Debtors Anonymous UK Intergroup Meeting Minutes 25th July 2015
Attending
WA Chair
SC
Joint Secretary, GSR Ringwood, Hampshire and sub for Salisbury
PR
Events Co-ordinator
CT
Support and GSR Hinde St
JS
Literature
KL
GSR Swiss Cottage Thursday BDA
HB
GSR Bristol
MA
Swiss Cottage Sunday
NM GSR Monday West End
RN
GSR Bayswater
SL
PI rep Hinde St and on PI committee
Apologies for Absence
NS
Webmaster
DB
Treasurer
JP
Intergroup Service Representative
Approval of Minutes
March correction – Events co-ordinator was not Jackie S. PR was in attendance and took
over in January not March. Adopted with corrections and apologies from the secretary.
May - updating the contact list needs to be carried forward to next meeting. Adopted with
that addition.
Service Opportunities – See full job descriptions appended to minutes
Treasurer – DB continues to provide cover for us, but will stand down in November.. See
Job Description appended to these minutes. She encourages others to step up. She was
told she would grow with the role, and indeed, she has found it enormously satisfying and
helpful in her recovery. Requirements: 1 year of abstinence, 2 PRGs, cannot be a GSR at
the same time. DB will work with the new person to help them get started.
Joint Literature Secretary
J Steps down in January and proposes an immediate new post of joint Literature
Secretary, who could in the meantime do part of the Literature functions and be up to
speed to eventually take overfull time in January.
European ISR and World ISR
JP steps down in January. Because of the workload, she suggests two service positions
to replace her: ISR Europe and ISR World. These need to be filled as soon as possible, to
lighten JP's load and give new people time to move into the positions with her support.
Public Information - Since A stepped down, this role is currently being filled by the PI
Committee “Carrying the Message”. It would be helpful to have one person take on this
position for media contact, etc, with on-going support from the committee..
GSR Reports
MA
Swiss Cottage, Sunday. Healthy attendance of core members 6-8, sometimes
more. Making the rent
HB Bristol Sunday night 1-5 people. Nice room in back of church. Low rent. Group is
solvent. Donation to come of undecided amount. Made business cards using
grant from PI funds. Most contacts, however, come through website.
CT
RN
KL
SC
SC
NM
PR
Hinde St Saturday 11:30 20-25 people. Have started monthly visions group first
Saturday of month 1:15-2:15, supported by WhatsApp group. Now have PI rep
SL. Service positions full. Happy, prosperous, solvent. Donation .£15 today.
Bayswater Saturday. 6-14. £ donation. Has a ramp making wheelchair access
possible.. £150 donation.
BDA Swiss Cottage Thursday night. 20 strong, healthy group, good recovery.
GSR Ringwood Monday night. Small group of 4 people. Doubling up on service
positions. Prudent reserve dwindling. Worried for future of group. Sometimes
meeting does not happen, or happens by Skype. Made business cards for PI
activity.
Salisbury Thursday night. Healthy group with 20 or so members, meetings usually
5-10 people. PI position vacant. 6 months rent in prudent reserve. Have flyers for
PI activity.
Be Careful What You Wish for PRG group West End 6-12. for both DA and BDA
people. Behind on rent, but wil catch up very soon.
sub for Ogle St £80 donation to come in July
Service Reports
Treasurer
See full report appended
• DB will be standing down in November 2015 as her term is way at an end. Please
announce at meetings.
For the past two months
Income
£1058.33
Expenditure .
£ 244.00
Prudent reserve
Current balance –
£ 205.00 to cover rent, phone and web payments for six months.
£4029.74 includes prudent reserve.
Donations to 2016 £2540.14
• There is a compensation figure of £100 in the Intergroup main account which was made
by the bank for their bureaucratic failings lasting several months.
• JP in her capacity as treasurer of the European DA Intergroup, has asked to place the
monies collected at the June European Convention in our account temporarily. DB will
open a new account with the existing signatures.
Literature – JS
See full report appended
Stock ordered in March arrived in May and several have already sold out. Larger and/or
earlier ordering will be needed – plus more space to store larger stocks.
