CAUK Business minutes
Minutes 4th Feb 2003 Meeting of CA UK ASC
Minutes of special meeting about Europe
TIMELINE FOR CAUK ARCHIVES
The early years from 1992- 2005.
The first Cocaine Anonymous group met in the UK on Wednesday January 8th, 1992, at Hinde Street London W1. The methodist church at Hinde Street was chosen as the location for the first meeting as it had been a traditional venue for AA meetings for several years. One member from the USA, Alan F, who was living in London at the time, and Lisa C, helped start this meeting and prior to the meeting taking place the very first starter pack for CAUK was put together in November 1991 by the, then, Clerk of the World Service Office, Sean D and sent to Lisa C in London. Alan F took his commitment to help start CA in London very seriously and when he was voted in as literature secretary he flew to Los Angeles and picked up key rings, literature and a set of 12 steps and 12 traditions scrolls from the World Service Office so he was fully prepared for subsequent meetings.
The Hinde Street meeting averaged around 20 members in the first few months and these members started a second CA meeting at the Welsh Church in Radnor Walk. The third CA meeting was commenced by the Vision for You 12th step fellowship group at the Remembrance Hall in Flood Street, Chelsea on a Saturday evening. This may have been significant for the development of CA as a whole as they focused on using the basic text of AA i.e “the Big Book” as the basis for their meetings and their recovery. Further meetings started in the Chelsea area at other traditional 12th step fellowship meeting locations such as the Worlds End community centre. On the 16th January 1993 CAUK held its 1st Birthday convention entitled “One Step at a Time” at St Luke’s Hall, Chelsea.
In 1994, Johnny S, one of the original members of Cocaine Anonymous, visited the UK. He held a workshop on the birth of CA in California and delivered a talk on how the first meeting had been held on the 18th November 1982 in Hollywood, California and within 30 days another five CA meetings had started up. This showed how the CA message of hope could be passed and by the end of 1994 there were 10 meetings of CA being held every week at nine different locations in the UK with the first meeting outside Central London commencing in Bristol.
Our connection with members in the USA went from strength to strength and in 1995 copies of the book Hope, Faith & Courage were received and sold in the UK for the first time. Our first CAUK delegate attended the 1995/96 CA World Service Conferences and In August 1996 the UK was ratified as an Area by the 13th World Service Conference.
From 1996 onwards CA’s message did begin to spread to other parts of the UK including Brighton and Bournemouth with the 7th CA Convention “Choose Life” being held in March 1999 at the Beaufort Road Community Centre, Bournemouth. Though new meetings were being opened on a regular basis, unfortunately, not all the original meetings were sustainable and by the end of nineties there was 14 meetings of CA held weekly in the UK.
In 2001 the 9th CAUK Convention was held at the Hilton Brighton Metropole with over 600 members attending to hear a number of guest speakers from the US including Chris R, Earl H, Ken C, Mark H, Mike D and Ralph W. There is a thought amongst some members that this convention and the influence of the US speakers acted as a catalyst for the expansion of CA meetings in the UK. Certainly, at this time there was several members whose passion for passing the message also assisted in the increase of the number of meetings. A number of members based in South East London opened meetings in hospitals and institutions and in deprived areas away from the established meetings located in Chelsea. Similarly, there was a member who drove from London to Liverpool every Saturday to help establish the first CA meeting in the North-West District. Manifestly, meetings were also started in new areas simply by members relocating such as Jackie S moving from Clapham to Cambridge. The consequences of this ‘perfect storm’ were that by 2005 there was 74 meetings held each week in the UK.
ILAS
