South Midlands Intergroup Archives

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CHIPPING NORTON

Thursday (7.30 pm)

Highlands Day Centre, Burford Rd, Chipping Norton
Formed October 1, 1992


After joining AA in July 1992, Don, who lives in Chipping Norton, and his sponsor Mike, a Fellowship member with 40+ years of sobriety behind him, decided there ought to be a group in Chipping Norton. Accordingly, SMIG was approached and its blessing obtained. Preparations were put in hand; the new group was registered with General Service Office and a venue for meetings was sought. Eventually permission was obtained to use the Outpatient Waiting Room at Chipping Norton Hospital. It was a bit stark, but it served the purpose; there being no kitchen, coffee was made in the consultant’s office!

The first meeting nearly fell flat on its face, mainly because Don didn’t know the ropes and Mike’s ideas about meetings were from over 40 years back when AA in this country was in its infancy. However, after some discussion (which got a bit heated at times) we decided that meetings should be held along the now traditional lines - after the Preamble, a Big Book reading, then a visiting speaker sharing experience, strength and hope, followed by round-the-room sharing and ending with the Promises and Serenity Prayer.

We then held an election; Irene became our first secretary, with Clive as treasurer and Mark as Literature Secretary. Mike never attended meetings regularly because of poor health and died in 1996 aged 80.

After some months of meeting at the Hospital, we had the opportunity to relocate to the present much more congenial accommodation. We are still meeting there, currently with a core membership of around 10 ( only two of whom live in Chipping Norton ! ); attendance fluctuates between 10 and around 16. Meetings are non-smoking, with the first meeting of the month being a Step meeting and the last an Open meeting.




Don T. (November 1997)



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