News from the Intergroup
Intergroup Newsletter – January 2017
Intergroup Meeting Minutes January 28, 2017
The Intergroup meeting of January 28, 2017 was held in Utrecht and was attended by 24 people, in which 8 groups were represented and we are very happy to report 10 observers also attended to experience what happens at an Intergroup meeting.
Groups Present:Monday 12 & 12 The Hague, Utrecht, Friday Gratitude the Hague, As Bill Sees it Amsterdam, Saturday Morning Amsterdam, TGIM Lunchtime Amsterdam, Saturday Evening 11step the Hague, Tuesday steps Groningen
Minutes: The minutes from our last meeting October16, 2016 were approved.
Intergroup Service reports
Convention Report: Feedback Pre Convention meeting at Holly’s place on Jan 22:A lot of people showed up with interest for being part of the 2017 committee. Holly pointed out that the 500€ placed for helping newcomers or people not being able to afford the 2017 Convention were collected to this intent, the 2017 committee should keep that in mind.
Reimbursement of 40€ for food and drinks to Tom: Is agreed by Intergroup.
Holly is not putting any reimbursement request forward.
Chairperson: Mathieu read the requirements for convention chairperson position. Holly added it’s important that the person has a sponsor and 2 years of sobriety. Previous experience in the Convention committee is mandatory. Two candidates, Cheryl and Mark put their names forward for this position. Mark is elected as a chairperson for the Convention.
Treasurer person: Mathieu read the requirements for the position of treasurer: One candidate, Marco put his name forward.
Marco is elected as a treasurer for the Convention.
Website / Webmaster report: Dimitri presented the report created. Website attendance is decreasing a bit; this is partially due SEO (search engine optimisation) that needs to be improved. Major improvement has been made on the website making it much faster for visitors. Fellows interested to take part to the website developments can contact the webmaster: w…@aa-netherlands.org
Treasury report: Treasurer report was read by Mathieu: Financial situation as of January 27th, 2017. Balance as of January 27th, 2017 is 9954,62 €. During the reporting period, Intergroup bank account has been used to support the Literature position because of administration problem. The 2016 accounts were approved and voted upon. The budget of 2017 was presented. No donation to CER is foreseen and the PI budget was reviewed to be lowered. The account being exceeding the prudent reserve by a large amount, it is proposed to increase the PI literature figures to 900€. PI needs to come with a consolidated budget for 2017 at the next Intergroup meeting. A donation to CER needs to be presented for the next reporting period. Intergroup will be requested to approve the updated 2017 budget at the next meeting. Mathieu stated donations made by the groups have been received by Intergroup with gratitude.
Literature report:Mircea mention that the shipping costs from the Grapevine books have increased thus books price from the Grapevine are increased accordingly. 1 group made use of the 40€ voucher for “start-up package” for new groups. 1 bug on the website shop was discovered and solved. Balance Literature Fund bank account as of 27th of January: €706.02. The literature report is voted upon and approved.
Public Information report:Dany updated us on the PI situation. PI had 2 business meetings since the last Intergroup meeting and the business meeting was attended by former PI members, now PI is focusing on getting the basics. The committee consist of 4 people. Kim was invited to join as she is really active in doing PI work in Amsterdam. A chairperson still needs to be voted in, Tom read the requirements taken from the AA website. Intergroup agreed and voted upon using the job description as presented on the AA.org website adding knowledge of the Traditions for 2 years duration. Dany is putting is name forward and was elected as P.I. Chairperson.
CER Report: Jason the CER Representative was not present. Utrecht group would be interested in having inputs on what CER is doing,how it functions and what it costs. Would it be possible to have example of CER actions?
Help line : Jonathan T.(helpline coordinator) was not present. Mathieu presented the situation of the helpline and the possible remedies. Jonathan could take the necessary action to get the solution in place as of March 2017.
