Getting help
Search AA, NA and other UK recovery meetings by postcode, town, or fellowship, in person or online. No sign-up. No tracking of who you are. Just the door, the time, and how to get there.
You asked for help. Maybe the referral is working its way through, the assessment is booked for three weeks away, or the programme starts next month. And now you are in the gap, which nobody warns you about: you made the hard decision, and the reward is a wait.
Here is what changes it. The biggest support network in the country has no waiting list at all. There are recovery meetings on today, tonight and tomorrow morning, in person and online, and being on somebody's list does not stop you walking into any of them.
Last updated: 10 July 2026.
Get to a meeting before your next appointment comes round. You do not have to announce that you are waiting for treatment, or be sure meetings are your thing, or say anything at all. Sitting at the back and listening is a full and complete way to attend. If evenings are impossible, online meetings run through the day and late into the night, and you can join one from your kitchen with the camera off.
Between meetings, the helplines on our support page are answered by people who have sat in this exact gap themselves. First time and not sure what a meeting even looks like? We have a page on exactly what to expect.
Keep every appointment. Take the assessment, hold your place, and be honest with the service about how things are going. Meetings do not interfere with any of that, and no treatment service in the UK will mind you going; most actively encourage it.
There is a quiet advantage to starting now, too. The treatment you are waiting for will end one day, and meetings will not. People often find the habit they built in the waiting weeks turns out to be the thing that holds longest afterwards.
Waits are not set in stone. If things are getting worse, tell the service and your GP plainly, because the picture changing can change the timeline. Chasing is not being a nuisance; it is giving them the information they need.
And on a rough night, do not wait for anyone's phone lines to open. There is an online meeting starting within a few hours at any time of day, and Samaritans answer 116 123 around the clock. If you or someone with you needs urgent medical help, call 999.
Go to meetings now: they are free, need no referral, and have no waiting list, in person and online. Keep every appointment with the service you are waiting for, use the helplines between times, and tell your GP or the service if things get worse, because that can change the timeline.
No. Meetings are anonymous and free, they are not treatment, and services generally encourage them. Nothing about attending affects your place on a list or any funding decision.
There is an online meeting starting within hours at any time of day or night, and Samaritans answer 116 123 at any hour. If it is a medical emergency, call 999. You do not have to hold a bad night alone just because your start date has not arrived.
They are not a replacement for medical or structured treatment, and this page will not pretend otherwise. They are the support that is available today and still there long after treatment ends, and the two work well side by side.
There is nothing to wait for. Meetings need no preparation, no sobriety requirement and no paperwork, and turning up mid-wait is completely normal. Many people in the room will have done exactly that.