South Midlands Intergroup Archives

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BANBURY

Tuesday discussion (7.30 pm)

St Paul’s Church Hall, Warwick Road, Banbury

Formed June 1 1980; discontinued Spring 1987

In 1986 Alastair described how the group was started to complement Banbury Friday and provide an extra meeting for those who could not get further afield. It was decided to make it a discussion group, providing a different format from that of Friday. The group experienced some early difficulties and there were evenings when the secretary kept a lonely vigil! There were also some format changes (it became a Big Book meeting at one stage and at another incorporated a Step meeting once a month); but attendance then stabilised and quite a few members found sobriety here and went on to found groups elsewhere.Officers were changed quite frequently in order to encourage newer members into service, albeit with the guidance of the older hands never far away.

Alastair (1986)

Eventually it became an As Bill Sees It meeting. At this time we shared tea and coffee facilities with a very active Square Dance Club who met in the next room, the noise often being quite deafening! But we kept coming back and many of us found sobriety at this often informal meeting.As time went on the balance between Newcomers and people with any length of sobriety became very one-sided. There really weren’t sufficient people with enough sobriety to share their experience strength and hope with us fledglings. This, together with difficulties in continuing to use St Paul’s Hall made us regretfully decide to close the meeting in the Spring of 1987.

Helen H. (November 1999)



BANBURY

Tuesday discussion (7.45 pm)

St Joseph’s Community Hall, Edmunds Road, Banbury

...

Formed December 2 1992

In the late 1980s and early ‘90s the Friday meeting remained consistently larger, attendance often numbering between 30-40. Many newer members were finding it difficult to travel further afield and it was felt the time had come to re-start a Tuesday meeting in Banbury. The inaugural meeting of Banbury Tuesday was held and well attended on December 2 1992.

It was agreed this should be a discussion meeting based on As Bill Sees It, with a Step meeting once a month. This would be a ‘second’ Banbury meeting, drawing support from Friday if necessary, either financially or in terms of attendance. Occasionally the cry would go out ‘send us a few men (or women as the case may be)!’ in order to provide a balance for a growing number of newcomers.

The group has its own Secretary and Treasurer, but shares Friday’s literature, coffee and tea, and is represented by the same GSR at SMIG meetings. After a period of fluctuating numbers the meeting settled down to a steady 12-15, quite often rising to 18-20 and sometimes more.

Perhaps inevitably as group officers changed and the origins of the Tuesday meeting were less well remembered, communication between the two groups fell off somewhat and there was some irritation that Friday seemed to be making all the decisions. A proper AA solution was found at a joint Conscience Meeting in April 1999 when it was agreed to make Banbury a multi-meeting group with the two meetings having equal status.

A quarterly Conscience Meeting alternating between Fridays and Tuesdays is held at which matters of common concern to the group as a whole, as well as to carrying the message, are discussed. It was at such a Conscience Meeting in July 2001 it was decided to seek another venue as the Upper Hall was due for restoration, and we moved to the present excellent venue in August 2001.

The Group is now a Steps and "As Bill sees it" meeting attracting an increasing number of members interested in discussing the AA recovery programme.

Sylvie N. (April 2003)



BANBURY

Friday (8 pm)

St Joseph’s Community Hall, Edmunds Road, Banbury

Formed November 1961.

This was Banbury’s first group and one of the first in the SMIG area.

In 1986 Judy H. wrote “As far as I can find out the Group was started soon after the Elms changed from a maternity home to a psychiatric home in the early sixties. I should imagine it was proposed by Dr Harris and Dr Williams, then working at the Ashurst Clinic, Littlemore Hospital, Oxford. My first meeting there was October 1966”.

We know the group was already represented at the first SMIG meeting in November 1968; its first report to SMIG in December 1971 read “It was known that the group was growing in numbers...” The earliest surviving record of Banbury meetings is from November 8 1974. They were then still held at the Elms Clinic; Judy was Secretary at the time and kept a note over the next months of attendance and speakers. The former numbered from 6 -18, and the latter ranged from Oxford, Wantage and Coventry. No meetings were held over the Christmas period then.

It is quite thought-provoking to realise that there were then only six meetings in Oxfordshire, all held on weekday evenings.Cyril M. writes “My first attendance was on January 17, 1975, some six weeks into sobriety. Larry (USAF) was in the chair and the attendance was 13. “The Group had a strong nucleus of 9 members all attending on a regular basis and was well supported by members of the USAF from neighbouring Upper Heyford base.

Over the following few years numbers remained fairly constant, but I do recall on one occasion we were down to 4 and one of these was drunk! It was a standing joke with Jerry that if our numbers did not reach double figures I would expect him to go out with sandwich boards!“

In August 1978 the ceiling of the meeting room at the Elms Clinic fell in - not as a result of our meetings! Consequently we moved to the Horton Post-Graduate centre and, to fit in, we had to alter the meetings from Friday to Thursdays. We used the Board Room but could not make our own tea and coffee and had to purchase these from the ground floor bar. This was not the ideal “coffee shop” to take a newcomer as we were not alone and alcohol was readily available. Once repairs had been completed we moved back into the Elms Clinic and reverted to holding the meetings on a Friday with some relief. But at least the Group kept going and that was the main thing.”

Cyril M. (1998)

From about the mid-1980s the group became consistently larger and eventually it was agreed it would be a good idea to find bigger premises. The group moved to St John’s in the summer of 1988, and remained until August 2001 when the building became due for reparation work.

It was more convenient in all respects as we had exclusive use of the coffee/tea-making facilities in the adjoining room and no longer needed to trundle literature and refreshments to and from each meeting. This also applies to our present excellent venue. On the last Friday of each month we change our usual ‘share’ format to a Big Book Meeting.

In April 1999 Banbury Friday combined with Banbury Tuesday to form a multi-meeting group.


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