AA around Brighton & Hove

0127 320 3343

Intergroup

Brighton Area intergroup is one of 11 intergroups in South East Region.

Our intergroup meetings start at 19:15 at the Friends Meeting House, Ship Street, Brighton. Doors open at 18:30. Everybody is welcome. Here are our next meetings:

We have vacancies for the following: armed forces; Christmas day; Share; regional representatives. Call Alan on 0770 353 7748 if you would like to learn more about any of these roles.

Aims 

The aims of our intergroup are to aid our constituent groups in their common purpose of carrying their AA message to the still suffering alcoholic and, by using their combined strength and unity, to improve and maintain good relations with all organisations in our community. 

Here’s a brief summary of our service roles. There’s more detail below:

  • Chair: runs our quarterly intergroup meetings; keeps business moving in line with AA’s Traditions and Concepts, and helps ensure every voice from the groups is heard before decisions are made
  • Vice-chair: runs 4 annual workshops for our members; sends new GSRs literature; co-signs our payments
  • Secretary: handles our communications: agendas, minutes, correspondence; keeps group contact details, and the local meeting list, up to date
  • Treasurer: receives contributions from member groups, pays our bills; keeps our accounts https://aabrightonarea.com/finance-4/
  • Public Information, Health, Probation, Prisons, Employment, Young People: carry the AA message to professionals and the wider community, for example by giving talks, supplying literature, and arranging prison, probation or hospital meetings
  • Telephone: organises responders to answer our helpline 0127 320 3343 and volunteers for our 12-step list – we share all telephone activities with West Sussex Intergroup
  • Responders: answer calls from still-suffering alcoholics which are forwarded to their telephones from our helpline. Most responders cover a four-hour slot once each week
  • 12 step volunteers: responders acces our 12-step list and call our volunteers so that they can help still-suffering alcoholics
  • Electronic communications officers: liases with our secretary to produces our Where to Find so newcomers can find help;; maintains http://www.aaBrightonArea.com; runs our campaigns with Meta and TikTok
  • Convention: runs Europe’s largest AA convention – a major source of revenue for Brighton Area Intergroup. We use the money from our convention to carry our message locally
  • Virtual meetings: promotes positive, inclusive and active participation in our virtual meetings; facilitates the smooth running of our hybrid intergroup meetings

Roles 

The chair conducts the meetings, approves the agenda and minutes before they are published and carries the executive authority of intergroup but should account for any action taken at the next meeting.The vice chair runs our intergroup workshops. The secretary prepares the agenda and minutes of meetings and distributes them to groups well before meetings. The secretary also keeps in touch with our General Service Office making sure that it promptly has a copy of the minutes and notice of any change of office. The treasurer publishes our accounts on our website.  

  • our health officer is responsible for establishing links with health professionals and co-ordinating all aspects of carrying the message within the healthcare system
  • our employment liaison officer works with local businesses
  • our telephone officer recruits responders to answer our helpline. They also maintain a list of our members willing to make 12-step calls.
  • our region representatives attend intergroup meetings and region meetings in order to feed information from one to the other.
  • our archivist keeps a history of AA in our area.
  • our armed services officer establishes and maintains communication between AA, the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force. They also forge links with community welfare officers as well as organisations supporting soldiers, their families and veterans.
  • our electronic communications officer updates our website and produces our ‘where to find’ using data provided by our secretary.
  • our employment officer carries our message to local employers
  • our health officer establishes links with hospitals, detox centres and clinics. They promote an awareness of AA and provide information about it to health organisations and alcoholic patients through visits and by making them aware of AA literature, helplines and websites.
  • our homeless officer establishes links with homelessness outreach agencies and charities by promoting an awareness of AA by utilising available literature. They also welcome the homeless alcoholic into the fellowship and encourage service through our service structure.
  • our prison officer gathers and collates information about AA groups in Lewes Prison. Our PLO keeps him/herself informed through South East Region and our GSO of Home Office and conference policy about parole and the use of recordings in order to help prison sponsors. Our GSO and our General Service Board maintain contact with the prison department of the Home Office.
  • our probation officer establishes links with the probation services in England so that their clients can be introduced to AA.Talks to probation officers may further our primary purpose.
  • our public information officer ensures that our message is carried to other organisations. A panel of members complies with requests for speakers. Our PILO also helps local press and radio obtain information about AA.
  • our Share officer provides contacts between members, groups and the editorial team. They actively encourage the contribution of articles and letters, and the promotion of the magazine.
  • our young peoples officer shares our message with younger people both inside and outside our fellowship.This includes working with public information, health and employment to establish contacts with local schools, colleges, youth organisations and employers
  • our Virtual or “Zoom” Meeting Liaison Officer helps promote a positive, inclusive and active participation of Brighton Area AA Virtual Meetings within Brighton Area Intergroup (BAI), its members, newcomers and the general public. To help Brighton Area Intergroup carry the message to those who are finding attendance at face-to-face meetings difficult or inaccessible. To support BAI Liaison Officers ‘carrying the message to the general public’ where and when virtual PI information needs to be delivered.
    • Represent Brighton Area Virtual Meetings (AKA ZOOM) at Brighton Area Intergroup, both encouraging and supporting GSR’s to bring relevant topics to BAI meetings. 
    • Using the BAI Zoom Account, booking the BAI Zoom Meeting and publish details in advance
    • Supporting the BAI Tech- person to achieve a smooth operation of hybrid meetings, workshops and conferences
    • Liaise with the Zoom Administrator and Tech-person to ensure tech is running smooth during meeting
    • Liaise with BAI Electronic Communications Liaison Officer (ECLO) to ensure best online safeguarding and anonymity practices are in use. 
    • If equipment or advice is needed, supporting  BAI liaison officers to organise virtual/hybrid meetings i.e. reaching out to Health or Employment professionals, Prison or Recovery Groups, Schools or Youth Organisaitons, etc.) 
    • Liaise with ‘Zoom’ GSRs and help organise Virtual Meetings Topical workshops. (i.e.Reaching the Newcomer, Service from Home, Working in line with Traditions, Use of technology, how to deal with Zoom Bombers, protecting anonymity etc)
    • Liaise with ‘Zoom’ GSRs/groups in order to raise relevant topics such as Electronic Communications, Traditions 7, Tradition 11, to larger committees (i.e. Conference Committee, Region and GSO).
    • Source, maintain and store (or source safe storage space) BAI equipment used for the purposes of AA virtual / hybrid meetings, conferences, workshops.
    • From the AA Service Structure Handbook 2023: 3:8 Summary – electronic communications are evolving swiftly. New features and services, which are not possible at the time of writing this guidance, will appear. There will be greater advantages to be gained – and greater pitfalls to avoid. We are responsible – not only for making the best use of the service and facilities available – but also of ensuring that it is used with integrity and in accordance with our Traditions. If we do this, we will not go far wrong. PG 38.

Conventions

Our convention shows newcomers that it is possible to enjoy life after drinking: it celebrates sobriety.

The convention committee is autonomous in its overall responsibility for the convention but is accountable to our intergroup. Our convenor is elected for four years and must have served at least one term in another position on the committee. The election of a new convenor must be ratified by our intergroup assembly.

Al-Anon and Alateen

In accordance with the Twelve Traditions a convention is either AA or Al-Anon. However most AA convention committees invite Al-Anon to participate by planning their own programmes, and the committee arranges facilities for Al-Anon meetings. If AA invites Al-Anon to join a convention all expenses for the Al-Anon meetings are paid for by AA.

Alateen

These groups are part of Al-Anon Family groups, and their formation and servicing is not an AA function or responsibility.