Election of the Intergroup Officers for the following positions:
Convention Chair position : Mark from the “Friday “ Design for living sober“ group in Amersfoort was voted in
Convention Treasurer: Marco from “Monday night 12 n 12 step” in the Hague was voted in
Topic that were discussed
Next Meeting: Next meeting will be in Amsterdam, Sunday April 2, 2017 11am to 3 pm. Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 282A,Amsterdam
Message from IG Chairperson
We want to thank the “Thank God it’s Monday “ Lunchtime Group in Amsterdam for hosting the next I.G. meeting on April 2. We look forward to meeting you all at the meeting. If you are curious what goes on at the Intergroup meetings we would like to extend a warm welcome to you and say that you do not have to be a GSR to attend, observers are always welcome and we will answer all your questions. If your group is not represented at I.G. we encourage that every group discusses the importance of having a GSR and to attend the quarterly Intergroup business meetings. Being a GSR is an excellent service opportunity and having GSR’s help secure the future of AA. We need your input / ideas and votes, so we also would like to know your needs and how to better serve you! We ask that announcements are made at your home group to inform people about IG and why it is important to be a part of IG. Please print out this newsletter and make it available at your Literature table while making announcements at your regular meetings about its content. If you have any questions please contact us at: s…@aa-netherlands.org
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
Intergroup Newsletter – November 2016
Message from the IG Chair Person
Of the 34 A.A. English groups in Holland only 4 was represented in our last business meeting.
We encourage every group to elect a GSR and have them or replacements attend the Intergroup Meetings.
Observers are very welcome. Being a GSR is an excellent service opportunity and having GSR’s help secure the future of AA.
We need your input / ideas and votes, so we know your needs and how to better serve you!
We ask that announcements are made at your home group to inform people about IG and why it is important to be a part of IG.
Please print out this newsletter and make it available at your Literature table while making announcements at your regular meetings.
If you have any questions please contact us at s…@aa-netherlands.org
Intergroup Meeting Minutes
The Intergroup meeting of October 16, 2016 was held in Den Haag and was attended by 15 people.
4 groups were represented and 2 observers also attended.
Groups Present: International Group Eindhoven, Enjoying Life Rotterdam, Monday 12 & 12 The Hague, ABC Meeting Utrecht
Minutes: The minutes from our last meeting July 5, 2016 were approved
Newsletter: It was mention that the newsletter can be downloaded and to make this newsletter more popular,
it is the task of GSR to promote it at meetings (e.g. distribution). We are looking at more ways to be creative with the newsletter.
If you have any suggestions please email us at: s…@aa-netherlands.org.
Intergroup Service reports
Convention Report: The convention has been a great success. With thanks to the convention committee, who put in hard work to get things organized.
A new item at the convention was the collection for a ‘newcomers funds’. This is to see that people, who may not have the finances to attend the convention,
will be able to attend anyway.
Our Treasurer reported that after all bills were paid and there was a surplus of 7th tradition of 825.73 e and it was transferred to Intergroup.
Now the goal is to find enthusiastic volunteers before January 2017. There will be a meeting held at Holly’s house in The Hague on the 22th of January, hopefully with the new to be formed committee. Please contact Holly via email at m…@gmail.com or mob # 06 29129014
The Convention chairperson along with the treasurer, has to be a former member of the committee and needs a 2 year sobriety or more and must be voted in at the next Intergroup meeting. Also the treasurer has to be experienced.
Website / Webmaster report: Tim explained that since more volunteers have started with the website team,
Tim and Dimitri now will have more time to work on things that they would like to have priority (e.g. necessary helpline upgrade).
For the people who still do not know : The web team arranges in the computer all changes etc. about ‘contents ‘ (e.g. if you want to report a change in location or time etc, or a new meeting). You then contact: w…@aa-netherlands.org.
Treasury report: Mathieu stated donations made by the groups have been received by Intergroup with gratitude.
Mathieu made a proposal to add 2 signatories to the bank account, so that the account will stay updated.
These signatories should be the Chair and Secretary of Intergroup. They then can make changes in the account-administration.
Literature report: The new Literature person, Mircea was welcomed by the group.
