Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) holds its 63rd national convention in Dunedin this week, marking 80 years for the organisation in New Zealand.
The convention, which will run from January 16-18 at Otago Boys’ High School, will bring together AA members from across the country along with international visitors.
Organisers said, in a statement, the event would celebrate sobriety, share experience, strength and hope, as well as acknowledge the eight decades of Alcoholics Anonymous in New Zealand.
AA began in New Zealand in 1946, when Ian McEwan, then a patient at Ngawhatu Psychiatric Hospital, in Nelson, saw an advertisement in Readers Digest and wrote to Alcoholics Anonymous in New York requesting a copy of the book Alcoholics Anonymous.
After reading the book and leaving hospital, Mr McEwan carried the AA message of recovery throughout New Zealand, speaking openly about alcoholism and the fact that help was available.
From those early efforts, AA grew steadily in New Zealand and supported people seeking recovery to today.
A public meeting to share information about AA and its work will be held this Saturday, January 17, from 7.30pm at Otago Boys’ High School auditorium.
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international, voluntary, non-professional fellowship of people who share a common goal of staying sober and helping others to also. — Allied Media
