An organisation all about milestones is celebrating one of its own this month with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) reaching 75 years of operation in Australia.
And it reaches the diamond anniversary at the height of one of its biggest challenges – helping Australians to stop drinking at the height of the Coronavirus pandemic, with traditional meetings unable to be held.
“We would meet in community centres, churches or halls but all the spaces we usually rent have been closed so we had to move our meetings online via Zoom to keep everyone connected,” a local AA spokesperson said.
“Most of our meetings happen at the exact time they normally would in person with all of the details on our website and, in future, we will continue having an online presence to reach more people.”
The spokesperson said anyone is always welcome to join the group to help solve a common problem that impacts many people.
“Anybody can turn up to a meeting to find out information, you don’t have to let anyone know who you are or become a member and there are no leaders who are in charge of the group,” he said.
Some 19 AA meetings are run throughout the Penrith Local Government Area each week.
Visit www.aa.org.au or call 1300 22 22 22 for more information.
A graduate of Western Sydney University, Emily covers Local, State and Federal politics for the Weekender, as well as crime and general news.