A warm thanks was given to Willemien, who has done an amazing job in the years she has been Literature person.
The proposal was made by Willemien to help new groups by giving them a ‘starters- voucher’ to be spent in the Literature shop (AA approved literature).
The amount will be €40,- . This was, with 1 vote against, agreed on.
Public Information report: A new PI-committee is being formed. Present were Emile and Alex as new volunteers, to inform Intergroup about how things are going.
Intergroup is happy that the PI is getting started again after a period of quietness.
Here was also emphasized that we work as one group and are thankful for the volunteers (Danny, Alex, Emile, Willemien and others)
who are stepping in to do this very important work for the still suffering alcoholics.
Jason and Mircea emphasized of importance of this service position. The PI-Chair is the representative for AA.
It is important that this person is well known with what AA is and AA is not.
Intergroup agreed on the following points :
• A budget of 200,= will already be given till January 2017, so the committee can get things started.
• A new budget for the year 2017 (proposal 1100,= euro made by Treasurer?) will be discussed by Intergroup in the next meeting.
• The committee will nominate a chairperson and in the next Intergroup meeting the chairperson and treasurer will be voted in If you are interested in P.I. work and want to find out more information please email us at s…@aa-netherlands.org.
CER Report: Jason stated that he had spoken with the former CER Dorien. They will be in contact together, so that Dorien can inform Jason about the work of CER.
His first meeting will be coming 2-4 December in Budapest.
He is looking forward to find out what goes on in these meetings and will bring back a ‘readable’ report.
As soon as the agenda is known, he will pass this on to the secretary.
Election of the Intergroup Officers for the following positions:
Help line : Call Jonathan T. was voted in as our new helpline coordinator.
We all give special thanks to John who held this position for a long time and gave it back to us in better shape than before.
Topics that were discussed
Next Meeting: Next IG meeting will be in Utrecht on SATURDAY 28th of January 2017, Declan is organizing the venue. Start is at 12.00 / lunch about 12.45. Definitive invitation will follow.
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“Resentment is the “number one” offender. It destroys more alcoholics than anything else. From it stem all forms of spiritual disease, for we have been not only mentally and physically ill, we have been spiritually sick. When the.” spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically”
Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition
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Intergroup Newsletter – April 2016
Message from the Chair
Our Intergroup meeting of April 30, 2016 was held in Den Haag and was attended by 15 people. The following groups was represented: Friday Night Gratitude Group The Hague, Keep it simple Eindhoven, Enjoying life Rotterdam, Monday 12&12 The Hague, The Steps we took Amsterdam, As Bill see it Utrecht, 12 Steps International Amsterdam, Daily Reflections The Hague ( total 8 groups )
Of the 34 A.A. groups in Holland only 8 was represented in our last business meeting. We encourage all groups to have their GSR’s attend our quarterly business meetings. We need your input / ideas and votes, so we know your needs and how to better serve you!! We also need people that are willing to take on the positions of Secretary and Literature positions at IG.
If interested please contact us at s…@aa-netherlands.org.
New Ideas & taking part
This is your Intergroup. You may want to introduce new events (or reintroduce old ones). Let us know what you want from us. It was mentioned that the Newsletter is being received well!! We are looking at more ways to be creative with the newsletter.
If you have any suggestions please email us at: s…@aa-netherlands.org
New positions to fill
Unfortunately the Secretary and Literature positions were not filled!!
These are very important positions at IG and is a good opportunity to do service. We encourage all GSR’s to make announcements and for Sponsor’s to suggest this to their sponsie’s; the importance of IG and why it is important to be a part of IG. If you are interested please email us at s…@aa-netherlands.org
Minutes: The minutes from our last meeting January 2016 was approved
Website
Alot have been done and still more to do! They said they received alot of positive reactions to the website but they need help. If you want to participate in creating or updating content, please drop us a note at w…@aa-netherlands.org.
