life leads – awe-inspiring where I think I’ve been guided. I’m one of those people who believe that their life has been mapped out. I also believe that someone, somewhere has looked after me – my Higher Power.

Early in 1972 I’d just joined a large regional newspaper in the Midlands as a reporter. I arrived for work one day and the news editor approached me with an important assignment. “How do you feel about going to Alcester?” I thought he said, referring to a small market town in Warwickshire. “I know where that is!” I said – the arrogant, opinionated young fool that I was. “It’s near Redditch!” I proudly declared. I was a Mr Know-it-all who didn’t always listen.

The news editor was silent for a moment, possibly wondering if he’d asked the right person. Then he said again “No, Ulster – Northern Ireland.” A big Civil Rights march was planned after 13 people had been shot dead by soldiers in Londonderry – an event that would become known as ‘Bloody Sunday’. The editor wanted me to cover the story. I hid my embarrassment and was quickly on the plane to Belfast.

As my career progressed I lived in several parts of the country – London, Bristol, Birmingham, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Somerset. I’ve also travelled to several parts of the world – Europe, the United States and Australia. I drank in all those places. My worst hangover was in Aberdeen but I recovered from that by drinking more. At the end of that day my plane was fogbound at Aberdeen Airport. I was delighted because the long delays meant more time drinking in the airport bar – I was even more delighted that someone else was paying. Drinking ended my marriage, nearly wrecked my career and took away my driving licence for a long time. The only places I could travel then were dictated by bus and train times.

Today, I am a grateful member of AA who has been given a second chance in everything – work, parenthood, friendships and a relationship. Every place I have revisited in sobriety, the people I’ve met and the sights I’ve seen confirm my belief that my Higher Power has looked after me. Today, I live in a lovely village, close to where my family lived to escape the London Blitz during the second world war.

My Home Group is in a small market town in Warwickshire – called Alcester.

Jeff B.Warwickshire


National Helpline Number0800 9177 650

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AA websitehttps://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk

AA service websitehttps://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/members

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Doing Service The AA WayI arrived in AA a totally confused, 57 year old human being. I joined a group and managed to stay sober for a year or so determined to do AA my way. Thankfully, in that time a few of what I call the ‘wise men’ in AA had taken me under their wing. These men exuded peace and serenity; attributes I wanted to enjoy too. They all had one thing in common: a full service history.

At 18 months sober, with the racing brain slowed to a riot, I was elected by the group to be the Group Service Representative (GSR). I was given a critical piece of advice which still guides me today, namely, If I was going to do service in AA, do it the AA way. I began to read and reread the relevant literature to prepare myself for the role properly.

Armed with all this advice I attended my first intergroup. I must admit I was completely underwhelmed by the meeting. Personalities seemed to abound and childish arguments were the order of the day. I returned to the group overflowing with negativity. “Don’t judge AA on one meeting” those wise men said. Back I went and lo and behold I found my hand going up for the tea boy job, which I did for the next four years. After attending a few assemblies I also got involved in the AA Telephone Helpline and visited schools, prisons and hospitals to carry the message.

I utilised my position as tea boy to talk and share at length with every member of the intergroup. There are a number of people with huge experience of service in AA and I learned to listen to what they were saying. Slowly, my attitude to life and my home group changed. I had always been on the outside looking in. Now, I was becoming part of ‘us’ and it felt good.

The whole experience opened the door to an understanding of the phrase ‘trusted servant’. Who better to quote on the role of the GSR than Bill ‘Here too there will be a further step into responsibility, reliability, confidence and humility’.

CharliePartick Lunchtime Friday


For Those With FanklesI’m thankful that I can write this letter aware that I’ve been given an uncomplicated sobriety today. To even think of the word ‘uncomplicated’ in my early days would have been presumptuous. There were so many fankles in my head and they needed to be disentangled slowly and steadily. That has happened and they continue to be treated on a daily basis. Sometimes I hear those with ‘fankles’ being told to get to more meetings and that we can’t ever get to enough meetings. Well, I suggest that it is possible to go to too many meetings especially if they are of a variety which cannot be described as ‘simple’.

What is more important for myself is to have a home group where I’m known and which I try to attend on a very regular basis. If I were to find myself staying away from that meeting then there would be reason for concern.

Neither of the two slogans ‘Easy Does It’ and ‘Keep It Simple’ need any additions, being sufficient in themselves. The temptation sometimes is to complicate things and that includes the Programme as well. I’ve learned that the best way to understand the Programme is just to do it. Not to delve into it too deeply and speak about it interminably. I am a very slow thinker and certainly not ‘the sharpest knife in the drawer’. Recovery is to be savoured; not rushed. As long as I’m pointing in the right direction then there’s no need to push things too hard.

Blessings

DonaldSkye


That Was The Week That WasMonday: I have a new boss at work and I have to say I think he’s going to be a breath of fresh air. He did look a little concerned when I pointed out to him that he was the third line manager I’d had since starting with the company a little over five years ago. I assured him it had nothing to do with me but he did look a bit uncertain.

Tuesday: A new group opened in Blantyre tonight, Young People in Unity (Non-restrictive). What a privilege is was to be a part of their opening night. To cap it all they had chosen a perfect top table for the special occasion. The speaker spoke simply, openly and honestly. and I doubt he failed to touch each and everyone of us in that room. I wish the group well in their journey. Great examples of AA in action, each and every one of them.

