Al-Anon meetings take place in towns and cities all over the world. The UK website can be found at www.al-anon.org.uk . On their Home page, top left under the helpline number, you will see a heading: ‘Find your nearest meeting’. Click on that and you will see a box to enter your postcode to find the nearest meeting to you.

It is a non-professional organisation, run by its members and fully self-supporting.

NB – there is a misunderstanding that exists about the nature of Al-Anon, since it is sometimes described as a religious organisation. This is not the case. The following is taken from the UK Al-Anon website:

“Ours is a spiritual fellowship, not a religious one. Members of any faith, or none at all, are welcome and we make it a point to avoid discussions of specific religious beliefs”.

To qualify to attend a meeting, you need to be a relative or friend of someone with a an alcohol or drug abuse problem (whether active and current or in the past). Families and friends of drug users are welcomed, since there is currently no equivalent organisation designed for them. (Please note that there areothe organisations which support families and friends of drug users, but they are organised in a different way)

The following is taken from the Al-Anon website:

“We believe alcoholism affects the whole family, not just the drinker. We are an international organisation with over 800 support groups in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Al-Anon is a fellowship of relatives and friends of alcoholics who share their experience in order to solve their common problems.

Whatever your relationship to the drinker, whatever your story, Al-Anon can help.

Al-Anon Family Groups hold regular meetings where members share  their own experience of living with alcoholism. Al-Anon does not offer advice or counselling, but members give each other understanding, strength and hope.”