You don’t need to have fancy computer skills – experience in editing Word documents suffices. The site publishes blog articles, event announcements, keeping meetings up to date and more. If you see something which can be better, or have ideas or suggestions, please email us. We think all of us can be very proud with this achievement so far. It was a long process: lots of thought, design, testing, and funds went into this production.
Thank you all for participating in this project!
Convention
Our Convention Chairperson step down and we are happy to announce that Holly B. from the 12&12 steps The Hague volunteered and was nominated as Chairperson. Organization and registration is a bit behind schedule.
If you would like to help please contact our secretary at: c…@aa-netherlands.org
Treasury
Mathieu stated that our financial situation is stable and expresses gratitude and thanks to all the groups for their support.
Literature report
no report. We are currently looking for a Literature person
Public Information
The present PI Chair has step down at the PI movement is at a stand still. Eli volunteer to take initiative to communicate about PI and to kick start it again.
CER (continental European Region)
CER was away on business so there was no report. We had to postpone voting on whether to have a 2nd CER representative to the next business meeting awaiting her input on this subject
Topic that was discuss: Service center in Amsterdam
Mark explained what the possibilities of a “service center” could do and the financial support that would be needed from Intergroup. After further discussion it was decided that GSR’s should go back to their groups and explain the idea of a service center. Also to explain the need of volunteers for hosting it in Amsterdam; along with the commitment linked to the Service center. Votes to be taken at each A.A. group.
“ARE WE SUPPORTING THE GENERAL IDEA OF A SERVICE CENTER”
GSR’s to present their groups decision at the next IG business meeting
Next Meeting
Sunday July 3rd, 2016 Amsterdam –Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 282A
Open Positions: Secretary, Literature position, 1st & 2nd CER representative
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“A.A. REGENERATION’
Such is the paradox of A.A. regeneration: strength arising out of complete defeat and weakness , the loss of
one’s old life as a condition for finding a new one
Daily Reflections page 179
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Intergroup Newsletter – January 2016
Message from the Chair
Our last Intergroup meeting was well attended by 18 people. It is a great time to join in as a GSR in representing your group at Intergroup or to take one of the service positions as members rotate out. Even if you are not in a position to make a long term commitment, we welcome you to attend intergroup meetings and to contribute your ideas. We would like to offer everyone the opportunity to come and join us at our next IG meeting in Den Haag on April 16 (exact location to be announced) and be a part of what goes on “behind the scenes“. Lunch is provided. Check our website for all details.
New Ideas & taking part
This is your Intergroup. You may want to introduce new events (or reintroduce old ones). We have supported Gratitude Days, Christmas celebrations and workshops. Let us know what you want from us.
2 positions are actually open!
- Intergroup Secretary
- Intergroup Literature person
Telephone Answering
John who is the “Help Line Coordinator“ mentioned that even though we have an effective telephone answering service and we are immensely grateful to our dedicated volunteers who provide this service, day and night, every day of the year, that there is a need for volunteers. It is still a main lifeline to our newcomers, who call us in despair, as well as helping visitors to find a meeting and so on. If you have time to give to the helpline, we urge you to contact your GSR or email: o…@aa-netherlands.org
Website
Great News from Dimitri and Tim our Webmasters!!!!!! In the past weekend, we have brought the new AA Netherlands Website live. Please check it out: https://aa-netherlands.org ! I think all of us can be very proud with this achievement. It was a long process: lots of thought, design, testing, and funds went into this production.
Thank you all for participating in this project!
With this new website we achieved the following major goals we have set for ourselves at the start:
- The design and look & feel of the website is fresh and clear, which is very important for the newcomer.
- The website works well on mobile devices.
- We have a brand new meeting finder: https://aa-netherlands.org/meetings which enables the user to search based on location or city.
- Our website uses roughly the same style as the Dutch AA website: http://aa-nederland.nl. This is important for the newcomer to prevent confusion about AA in The Netherlands.
