Welcome to Belfast Gamblers Anonymous
Gamblers Anonymous is a Fellowship of men and women who have joined together to do something about their own gambling problem and help other compulsive gamblers do the same.
The Fellowship of Gamblers Anonymous is the outgrowth of a chance meeting between two men during the month of January in 1957. These men had a truly battling history of trouble and misery due to an obsession to gamble. They began to meet regularly and as the months passed neither had returned to gambling.
They concluded from their discussions that in order to prevent a relapse, it was necessary to bring about certain personality changes within themselves. In order to accomplish this they used for a guide certain spiritual principles which had been utilised by thousands of people who had also recovered from compulsive addictions. Also in order to maintain their own abstinence they felt that it was vitally important that they carry the message of hope to other compulsive Gamblers. As a result of favourable publicity by a prominent newspaper columnist and TV commentator, the first group meeting of Gamblers Anonymous was held on Friday, September 13th, 1957 in Los Angeles, California. Since that time the movement has grown steadily and groups are flourishing in many other areas.
One of the first areas outside of the United States to set up a Gamblers Anonymous was Belfast. With the aid of the Samaritans and some local clergy and businessmen, Leslie D started what was to become the first G A meeting in the British Isles, in October 1962.