Donations through literature order form amount to £43.84 since September. Will transfer
to group bank accounts
Bank compensated £100 for signature snafu on new literature account. Should that go to
literature to make bigger orders or transfer back to Intergroup. Should we have 6 months
of stock or move 8 months? Voted to have full £100 stay with literature
Discussion re: stock order for convention. Literature bank balance will be sufficient to
cover this. JS invited to Convention committee meeting.
See appended full report for criteria for Literature back-up person service position.
Events - PR .
Convention booked for 31st October. No creche – too expensive. Will be in Chapel and
Broadbent Room as last year. Speakers to focus on Living in the Solution.
Request for convention service positions
Each group can make three choices for roles, and PR will allocate. She needs these by
the end of August. Groups need to supply three people for the chosen role. Will
announce blogging workshop and DA concert at the convention.
SL added that the PI committee suggests a PI slot at the convention. Seconded and voted
in.
Fund-raising at the Convention
HB trained as professional fund-raiser. The key thing is to ask for it:
something for GSR's to take to groups.
Harriet will write
CT will pull this together and email it to the Intergroup list.
Also put it on website once approved. GSRs can say it at meetings and refer to it on the
website
Support - CT
We would like to build a list of people who are available for calls and emails from
newcomers and also for outreach calls from others in the fellowship. Please send your
contact details to support@debtorsanonymous.org.uk and feel free to specify preferred days
and times for contact. Four Newcomers have come through, since last meeting.
It's really helpful to have new BDA phone meeting. Hope to do same for DA. Telling all
callers about the convention, and people are responding well. Logging all phone calls.
Lots of relatives calling. Source is generally website. Skype meeting – people are
sometimes reticent.
Outreach – CT will text those who've agreed to be available to newcomers and loners to
see if they're willing to take outreach calls from others in the fellowship. Then Neil can put
it on the website through info1@debtorsanonymous.org,uk.
ISR Report JP –
1. European DA Convention - Cannes
The convention was very successful. The convention committee and the fledgling
European Intergroup (ERI) pass on their thanks for the UK Intergroup's seed funding of the
project. The convention returned a healthy profit and decided that 10% of it should go with
me to the USA to put in the John H. fund, which helps to fund GSRs from around the world
to go to World Service Conference(WSC)
The likelihood is that next year's convention will be in Italy in the Lago di Garda region.
The ERI meeting on the Friday night in Cannes was attended by a Trustee, the
International Caucus chair, myself and ISRs from Italy and Germany. There were also
members from all over the European region including Russia and Turkey. Members from
Bali, Australia and Kenya also came and shared their experience, strength and hope.
The UK Intergroup Treasurer is graciously holding the Euro funds in the UK bank account,
because we're the only group that has a dedicated bank account.
The ERI will meet in September by Skype. The exact date has not been fixed. We are still
not formally constituted and this ISR is finding it hard to keep up with the work involved.
3. USA
The WSC in Portland begins on August 5th. I have been in touch with the co-ordinator of
the Group Sponsorship initiative and if anyone has any questions for her, please email me
at JPdoesservice@gmail.com
4. Recommendations for ISR role
My service finishes in January. I recommend that two roles are created: ISR Europe and
ISR World. These roles need to be filled as soon as possible to spread the worload and
the new people to transition into them. See job descriptions appended.
This is a wonderful and exciting time for DA in the UK and Europe. Intergroup has seeded
a really important network of connection which transmits and supports recovery. Now is
the time for consolidation and systems to encourage that seed to grow.
European Convention Report from Attendees
NM, PR, RN, JP and SL attended, as well as15 or so in total from the UK and a total of 3040 from Spain, Italy, Germany,.France, Russia, Turkey, Australia, and Bali
Wonderfully abundant and prosperous place to have convention. Informal space. A very
bonding experience.
It was lovely to hear the Serenity Prayer, Twelve Steps and Traditions in every language
Meditation on the beach was amazing! DA feels such a safe space. Couldn't stay small.
Excellent workshop on business. Someone will copy the notes from that workshop and
make them available.
Balinese convention next June!!! full week of DA/NA/SLA etc
Think about adding information re: European group to website.
Webmaster's Report – NS
Summary - There is nothing major to report for this meeting. All seems to be going well
with the website. Let me know if there’s anything you want me to do. For website statistics
see full report appended.