- We have a new, beautiful and fully functional shop: https://aa-netherlands.org/shop. Willemien and Dimitri have transferred the product catalog from the old shop and also totally reorganized the catalog, making it easier to understand and navigate for inexperienced Literature Persons.
In the first 3 days we already received 4 orders!
Are you enthusiastic and do you want to help? Help is always welcome in two ways:
- Creating / updating content: If you want to participate in creating or updating content, please drop us a note at w…@aa-netherlands.org. You don’t need to have fancy computer skills – experience in editing Word documents suffices. The site publishes blog articles, event announcements, keeping meetings up to date and more.
- Improving the website: If you see something which can be better, or have ideas or suggestions, please email us at w…@aa-netherlands.org.
Literature
We maintain a large stock of books and medallions which are made available to groups more or less at cost. They are easily ordered on-line or by telephone. We hope that payment will be made even easier on our updated website. Literature has started a “Newcomers package“. Stay tune for future details concerning this. Check web site for details. We all thank Willemien for her past service as IG Literature.
Convention
Unfortunately, Joris had to step down as our 2016 Convention chairperson. Holy has volunteered to step in, she will need to be officially voted in at our next Intergroup meeting. The committee needs volunteers! If you are interested, send an e-mail to: c…@aa-netherlands.org
- The flyers are finish and your groups should receive them shortly
- The theme for the 2016 convention was introduce “Step by Step “
- Date: August 19 to August 21
- Location: Mennorode
- Some new ideas for 2016 Convention: 24/7 coffee corner and Movie festival
Check Hurry up and register : https://aa-netherlands.org/convention/ ) The website will be updated regularly.
New Meetings
(Check website for details) Like all new meetings they need our support; so please make announcements at your home groups
- Utrecht “ABC meeting “Big Book Sunday 12:30 ABC straat # 5 Utrecht
- Rotterdam: “Enjoying Life “Thursday 19:30 Schiedamse Vest # 121
- Den Haag: “Daily Reflections: Thursday 12 noon at Koningin Marialaan # 2
Treasury
Jackie our IG treasurer stated that our financial situation is stable and she expresses gratitude and thanks to all the groups for their support. We all thank Jackie for her dedication and service as treasurer
Public Information
If you like to know more about PI or would like to be involved either as an individual or a group rep, you could contact John R. at email p…@aa-netheerlands.org
CER (continental European Region)
Dorien served us as our CER for the past 3 years and we owe a great amount of thanks to her for making herself available in service. Her term as CER was up in December 2015. We all would like to express our thanks to her for being of service
Jennifer is our new CER representative. We are looking for a 2nd CER representative. If you think you would like to be a part of the CER team please email our secretary at s…@aa-netherlands.org and attend our next business meeting in Den Haag
Intergroup Newsletter – October 2015
Message from the Chair
In our last Intergroup meeting it was well attended by 24 people. It is a great time to join in as a GSR in representing your group at Intergroup or to take one of the service positions as members rotate out. Even if you are not in a position to make a long term commitment, we welcome you to attend Intergroup meetings and to contribute your ideas. We would like to offer everyone the opportunity to come and join us at our next IG meeting in Amsterdam on January 10th and be a part of what goes on “ behind the scenes “ . Lunch is provided. Check our web site for all details
New Ideas & taking part
This is your Intergroup. You may want to introduce new events (or reintroduce old ones). We have supported Gratitude Days, Christmas celebrations and workshops. Let us know what you want from us.
Telephone Answering
We are immensely grateful to our dedicated volunteers who provide this service, day and night, every day of the year. It is still a main lifeline to our newcomers, who call us in despair, as well as helping visitors to find a meeting and so on. If you want to know more about how it is handle or would like to be of service by answering the help line, you could contact the Helpline Coordinator at: o…@aa-netherlands.org
Website
Dimitri reported that the web site is up and running!!! . We owe a lot to Dimitri and Tim for all their hard work in setting this new web site. If you haven’t seen it please visit us at aa-netherlands.org We welcome all comments on how we could be of better service. w…@aa-netherlands.org
Literature
We maintain a large stock of books and medallions which are made available to groups more or less at cost. They are easily ordered on-line or by telephone. We hope that payment will be made even easier on our updated website. Willemien our Intergroup Literature person announce that Due to AAWS raising their prices and the decline of the value of the €uro that Books, pamphlets, and coins prices had to be raised. As always she tries to find ways to keep the cost down to a minimum. Willemien announce that there are 2 new books that are now available to us:
- “Daily quote”
- “Forming new partnership”.
