Conference is behind us now and so we have conference 2007 to look forward to. I’m pleased to say that the local groups meeting held at conference this year was a resounding success, due mainly to Chris Mitchell's idea of enhancing the meeting with Cheese & Wine. So those of you who were there have Chris to thank for the refreshments. More than 20 people attended, representing a total of 11 local groups. Encouragingly we also had folk who were considering starting a Local group, including at least one European. Which gives me the idea that maybe we could start listing European groups as well, so that those of you who holiday in Europe can get your astrology ‘fix’ while you are away.

Various ideas were discussed including how to encourage attendance at groups. This seems to be a problem with many groups at the moment so if you have any ideas do please email me. Even better why not discuss your ideas via the new AA forum? The forum is a new AA initiative announced at conference, it’s a place where AA members can get together and discuss various astrological and other subjects. You can find the forum at www.astrologicalassociation.com/forum. As this is a forum for AA members please register, preferably using your real name, but certainly using the email address you’ve registered with the AA.

There were a couple of ideas put forward during the meeting, one was that groups in close proximity could get together and hold a joint workshop, combining funds and contacts to get a top rate speaker. A couple of other ideas will have to be discussed with the AA council; I’ll get back to you on those.

It was great to be able to meet so many of you at conference and to know that enthusiasm for astrology is still so strong. It would be fantastic to see some of your work too, so why not submit an article to Transit or the AA Journal?

Finally a reminder that if you meet our Local Group criteria you can apply for the free conference place for a local group member. This is funded by the AA via the Silent Auction at conference. Only one lucky person can win this place so get your applications in to us via your committee.

Once again I am pleased to see that new groups are still staring up. The latest that I know of is the Bucks Group, meetings to be held the 2nd Tuesday of Each Month 7:30-9:30 in Flackwell Heath. For full details please contact: Wendy Stacey wendya@psilink.co.uk

A full listing of local astrology groups in the UK and Ireland can be found here.