Group History

Moving on…

March 1st, 2024

It is often said “it only takes a coffee pot and a resentment to start a new meeting”, and so it would seem to be so for Newtown.

Armed with enough arrogance and the required resentment, a lady of a certain age arrived in Newtown. Tucked under her arm was an AA meeting directory for the area. She confidently turned up for her first Welsh AA meeting since moving up from the south coast just two days ago.

Door locked, no lights on, no meeting.

Have to wait until Friday and try Welshpool, mind you, that’s asking a lot as it's nearly fifteen miles away! This lady was used to having a choice of meetings within a five mile radius every day. 

Never mind, I'm sure Welshpool will have up-to-date information. And so they did, “No, sadly. Newtown closed a few years ago. Used to be at the hospital for a while then moved to Penhafren. That was years ago now, it used to be good. I suppose they just stopped coming……..”

Straight on the phone to her sponsor down south, she moaned and complained bitterly about other people’s twelve step work and how could anybody stay sober without meetings? Thankfully good sponsorship was to hand and this certain lady of a certain age was asked, “Well, what are YOU going to do about it?”

Not realising she had just been put in her place and thinking her sponsor had finally recognised her ability to put things right, off she went to start her crusade and save AA from itself.

Newtown Catholic Church looked promising, so a meeting with Father Wilky was arranged. It was agreed that we would meet on a Wednesday evening from 7:30 until 9:00 pm. Full use of the kitchen and our own key. Done. Rent £10 a week. However, Father Wilky was unaware of who he was dealing with! Our crusader then proceeded to haggle the rent down to £5 for the first 6 months. (Shame on you!) 

So the 5th September 2002 saw the start of our meeting. I seem to remember there were four of us at that first meeting.

For many years we had a hard core of around five to eight members, sadly mostly ladies, and we began to take on the  appearance of a W.I. meeting, especially when it got so cold we would sit wrapped in blankets!

Following a group conscience the group made the following changes over the years.

• Changed the meeting time to 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm.

• Volunteered to increase our rent to £10 as our numbers increased.

• Again, voluntarily increased the rent to £15 a week once heating was installed.

• We agreed to not have food on the table as it proved to be a distraction for some. 

• We changed the format of the meeting to a study group to promote growth.

• We survived lockdown by the use of Zoom meetings.

• We became a hybrid meeting after lockdown to allow more members to join in when unable to drive or for those further afield.

• We’re now a truly international meeting, attracting Zoom members from all parts of the world. (Oh ok, just one from America!)

On our twentieth anniversary we had a fish and chip supper after the meeting, and during that summer we held a picnic in the park. The picnic was a great success resulting in getting to know each other's friends and families and some even climbing trees after a riverside walk. 

So here we are twenty-two years later and, as the church is closing, it’s off to pastures new. We’re moving to Plas Dolerw Conference Centre, Milford Road, Newtown, SY16 2EH. The centre comes complete with free WiFi, a laptop and even a projector for our Zoomers. It’s a lovely new venue just round the corner and no need for a “bleeding deacon” this time as the whole group worked in unison through our serving officers and group conscience. 

Newtown Wednesday Group is a beautiful, fun loving family fully committed to sponsorship, service and Intergroup.

Kettle’s on, come and join us!