Discussion:
KL has been working on content for the home page.
Putting 4-5 questions “Are you...?” to get immediate identification.
Also, What Is DA?
US website – take the quiz link more obvious right at the beginning?
From AA – Big Button - Find a Meeting – put in day and town and it takes to meeting page
with map etc. Include larger catchments for outside London.
Testimonial available.
AA has small written shares on site. HB suggests short voice recordings.
KL will liaise with NS and mock-up new home page for September meeting.
Public Information Committee report – SL
Main focus – how can we work on Carrying the Message?. How to help those who phone
in and aren't able to get to meetings – result: phone meeting and CT's list.
What else? Kick off at convention in October: One person One action. Come to
convention, take some attraction material away. Two more committee meetings before the
convention.
Next call first week in September. Date and time TBD.
JS – DVDs available How to start a meeting. Also literature. WA will check and let SL
know.
Any Other Business
HB = FaceBook for DA ? Agreed to have a beacon page on Facebook
KL – Has done initial work on content for the website home page. She will also work with
WA on updating the contact list to send email to all GSRs after meetings
WA – The list is now stored in the cloud. Wants to centralise all DA documentation to be
available to service positions etc.
PR – wants all service positions for convention filled by end August. Please. Convention
poster to be circulated to Intergroup list and GSRs. William to action – he has poster.
Does Neil have this to put on the website?
Appendices
Job Descriptions
Treasurer
• Encouraging groups to donate before, at or after each Intergroup meeting.
• Bank donations
• Provide cash for events.
• Keeping a Record of all the Donations especially those given at the Intergroup Meetings
• Liaise with the Literature Secretary re sundry donations that may have been given
through Literature.
• Provide a Bi-monthly Treasurers Report - Income and Expenditure
• Set up a PRG to discuss an Ideal Spending Plan between end of November and end of
January each year.
• Pay a Yearly Donation to Central Hall Westminster before, at or after the January
Meeting. Donations are paid in advance. i.e. 2016’s donation is paid in January 2016
• Introducing yourself to the Bank with ID and form filling i.e. signature change and Internet
access. Its helpful to find a trusted Nat West employee who can help with understanding
their systems.
• IT'S REALLY QUITE A SATISFYING JOB AND DB IS HAPPY TO PROVIDE
GUIDANCE IN THE BEGINNING.
Joint Literature Secretary
- Debt free time 6 months and 2 PRGs [please double check]
- Able to run Excel on a computer, and simply enter values
- Have a printer
- Have room for 3-4 small boxes about 35 x 25 x 30
Intergroup Service Representative – Europe (to be added)
JP Will get an updated version of this at the WSC
Intergroup Service Representative – World (to be added)
JP Will get an updated version of this at the WSC
Public Information Representative
Mission Statement
To make the message of recovery available to the still suffering debtor and to toher peopl
and groups who come into contact with the still sufferingn debtor, using the PI manual as a
tool.
The PI manual is available free to download from
http://debtorsanonymous.org/public_information.htm
PI Reps ought to be a credible community resource by providing information on DA
websites and via other means of communication to the general public, the media, and
helping professionals. PI Reps also provide information to institutions such as hospitals
and prisons.
Requirements:
 at least three months without incurring unsecured debt
 for members working with the media, at least one year without incurring unsecured
debt
 understanding of the Twelve Traditions including a firm grasp of of anonymity
 has worked the Steps or is currently working the Steps in DA
 has a sponsor in DA
Full Service Reports
Treasurer's Report – DB
• I shall be standing down in November 2015 as my term is way at an end. Please
announce at meetings
• There is a compensation figure of £100 in the Intergroup Main account which is a
compensation figure given by the bank for their bureaucratic failings lasting several
months which the group need to decide if it is to be awarded to Literature or given
into the donations pot.
• JP in her capacity as treasurer of the European DA Service, has asked to place
the monies collected at the June Convention in our account temporarily. It needs to
be saved in a safe place and in line with DA principles, I recommend we keep it in a
separate account. I am happy to open a new account to that end. It is a speedier
process to open up a new account with the existing signatures and then change the
signatories, which will take place in November, the end of the Intergroup year, in
any case.