Convention
Mathieu our 2015 Convention chairperson stated in his final report to Intergroup that it was a pleasant event and it was very rewarding to be a part of the committee that puts it all together. It went extremely well and exceeded their expectations. There was a profit of 129.41 and it was transferred back to Intergroup.
New positions voted on
Joris from Amserfoort as our new chairperson for the Convention 2016
Mark from Amserfoort as our Convention treasurer for 2016
If you are interested in being a part of this great event please contact Joris at c…@aa-netherlands.org. Check the web site for further info regarding the Convention.
New Meetings (Check website for details)
- Utrecht: “ABC meeting “Big Book Sunday 12:30 ABC straat # 5 Utrecht
- Rotterdam: “Enjoying Life “Thursday 19:30 Schiedamse Vest # 121
- Den Haag: “Daily Reflections: Thursday 12 noon at Koningin Marialaan # 2
- Like all new meetings they need our support. So please make announcements at your home groups
Treasury
Jackie our IG treasurer stated that our financial situation is stable and since we were not able to send money to GSO York in 2 years that she recommended that we now could send 350e
Workshops
Recently Monday night in Den Haag hosted a workshop on “ sponsorships “ that was attended by close to 100 people from all parts of Holland . Workshops are a valuable part of our AA Journey and is strongly encouraged either as a group to organize one or as individuals to attend one. It is a great way to interact with other AA members and at the same time get valuable information and receive answers to any questions we might have concerning the workshop topics.
Public Information
Recently the P.I. representatives of Monday 12 steps group in Den Haag held a 2 day workshop at the American Womens Club in Den Haag and was received extremely well and attended by over 100 People. They also put an advert in the monthly magazine about AA and Al Anon. If you like to know more about P I or would like to be involve either as an individual or a group rep you could contact John R.: p…@aa-netheerlands.org
CER (Continental European Region)
Intergroup connects to the larger fellowship through CER, which, in turn, is a “region” with AA UK. CER is formed from English speaking Intergroups like our own throughout Europe. CER also has a website which provides information on English speaking meetings in Europe and has a web mail answering service. This is important in reaching out to the newcomer. More recently CER has started to sponsor PI activities, such as attendance at the European Mental Health Conference and a master class for nurses in Cluj (Romania). We in Dutch AA have been very involved with this.
CER connects to York (the AA office in the UK) and sends 6 delegates to Conference. This body considers questions from the fellowship, providing guidance on topics of current interest as well as being responsible for approving and publishing AA literature.
CER is financed through contributions from Intergroups. Earlier this year we contributed €1200.
Dorien serve us as our CER for the past 3 years and we owe a great amount of thanks to her for making herself available in service to us. Her term as CER is up in end December 2015.
Jennifer from Amsterdam was voted in as our new CER representative. We are looking for a 2nd CER representative and if you think you would like to be a part of the CER team please email our secretary at s…@aa-netherlands.org
and attend our next business meeting in Amsterdam.
We A.A.s do not stay away from drinking one day at a time
We grow away from drinking one day at a time.
(Lois Remembers”, page 168, quoting Bill)
Intergroup Newsletter – August 2015
Message from the Chair
We are producing this newsletter to let you know what we are doing at Intergroup.
This first issue is written by Tom and Nick, the incoming and outgoing chairs. It is a new initiative and highlights the value of rotation of service positions in the fellowship. It is a simple concept – new people – new ideas!
