If you decide you are an alcoholic and have a desire to stop drinking then you are eligible to be a member of the world-wide fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.

There are no fees, no forms to fill in, no questions to answer - just turn up at ANY meeting where you will be warmly welcomed and that's it. 

You will probably find that for the first time in your life you are in the company of people who REALLY understand you. 

Because all of us were beaten by drink until we came to the rooms of AA. And all of us were newcomers once.

Most meetings in the East Midlands have between 10 - 25 men and women of all ages and from all walks of life attending. Each meeting is chaired by a member voted by the rest of the group, usually for 3 months at a time. 

Most meetings start with a brief reading known as the preamble and a welcome to any newcomers or visitors. Any AA business is then raised. Some groups then take a theme for the meeting from a reading from one of our books. 

The meeting is then open to "sharing". Anybody in the room is free to share their experiences in recovering from alcoholism. Sharing then either moves around the room or people " jump in" with their own shares. 

We do not talk or comment when someone is sharing and it is considered bad manners to comment negatively on an earlier share when it is your turn. (We call that "cross-sharing"). 

And if you do not want to share then that is fine and quite usual.

Meetings finish on time and we usually stand in a circle, join hands and say a short prayer known as the serenity prayer. "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference." 

We are not a religious organisation but we are spiritual and many of us (even the atheists among us) find this short prayer helpful.

Each meeting is financially self-supporting and a cup is passed around for contributions to running costs. No one knows what each person puts in and new members get their first meeting free.

If you have a problem with alcohol then you will feel at home in AA.

We look forward to seeing you. Together we can do things that are impossible on our own.

Some AA terms explained:

Open meeting - a meeting open to recovering alcoholics, their partners, families and other visitors. (for example doctors or probation officers wanting to learn about how we work.)

Closed meeting - a meeting open only to recovering alcoholics

Big Book meeting - a meeting that takes a theme from a reading from the book "Alcoholics Anonymous", known to AA members as "the Big Book".

Step meeting - a meeting that uses a reading from AA's 12 step programme as it's theme

12 step programme - a 12 stage (or "step") programme that many AA members work in recovery