• I have a figure of £187.88 in donations to put into the Intergroup Main account.
Literature Report – JS
1 – The last stock order that finally arrived May 20th was based on a 6 month prediction as
of March onwards, so was supposed to last until September. We are OK on books, but we
are already out of some leaflets: Debtors Anonymous, PRG and Record Keeping. We
therefore suggest to make bigger stock orders in the future (about £1000 instead of £850),
particularly for leaflets as these sort of variations cause back-orders and additional
expenses. Shipping from the US accounts for about 22-25% of stock order costs, getting
proportionally smaller for larger orders.
2 - Donations to Intergroup made through the Literature order payments amount to £43.84
since September 2014, which are being transferred to the Intergroup account. The biggest
ones were from Dublin (£14.47) and Yorkshire (£10).
3 - Balance for period 01 September 2014 to 24 July 2015:
Start cash balance 01 Sep 2014
Income
less expenses.
less stock order.
less donations transferred to
intergroup
Total cash balance to date
1380.19
£2,361.04
-239.5
-£2,218.9
-43.84
1238.96
4 - As the result of a claim we did to Natwest for their very poor handling of the signature
succession, they made a compensation payment of £100. Literature would like to discuss
if this amount would go to Intergroup or stay with Literature as an increased prudent
reserve.
5 - Literature would like to propose we start looking for a joint Literature Secretary, who
could in the meantime do part of the Literature functions and be up to speed to eventually
be taking over in January.
Criteria would be:
- Debt free time 6 months and 2 prgs [please double check]
- Able to run Excel on a computer, and simply enter values
- Have a printer
- Have room for 3-4 small boxes about 35 x 25 x 30
Intergroup Service Representative Report – JP
1. Cannes
The biggest news is from Cannes. The convention was very successful. The convention
committee and the fledgling European Intergroup (ERI) pass on their thanks for the UK
Intergroup's seed funding of the project. The convention returned a healthy profit and
decided that 10% of it should go with me to the USA to put in the John H. fund, which
helps to fund GSRs from around the world to go to World Service Conference(WSC)
The likelihood is that next year's convention will be in Italy in the Lago di Garda region.
The convention committee of Cannes has made recommendations for the proposal
process etc, based on experience and will be giving them to the ERI.
The ERI meeting on the Friday night in Cannes was attended by a Trustee, the
International Caucus chair, myself and ISRs from Italy and Germany. There were also
members from all over the European region including Russia and Turkey. Members from
Bali, Australia and Kenya also came and shared their experience, strength and hope.
The UK Intergroup Treasurer is graciously holding the Euro funds in the UK bank account.
The other countries have bank accounts in the name of the treasurer. We are the only
Intergroup with a dedicated bank account, so it was voted that UK holds that money to
seed fund the Italian ERI convention.
The ERI will meet in September by Skype. The exact date has not been fixed. We are still
not formally constituted and this ISR is finding it hard to keep up with the work involved.
3. USA
The WSC in Portland begins on August 5th and I will report live to the intergroup email
address as and when I can. Because of technical glitches at the office, I have been cut off
from the email list so my sense of what's been going on in DA as a whole has been limited
to personal contacts. I have been in touch with the co-ordinator of the Group Sponsorship
initiative and if anyone has any questions for her, please email me at
JPdoesservice@gmail.com
4. Recommendations for ISR role
Can I suggest that Intergroup puts the word out as widely as possible to fill this role come
January. As it is now, given all the development work of the past year, it takes up a lot of
time. It's invaluable for what you learn but I feel there is enough work now to make 2
service roles - Europe and World.
At a previous Intergroup meeting I asked for help and I still need it. As DA works in my life,
I need to give more time and attention to my business.So this wonderful role feels as if it’s
getting a bit frayed around the edges, especially with admin. I am very grateful to Stuart for
stepping up to help with putting in email contacts and arranging the next ERI meeting.
Things have been going slower than ideal. But they are gradually getting sorted.
This is a wonderful and exciting time for DA in the UK and Europe. Intergroup has seeded
a really important network of connection which transmits and supports recovery. Now is
the time for consolidation and systems to encourage that seed to grow.
Webmaster's Report – NS
Statistics for June/July