I first joined SA 28 years ago, when SA UK was a very small fellowship with very few meetings. My main form of contact with other members was through the phone. I did, however, meet other SA members face to face, including quite a few female members at the only regular UK Convention held in those days.

There were only a few of us and we used to do our own catering in those days. It was a wonderful way to get to know each other better by working together, sharing together and having social time together. The female members were just part of the team. I learnt a great deal about the opposite sex, myself and my attitudes towards women while attending those conventions and the positive effect has never left me.

In my regular daily life and family life I have working and social relationships with both men and women. I used to have a big problem with my thinking and attitude towards women but more and more in sobriety my thoughts and attitudes have become increasingly healthier.

The first SA group opened in my home town some years ago and we did get quite a number of females coming to their first meeting. None of them stayed around for more than two or three meetings but it was so very enlightening and a very emotional experience for me to hear “my story” and “my pain” told by a female about themselves. I never knew that men and women had so much in common.

My attitudes, opinions and thoughts about women were all wrong in the past. The program teaches me that whenever I’m disturbed, there’s something wrong with me. Attending meetings with women where we all share honestly about ourselves gives me a completely new healthy perspective, not only on women but on the world I live in.