Wednesday: I enjoyed the company of a friend who came visiting tonight. Despite some years of sobriety behind me I still find joy in offering someone a cup of tea or coffee. If they decline, I ask once if they’re sure and then that’s the end of the story. Gone are the days when I offered a drink of booze and when they declined, I would persist with the offer until they finally said yes. It was usually just to shut me up, I think.

Thursday: I had a particularly gruelling day at work and indulged in a night in, alone. It was bliss. I remember well the days when I loathed my own company. I was afraid to be with only me. I didn’t talk to God so often back then and being with me was a very lonely, fearful place indeed. Not so today. Today, I realise I am never truly alone as my Higher Power, whom I choose to call God, is always by my side.

Friday: I was back at the Carfin group tonight as a lovely friend was celebrating his 1st AA birthday. What a share. So much gratitude. Such power in the room. What rounded off the night was his 15 year old son, standing before us. He thanked us, as a Fellowship, and his dad for giving him the best year of his life. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

Saturday: I decided to kick off early today and headed over to Ruchill Young People’s group. It was a good choice. There was a lovely welcome and I got so much from the top table. What a great way to start my weekend. We are so fortunate, in and around Glasgow, to have so many meetings available to us.

Sunday: I had all the family round for lunch today. Daughters, their spouses and the grandchildren. Do you ever have a moment when you just stop, look around and think “Wow! How did this happen?” The simple answer, for me, is the People, the Power and the Programme. One day at a time I have rebuilt my life. Just as on Friday night, I can see with my own eyes and feel with my own heart the power of the family recovery.

God Bless

CWG


AN INVITATION TO YOUNG MEMBERS andMEMBERS YOUNG IN SOBRIETY

Roundabout would like to hear from young people who are living sober thanks to AA. What are the challenges? What are the benefits? Send your experiences to the email address below so that other young people who may have a problem can benefit from your experience.

Roundabout would also like to remind Fellowship members that they should never consider themselves ‘not long enough sober’ to contribute to our magazine. If you are sober today and grateful for that then please write and share.

[email protected]

THE MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION

Sobriety is the most important thing in your life without exception. You may believe that your job or your home

life or some other things come first but consider:if you do not get sober and stay sober, the chances are

you won’t have a job, a family, sanity or even life.If you are convinced that everything in life depends on your sobriety, you have just so much more chance of

getting sober and staying sober. If you put other things first, you are only hurting your chances.

Why not take out a subscription to Roundabout today?This could be for yourself or as a birthday gift for a friend.

Subscription form is on page 23 of this issue.Please support your Roundabout.


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page 23page 23


THE TWELVE CONCEPTS OF WORLD SERVICE1. Final responsibility and ultimate authority for AA world services should always reside in the

collective conscience of our whole Fellowship.

2. The General Service Conference of AA has become, for nearly every practical purpose, the active voice and the effective conscience of our whole Society in its world affairs.

3. To insure effective leadership, we should endow each element of AA – the Conference, the General Service Board and its service corporations, staffs, committees and executives – with a traditional “Right of Decision.”

4. At all responsible levels, we ought to maintain a traditional “Right of Participation”, allowing a voting representation in reasonable proportion to the responsibility that each must discharge.

5. Throughout our structure, a traditional “Right of Appeal” ought to prevail, so that minority opinion will be heard and personal grievances receive careful consideration.

6. The Conference recognizes that the chief initiative and active responsibility in most world service matters should be exercised by the trustee members of the Conference acting as the General Service Board.

7. The Charter and Bylaws of the General Service Board are legal instruments, empowering the trustees to manage and conduct world service affairs. The Conference Charter is not a legal document; it relies upon tradition and the AA purse for final effectiveness.

8. The trustees are the principal planners and administrators of overall policy and finance. They have custodial oversight of the separately incorporated and constantly active services, exercising this through their ability to elect all the directors of these entities.

9. Good service leadership at all levels is indispensable for our future functioning and safety. Primary world service leadership, once exercised by the founders, must necessarily be assumed by the trustees.

10. Every service responsibility should be matched by an equal service authority, with the scope of such authority well defined.

11. The trustees should always have the best possible committees, corporate service directors, executives, staffs, and consultants. Composition, qualifications, induction procedures, and rights and duties will always be matters of serious concern.

12. The Conference shall observe the spirit of AA tradition, taking care that it never becomes the seat of perilous wealth or power; that sufficient operating funds and reserve be its prudent financial principle; that it place none of its members in a position of unqualified authority over others; that it reach all important decisions by discussion, vote and, wherever possible, by substantial unanimity; that its actions never be personally punitive nor an incitement to public controversy; that it never perform acts of government, and that, like the Society it serves, it will always remain democratic in thought and action.

© AA World Services Inc. Reprinted with permission


THE TWELVE TRADITIONS1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery

depends upon A.A. unity.

2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority – a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.

3. The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.

4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.

5. Each group has but one primary purpose – to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.

6. An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.

7. Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.

8. Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centres may employ special workers.

9. A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.

10. Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.

11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.

12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

© 1939 by A.A. World Services, Inc. Reprinted with permission.


GODgrant me the

SERENITYto accept the things

I cannot change,COURAGE

to change the things I canand

WISDOMto know the difference

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