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To find AA meetings and your local helpline number in Great Britain, and English-speaking meetings in continental Europe please click below.
Search 'online' to see all currently registered online meetings (updated daily)
Alcoholics Anonymous
Great Britain
and English Speaking Continental Europe
Call our National Helpline
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Find a Meeting
Search 'online' to see all currently registered online meetings (updated daily)

What Happens At A.A. Meetings?

If you think you have a problem with alcohol then you are welcome to attend any meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous.

There are no fees, no forms to fill in, no questions to answer - just turn up at ANY meeting where you will be warmly welcomed. You will probably find that for the first time in your life you are in the company of people who REALLY understand you.

The two most common kinds of A.A. meetings are:

OPEN MEETINGS

As the term suggests, meetings of this type are open to alcoholics and their families and to anyone interested in solving a personal drinking problem or helping someone else to solve such a problem.

Most open meetings follow a more or less set pattern, although distinctive variations have developed in some areas. A chairperson describes the A.A. program briefly for the benefit of any newcomers to A.A. in the audience and introduces one, two or three speakers who relate their personal drinking histories and may give their personal interpretation of A.A.

Midway through the meeting there is usually a period for local A.A. announcements, and a treasurer passes the hat to defray costs of the meeting hall, literature, and incidental expenses. The meeting adjourns, often followed by informal chats over coffee or other light refreshments.

Guests at A.A. open meetings are reminded that any opinions or interpretations they may hear are solely those of the speaker involved. All members are free to interpret the recovery program in their own terms, but none can speak for the local group or for A.A. as a whole.

CLOSED MEETINGS

These meetings are limited to alcoholics and those who think or know they have a problem with drinking. They provide an opportunity for members to relate their experiences with one another on problems related to drinking patterns and attempts to achieve stable sobriety. They also permit detailed discussion of various elements in the recovery program.

The list of A.A. Meetings in the area shows which meetings are open and which are closed.