Aims and structures
THE AIMS OF SOUTH EAST REGION
To improve communication and to foster co-operation between neighbouring Intergroups, especially when dealing with outside agencies and other organisations
To provide a forum for the sharing of Intergroup experience
To provide a forum for the sharing of Intergroup experience
To permit members with specialised service experience in AA to serve a wider area
To send Regional Delegates to Conference, and
To recognise that areas that are sparsely served by the fellowship do not remain in no man's land but become part of Region responsibilities
Considerations
Above all else, the South East Regional Assembly will always be guided by the Twelve Traditions of AA, the Twelve Concepts of World Service and the Twelve Concepts for Great Britain, and will do its utmost to safeguard these, remembering that our Primary Purpose is to stay sober and to help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.
STRUCTURE
Composition
The following eleven Intergroups will be known collectively as AA South East Region (SER):
Brighton Area
East Kent
East Sussex
Hastings & Rother
Mid-Surrey
North-East Surrey
Northdown
Solent
Southdown
West Kent
West Sussex
along with any new Intergroup that may be formed as a result of reorganisation of AA groups located within the area covered by their present Intergroups.
South East Regional Assembly (SERA)
The aims of the South East Region will be implemented through a representative body known as the South East Regional Assembly. It is composed as follows:
Three Regional Representatives from each member Intergroup Assembly
Conference Delegates
Co-opted members
A General Service Board Member
Two Southern National Convention Representatives
Regional Representatives
Each member Intergroup will be represented at the South East Regional Assembly as follows:
By no more than three Regional Representatives
Term of Service of three consecutive years
Will normally cease to be a Regional Representative from the date of election to any of the Regional Officers and may be replaced by another Regional Representative from the same Intergroup
Terms of service of Regional Representatives from the same Intergroup should ideally be staggered as evenly as possible so that only one Regional Representative is replaced each year
It is the expectation that Regional Representatives acknowledge the responsibilities of attendance at Regional Assemblies and Workshops
Regional Officers
The South East Regional Assembly will hold annual elections to confirm in office or to replace Regional Officers of two categories:
Four officers with general duties: Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer with the following qualifications:
To be selected from AA members whose home group is in the South East Region who have the appropriate experience
Term of office to be three consecutive years, subject to annual confirmation by the South East Regional Assembly
On completion of a term, will stand down from the post and from the South East Regional Assembly for one year unless appointed as a Regional Representative, an officer with specific duties, a conference delegate, or an alternate conference delegate.
Officers with specific duties
Regional Liaison Officers who are responsible for Prisons, Health, Probation, Public Information, Telephones, Employment, Share, Electronic Communication, Armed Services, the Southern National Convention and any other with the following qualifications:
To be selected from AA members whose home group is within the South East Region who have the appropriate experience
Term of office to be three consecutive years, subject to annual confirmation by the South East Regional Assembly. Officers will undertake to attend Regional Assemblies five times per year unless there is a very serious reason not to attend
On completion of a term, will stand down from the post for one year before coming eligible for nomination/election to any other appointment as an Officer with specific duties, but may be appointed as an officer with general duties, a conference delegate, or an alternate conference delegate
Conference Delegates
The South East Regional Assembly will elect six Regional Conference Delegates to serve three year terms. Elections can take place at any Assembly and all conference roles will be ratified at the Annual General Meeting.
Full Conference Delegates have a vote â?¨
Elected Conference Delegates will undertake to attend all Regional Assemblies on the five
occasions a year they are convened. They will be chosen from suitably experienced members whose home group is in the South East Region, who have been nominated by a member Intergroup in line with the section â??The Regionâ?? in the AA Structure Handbook for Great Britain, whilst remembering that the best person for the job should be elected for the sake of AA as a whole. â?¨
Consideration should always be given to ensure that all Intergroups within the Region have easy access to a Conference Delegate. â?¨
Nominations for suitable candidates are to be requested from each member Intergroup. â?¨
Should any of the Regions elected Conference Delegates be unable to attend the
Conference, then the precedence will be given to the next Alternate Delegate in line with the most number of votes cast.
Alternate Conference Delegates
The South East Regional Assembly will elect six Alternate Conference Delegates to serve three year terms. Elections can take place at any Assembly and all conference roles will be ratified at the Annual General Meeting.
Alternate Conference Delegates do not have a vote. â?¨
In the event that a full Conference Delegate is unable to attend Conference, the first
appointed Alternate will take their place for that year. This should be ratified by show of
hands at the next Regional Assembly. â?¨
There is no automatic move from Alternate Conference Delegate to Full Conference
Delegate. The normal nomination process applies. â?¨
Elected Alternate Conference Delegates will undertake to attend all Regional Assemblies
on the five occasions a year they are convened. They will be chosen from suitably experienced members whose home group is in the South East Region who have been nominated by a member Intergroup in line with the section â??The Regionâ?? in the AA Structure Handbook for Great Britain whilst remembering that the best person for the job should be elected for the sake of AA as a whole. â?¨
Nominations for suitable candidates are to be requested from each member Intergroup.
Attendance at Regional Assemblies
â?¢ All Regional Officers (Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer and Secretary); All Officers with Specific Duties (Prisons, Health, Probation, Public Information, Telephones, Employment, Share, Electronic Communication, Armed Services); All Conference Delegates and Alternates; Southern National Convention Representatives must be prepared to attend all five annual Assemblies. For any member not attending three consecutive assemblies, the Regional Secretary will notify the Assembly, or in the case of Regional Representatives, their Intergroup will be notified that they are not fulfilling the terms of their service position.
