Dear Al-Anon members

Please enjoy and share these highlights from our June Board meeting. It is important for the democracy of Al-Anon that our fellow members know what we are working on and we rely on our service structure for this to happen. Thank you for taking the time to be informed.

The Board met on 6 June 2019 at the Friary, in Hillsborough, Auckland before partricipating in the New Zealand Al-Anon Service Conference. Eight Areas were represented at the Conference by their Delegate and one Area by an Observer. Delegates attending the Conference were able to attend the Board meeting (with voice and no vote) and many attended. It was great to have them at the Board meeting.

The following motions were approved by Conference:

• That the NZAGSO 2018/2019 annual financial accounts be accepted.
• That the NZAGSO 2019/2020 annual budget be accepted.
• The NZAFG adopt the AA developed translation of the Maori Serenity Prayer, subject to the consent of AA.
• That the NZAGSO toll free number be retained and the authority to discontinue it in the future is given to the Executive/Budget Committee.
• Implement menu routing for the NZAFG Public Outreach toll free number.
• That NZASC 2019 authorises the NZAGSB to work to remove documents from the KN-17 into the NZ Al-Anon – Alateen Service Handbook over a period of time.
• That NZASC 2019 approves the proposed amendments to the NZASC Charter by substituting ‘three times every year’ for ‘every three years’ in Article 5(a); by adding ‘within the Area concerned’ to the end of Article 5(b) and by substituting ‘post a comprehensive summary of its proceedings on the NZAFG website’ in place of ‘send a comprehensive summary of its proceedings to all NZASC members’ in Article 10(f).
• That NZASC 2019 approves the proposed NZ Al Anon – Alateen Service Handbook 2019 as presented in draft form to NZASC 2019.

The Board Appointment for 2019/2020 were approved as follows:

• Board Chairperson – Chris H
• Alternate Board Chair – Julie W
• Archivist (non Board) – Chris W
• National Public Outreach Coordinator – Tracy B
• National Alateen Coordinator – Vacant
• Editorial Chairperson – Melda
• General Secretary – John B generalsecretary@al-anon.org.nz 
• Literature Chairperson (non Board) – Liz A-S
• Treasurer – Rana
• Executive/Budget Chairperson – Sam M
• Northern Regional Board Member – Chris H
• Central Regional Board Member – Amadee
• Southern Regional Board Member – Melda
• International Al-Anon GSM Delegates – Chris H & Julie W
• Conference Chair – Julie W
• Convention 2020 Chair– Melda
• Website Oversight – Rana

The Board have received another bid for a TEAM event and we have started planning for it. We encourage all areas to consider having a TEAM Event, as we have found them to be a useful tool to foster healthy groups.

Planning for Convention 2020 has started and the theme has now been set “Living Serenely One Day At A Time”. We suggest you book your flights for Christchurch. The dates for Convention are 17-19 January 2020. We look forward to seeing you there.

We have a stall booked at Cutting Edge Conference on 18 – 21 September 2019, at the Cordis Hotel, Auckland. Last year we participated in the Cutting Edge Conference in Rotorua which was a great success. This is a further opportunity to raise the recognition of Al-Anon within the professional addiction practitioners’ sector.

At Conference (as had been reported to the Board) we got a preview of the new Al-Anon Family Groups website. Everyone was very enthusiastic as it is looking very attractive. The Digital Strategy Taskforce have worked hard and we are looking forward to its’ implementation later this year. Watch this space and see what you think.

One discussion at the Board meeting was the importance of using the structure to pass information. In particularly there have been a number of deaths within our fellowship which have affected the function of Groups. The Board discussed the importance of passing on the details of a death of a member to anyone (starting with the Group Representative and the Delegate) that might know them to assist in making sure members can attend the funeral if desired, support the family (if the family desires) and affected members can grieve and support one another through the process. It was noted that passing on such information is not “gossip” but proper communication of factual information.

If you would like to know any more about these highlights, or have any questions, please contact your Regional Board Member who will be happy to assist.

In service
John Bansgrove
General Secretary (trial)
NZAGSB