The newsletter is being published online as a blog. It is easy for you to contribute with short (or long) comments. Ideas, suggestions and criticism are all equally welcome. We will consider your contributions at the next Intergroup meeting or pass them forward to the appropriate sub-committee.
Please go and download our last Newsletter and read what was discuss at our last Intergroup meeting
What is the point of Intergroup?
This is a good question and we should ask it often.
Telephone Answering
There are some obvious things that sometimes go unnoticed. We have an effective telephone answering service and we are immensely grateful to our dedicated volunteers who provide this service, day and night, every day of the year. It is still a main lifeline to our newcomers, who call us in despair, as well as helping visitors to find a meeting and so on.
Website
In the same vein, we maintain a website, which serves a similar function as well as giving more information to newcomers, visitors, local members and the professional community. The website is undergoing a major update. This will make it mobile friendly, improve the meeting finder and the on-line shop as well as giving it a similar look and feel to the new Dutch website.
Literature
Literature also goes unnoticed. This is because it is so efficient. We maintain a large stock of books and medallions which are made available to groups more or less at cost. They are easily ordered on-line or by telephone. We hope that payment will be made even easier on our updated website.
Convention
Each year we hold a convention in August. This is one of our fellowship highlights and attended by over 200 members. This year, as in recent years, we are holding it at Mennorode in the middle of the glorious Dutch national park (the Hoge Veluwe). It is a lot of hard work for the organizing committee but the result is always wonderful. If you haven’t registered yet, now is the time to do it (http://www.aa-netherlands.org/roundup2015)
Public Information
We try to carry the message to the still suffering alcoholic through the PI (Public Information) committee. This sub-committee is very active, making workshops for groups, organizing a stand at the Expatica fair. Recently a master class was given to nurses in Utrecht. The class was centred around a demonstration AA meeting, where, in the second part of the meeting, the nurses were also given the opportunity to share. They gained a unique and positive impression of what our fellowship is really like. This idea was so well received that it has been picked up in other countries.
We co-operate with Dutch AA, for example, by mutually announcing our conventions. The Dutch convention is on Saturday 3rd October in Houten. It is a very nice event and really worth attending. (http://www.aa-nederland.nl/evenementen)
A strong bond has been fostered between the Dutch and English PI groups (COI in Dutch). We now work together and share ideas in a way that is better at reaching the still suffering alcoholic. For example, by combining the talents of both groups, we have had articles in Dutch national papers and we are now quicker and more positive in responding to requests for information, as well as getting the groups involved.
Treasury
Our English speaking groups support these activities through contributions from the 7th tradition, although the Convention almost always makes a surplus. Quiet and in the background is our patient and dedicated treasurer who facilitates all our work. There is no fuss. It works like clockwork and we are very grateful.
New Ideas & taking part
This is your Intergroup. You may want to introduce new events (or reintroduce old ones). We have supported Gratitude Days, Christmas celebrations and workshops. Let us know what you want from us.
It is a great time to join in as a GSR or to take one of the service positions as members rotate out. Even if you are not in a position to make a long term commitment, you are welcome to attend meetings and to contribute your ideas.
CER (continental European Region)
Intergroup connects to the larger fellowship through CER, which, in turn, is a “region” with AA UK. CER is formed from English speaking Intergroups like our own throughout Europe. CER also has a website which provides information on English speaking meetings in Europe and has a web mail answering service. This is important in reaching out to the newcomer. More recently CER has started to sponsor PI activities, such as attendance at the European Mental Health Conference and a master class for nurses in Cluj (Romania). We in Dutch AA have been very involved with this.
CER connects to York (the AA office in the UK) and sends 6 delegates to Conference. This body considers questions from the fellowship, providing guidance on topics of current interest as well as being responsible for approving and publishing AA literature.
CER is financed through contributions from Intergroups.
AA Netherlands
Alcoholics 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.
AA Literature
-
Alcoholics Anonymous (4th ed.) hard cover € 11,70 -
Twelve & Twelve- hard cover € 9,70 -
Daily Reflections € 11,20 -
Forming True Partnerships € 12,50