Reporting at Regional Assemblies
Reporting back at Regional Assemblies by Regional Liaison Officers, Regional Reps, or Co- Opted Members is required as follows:
At workshops (2 per year) a written report by Workshop Chair is required to be submitted
to Regional Secretary for inclusion in the minutes. Workshop Leaders and Regional Representatives will be given the opportunity to present a verbal report to afternoon Assembly if they wish; these are encouraged but not mandatory.
Pre-Conference and Post Conference Assemblies â?? verbal reports to given by all Regional Officers, Regional Reps & Co-Opted Members, with written reports to be given to the Regional Secretary
At the Annual General Meeting, written reports only - to be submitted to the Regional Secretary for inclusion in the minutes
Co-opted Members
The South East Regional Assembly may also co-opt a member of the Region, not necessarily a Regional Representative, to carry out a specific task i.e. Archivist, AA Service News or any other specific task as deemed necessary by the Region. These are non-voting members of the Assembly and should serve for a maximum term of three years, with the exception of the Archivist (as per Chapter 11: Archives in the AA Service Handbook for Great Britain) and are subject to review at each Annual General Meeting. Co-opted members do not have a vote.
Finance
Regional expenses, including Conference/Alternate delegates, Regional Liaison Officers (with specific duties), Regional Representatives, Co-opted members & Intergroup Liaison Officers or their alternates attending Regional Workshops, will be met from a fund financed by member Intergroup contributions called The Budget. Visitorsâ?? expenses will not be reimbursed.
The South East Regional Treasurer will present an annual account together with a Budget for the coming years at the Annual General Meeting.
Intergroup contributions for Conference Delegates and Regional expenses will be calculated for the budget and will normally be collected in two equal parts by 15th October and 15th April.
Any money surplus to the budget i.e. underspent at year end, will be used to offset contributions required at the next budget.
Money transactions will be made by cheque, duly signed by 2/3 authorised signatories, namely the Treasurer, Chair or the Secretary. Cash payments will be signed for.
The financial year shall run from 1 October to 30 September.
The South East Region accounts will be audited each year. The region treasurer has the responsibility of finding a qualified auditor. If AA members do not volunteer for this task, SERA will pay a suitably qualified person to audit the accounts.
Annual General Meeting and Conscience Meeting
The South East Regional Assemblyâ??s AGM will be held at the end of each year in November when the annual balance sheet together with the budget for the forthcoming year will be presented.
The annual ratification of the Regional Officers, Officers with specific duties, Conference Delegates/Alternates and co-opted members will take place at the AGM.
Any questions/topics that members wish to be raised for discussion by the conscience of the Assembly should be submitted in writing 4 weeks prior to the Assembly to the Vice-Chair so that s/he may circulate those questions/topics to the members of the Regional Assembly so as to be able to further research and give proper responses to those questions and topics.
Nominations
Nominations for Regional Officers should always be from member Intergroups or from South East Regional Officers. No nominations will be accepted without prior written notice to the Regional Secretary or Chairperson, neither on the day of the actual Assembly.
A written nomination and an AA CV are required to be received by the Secretary no later than the day prior to the Assembly. Length of continuous sobriety will always be requested and should be included in the CV
Nominees will not be elected in their absence
Vacancies will be publicised in the minutes at least two assemblies prior to the vacancy, so as to keep Region informed as to forthcoming positions due to rotate
All vacancies must be advertised in the minutes prior to the assembly
Regional Officers, Regional Representatives, Conference Delegates, Regional Liaison Officers, Southern National Convention Representatives and the General Service Board Member are entitled to vote. Others may not.
Paper ballots will be taken for all elections. A show of hands will be taken for other matters.
Alternate Delegates and Alternate Regional Representatives do not have votes at Assembly.
Items for the Conference Agenda
Any individual, group or Intergroup wishing to submit items via the South East Region for the General Service Conference Steering Committee should always do so in writing to the Regional Secretary no later than June 1, to enable discussion at the June Assembly, this being the latest possible Assembly prior to Conference Committee deadlines. Ideally the item should be addressed to Assembly by the originator, or failing that, by the Regional Chair. Following questions and/or discussion, a vote will be taken by a show of hands to decide if the item/s should be submitted or not to the next yearâ??s Conference Question Committee. In line with the General Service Office policy, any member may submit a question to the General Service Conference Committee directly. The submission deadline for such individual questions is August 31.
QUORACY
The voting posts are:
Regional Representatives - up to 3 per Intergroup; Southern National Convention Representatives; Conference Delegates; General Service Board Trustee; Chair; Vice Chair; Secretary; Treasurer, Armed Services LO; Electronic Communications LO; Employment LO; Health LO; Prison LO; Probation LO; Public Information LO; Share LO; Telephone LO; Young Persons LO.
A quorum is 50% of the voting posts which are filled. Note that members who occupy two voting positions may vote only once. An Emergency General Meeting (EGM) can be called by any 10 voting members in writing to the Regional Secretary at least four weeks in advance of the proposed EGM to enable all Regional Officers to be notified, a venue to be booked and to ensure the Regional Secretaryâ??s attendance