CER Annual Report 2019

Download the report as a PDF here.

HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights from 2019 include:

• We welcomed a new ArenA Editor, two Delegates and one Alternate Delegate to Conference!
• Several CER officers travelled to York to participate in Regional Officer Meetings
• Regional Assemblies held in Vilnius Lithuania, Varna Bulgaria and Brussels Belgium
• Online streaming service for our face-to-face assemblies continues allowing members to participate online
• Participation in AA Lithuania’s Service and Sponsorship Workshop in Vilnius
• Regional Forum heldat the December Assembly with GSO participation
• Representation at the European Mental Health Conference in Belfast Ireland.
• Monthly Steering Committee meetings, with valued participation from CER officers
• Group Inventory conducted in Varna with help from the Bulgarian Fellowship
• CER’s website optimised for fast loading and page / document searching
• Members stories and service articles frequently published in ArenA
• In July, our HLO and two other members held an AAWorkshop at the Cluj School of Public Health
• CER participation at YPAA events throughout Europe

FINANCES

Total contributions received from Groups / Intergroups was 28,886 €, a decline of 4,984 € from the previous year.

Our total expenditure was 35,834 €, an increase of 4,919 € from last year.

We donated 7,500 € to GSO.

CER’s prudent reserve remains at 20,000 €.

REPRESENTATION

Our Regional Assemblies, which averaged around 40 members, had representatives from all over Continental Europe, including:

Active Intergroups – Paris IG, IG Bavaria, Tri-Borders IG, Nordic IG, Vienna IG, Rhine-Neckar IG, Rhineland-Pfalz IG, Zurich IG, Geneva IG, Netherlands IG, Costa del Sol IG, Berlin IG, European Online IG & South of France IG.

Active Groups – Milan, Budapest, Varna, Skopje, Bologna, and Frankfurt.

CER always welcomes both new, and old,  Intergroups & Groups to join us in service!

HEALTH

There was an amazing show of unity between CER, AA Great Britain and AA Ireland with our combined presence at the European Mental Health Conference in Belfast in October.

In July, our HLO and two other members held a Workshop at the Cluj School of Public

Health with around 15 professors and PhD coordinators from universities in Romania, Georgia, and Armenia in attendance.

YOUNG PERSONS

Our new Young Persons Liaison Officer has begun to foster closer ties with the YPAA community. CER has been in contact with the various YPAA events around Europe with many opportunities for closer interaction presenting themselves. Our YPLO is also supporting YP intergroup service positions.

ARMED SERVICES

Word is now getting out that we have a military liaison at CER, and as a result, our RASLO has been supporting military units with military specific AA resources and best practice experience. One military member has contributed his story to our website.

CONFERENCE DELEGATES

In April, our six Conference Delegates represented CER at Conference 2019 in York UK. Two of our delegates were elected as Committee Secretaries for 2020.

PUBLIC INFORMATION

Recent activities have included reaching out to intergroups to support their local public information activities, as well as attending YPAA events to present PI and encourage the younger generation to carry our message of recovery to the still suffering alcoholic and inform the general public about the AA programme.

Future Initiatives include; forming a relationship with European Red Cross & Mental Health Europe, working closer with the RECLO on online advertising campaigns, conducting IG lead PI workshops as a coordinated effort, and building up a European resource / template library with PI sub-committee.

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

Our website averages around 1,000 users per day, mainly from the US and the UK. Our meetings list has increased to 928 meetings, and 33 online meetings, in over 474 locations. Remember to ensure that your groups’ meeting details are listed correctly on both the CER and AA Great Britain websites.

Our Help Response Service answers around 1-4 help requests daily, and our webteam ensures our meetings list and events calendar is up to date. Groups are also encouraged to register at GSO so they will be connected to our service structure.

The AAmail service from GSO is available for IGs to use and helps with anonymity, service rotation, and external communications.

ARENA

Our ArenA Editor has been publishing regular posts from members on our website that includes not only members personal stories but also detailed articles on various aspects of AA service. All members in CER are encouraged to be of service and share your experience, strength and hope with fellow alcoholics, new and old, all around the world, and submit your articles to arena.cer@aamail.org

We currently have 1,418 confirmed newsletter subscriptions but we can also do with more – so don’t forget to subscribe to the ArenA newsletter online at https://alcoholics-anonymous.eu/arena

 TRUSTEE

Our Regional Trustee travels often to the GSO in York for regular Board meetings. Our Trustee is also the Editor of the AA Service News (AASN) as well as a Delegate to the European Service Meeting.

 ARCHIVES

Our Archivist has been maintaining and building our archives. Our collection of Big Books in other European languages has increased with the addition of the Lithuanian and Bulgarian versions, and the Archives newsletter continues to be published.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information on CER, please refer to the following documents, available on our website:

• About CER Brochure
• CER How it Works – A quick reference guide to service at Region

Participate in Service with Us!

CER has many service opportunities – just check our website for upcoming vacancies.

Dates and locations for our quarterly Regional Assembly service meetings in 2020 are published on our website. Proposals from intergroups/groups to host future regional assemblies are always welcome.

• 2020 March 7^th– 8^thBudapest, Hungary
• 2020 June 7^thOnline
• 2020 September 5^th– 6^th(Location TBC)
• 2020 December 6^thOnline

Get in touch with CER

Secretary: secretary.cer@aamail.org

Website: www.alcoholics–anonymous.eu

ABOUT CER

The Continental European Region (CER) of the General Service Conference of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) Great Britain serves English speaking AA Members, Groups, and Intergroups in Continental Europe.

CER, as guided by the Three Legacies of AA (Recovery, Unity and Service) and with a primary purpose of carrying AA’s message to the still suffering alcoholic, aims to:

1. Lead public information initiatives and cooperate with the professional community at the European level.
2. Facilitate the exchange of information / best practice experiences between AA Groups / Intergroups.
3. Provide alcoholics, both local and from abroad, with access to AA services and support, particularly in isolated and remote areas.
4. Represent and link the AA Groups / Intergroups with the annual General Service Conference.
5. Create opportunities for AA members to contribute to and gain experience in AA service.
6. Encourage cooperation with each European host nation AA.