At the Archivist Network meeting held at GSO in York we were asked to write out our service history in AA and send it to GSO for the archives

This is what I wrote

My DOS is 30th June 1985

From my first meetings I became involved in service at first making tea and coffee and tidying up after the meetings .In London where I got sober they didnt always have home groups so whoever got there first set up the hall and made tea etc .I couldnt shsre at meetings and it was in the kitchen I first learned to share. The people longer sober gently but firmly ensured I was out in time before the meeting started and often told me you are here to get sober not make the tea

After about six months I became interested in 12 step work and again the longer sober members took me out 12 stepping with them.I didnt have a lot of experience in AA at that time but was willing .That reminds me of one afternoon I heard it announced at a meeting they were looking for people for ansaphone and IA arrived at the AA offices in Redcliffe Gardens thinking I would be on telephone duty that night .At Redcliffe Gardens office I met Mhairi who was the office manager and she explained I would need to attend a Ansaphone workshop first . Well I attended the workshop along with some others who were also new to the phones .We watched the experienced manners at first and then it was our turn to try .The principle was very much as it is today to get as much info as quickly as possible and keep the phone free for the next call cos the lines were busy Anyway sometimes we made all sort of promises to the people phoning for help ie take them to a meeting etc .Sometimes these people were 30 or 40 miles away Mhairi would be typing away and listening to us and when the typing stoppeed and she looked at you over her glasses you knew you were in trouble .I was scared of Mhairi when I first met her but as I got sober I came to know and love her and realised the amount of work she did in that office
I became inquisite about Intergroup and a group which I attended on a regular basis asked me if I was interted in attending with their GSR which I did and when the GSR rotated out of service I took on the post .At the Intergroup meeting I was always complaining we had no Eastt London Convention and the group officers asked me to do a feasibility study and report to the next Intergroup meeting .A5 the next IG meeting I had a convention committee and a hall etc
I was chairman of that commmittee and the others had lots of experience of conventions I used to sit with a gavel and knock on the table and call the comm meetings to order and say .What can you do and what can you do going around the room .All of the people organised that convention worked around me and never let me know it was never my idea .I can smile now that that was a great lesson in growing up
Anway we had the convention and 500 people turned up for the meetings and the dance at night .The convention is now a weekend convention and is in its 23rd year At East London Intergroup I held the positions of Ansaphone Rep also Hospital Liasion which it was before it was renamed Health Liasion
I was also Region Rep and that Intergroup vice chairman and the following year Chairman .One of the great things at that Intergroup and oldtimer used to sit at each Intergroup meeting with AAs handbook and if we werent sure about something we consulted the handbook that also ensured the meeting was run on the guidelines principles and traditions of AA

After I moved to Scotland I became very involved in Dumbarton Intergroup and held the positions of Telephone Liasion and Health Liasion also Region Rep where I became Conference delegate for 3 years . Being a conference delegate was a great experience and it also meant I need to re aquaint myself with the Steps Traditions AAs concepts and AA Comes Of Age

I the last few years I have been very much involved in aaonline .While there is nothing to beat a face to face meeting the majority of the younger generation use the computers in fact many of them use the www for everything and experience has taught they see no difference in seeking help from AA online That is how I became intersted in the archives cos the webmaster was looking for help with the archives folder. I used to think Archives was boring but the more I get involved the more interesting it has become

brianh
Archivist
DDIG


years