Preface from : THE BOTTLE BOOK: ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS comes to the BC/YUKON AREA It was a strange combination of events and people that brought Alcoholics Anonymous to British Columbia. First there was the expert in films and slides in Victoria who wrote the A.A. office in New York in 1941,..Read More

Charlie B. was a jobless salesman living in a skid row room in Vancouver. The Oxford Group had helped but the war made it difficult for him to continue to attend meetings. Charlie continued to drink and things seemed hopeless. In the summer of 1944 he received a visit from..Read More

CHARLIE WELCH, A NON-ALCOHOLIC AND THE MAN WHO WAS MOST INSTRUMENTAL IN BRINGING AA TO VANCOUVER WAS NOMINATED AND ELECTED A LIFE MEMBER OF THE VANCOUVER CHAPTER IN THE CAPACITY OF HONORARY VICE-PRESIDENT. CHARLIE PAID FOR THE NEWSPAPER ADS IN THE EARLY YEARS UNTIL AA BECAME SELF-SUPPORTING.

Many letters were received following the advertisement placed in the Vancouver Sun and Province. This was the beginning of Alcoholics Anonymous Chapter 1 in Vancouver

CHARLIE B. (FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE VANCOUVER CHAPTER OF AA) WAS PRESENTED WITH A TRIBUTE WHICH EXPRESSED THE DEEP APPRECIATION AND GRATITUDE FOR THE SERVICE HE HAD RENDERED TO HUMANITY.