Meeting of the self-help group Alpha-1 Berlin-Brandenburg

P. Netzel

Date: November 15, 2019, Location: Marzahner Krug

The SHG Alpha-1 Berlin-Brandenburg sends its greetings to the board and all members of Alpha 1 Germany for the last time this year.

This year, board member and deputy treasurer Thomas Heimann and his wife visited and surprised us with their presence. We all thought it was wonderful, especially the recognition of our work within our self-help group. Throughout the evening, there were many individual conversations with Thomas Heimann and his wife; the atmosphere was simply positive.

Unfortunately, we announce that Rainer Bennstein will be leaving our self-help group and the association on December 31, 2019, for personal reasons. The members of the self-help group expressed their sincere gratitude for his work as group leader, wished him all the best for the future, and hope that he will soon receive his lung transplant, as Rainer has also been on the waiting list for some time and can now hope for a cure. As a token of our appreciation, the group presented him with a hat and scarf; winter is coming, and he can think of us then.

Peter Hübner, a resident of Teltow and a relatively new member of our self-help group, was unanimously accepted as the new group leader by all members present. Of course, Peter Hübner was consulted beforehand. Initially, he had intended to support Petra Netzel as deputy group leader. However, for personal reasons, Petra Netzel declined the position and persuaded Peter Hübner to take on the role for our self-help group.

Another topic was this year's group leader meeting, held from October 24th to 26th in Leipzig, which featured interesting presentations. The current group leader and their deputy were unable to attend, so Peter Hübner and his wife Vicky spontaneously traveled to Leipzig in their place. They then shared the most important information from the meeting with our group members (GDPR, self-help group tasks, group leader responsibilities, etc.).

All members were asked to check once again whether the data protection declaration has been signed and submitted to the board. If unsure, please go online to Alpha1 Deutschland.de, click on "About Us," and under "Membership - With Us," you will find the data protection declaration – Download. Please print and sign it and send it to the board. The contact information for members in Berlin who did not provide an email address during registration was unclear, and we as the self-help group (SHG) do not know their status. Thomas Heimann will take this matter to the board for clarification and inform the group leader (GL). The online study by the University of Cologne was discussed, as were upcoming events such as the AlphaCar Regional Day 2020 (date not yet known), and other discussions took place. Rainer Bennstein informed Peter Hübner about important details he, as the new group leader, should be aware of, including information about financial resources.

Words of thanks were expressed for all activities where our group members represented Alpha 1 Germany with their presence at booths.

Our member Ralph Matthes has come through his lung transplant well, despite some complications. His lungs are functioning well, his wife Ute informed us, however, he had to be readmitted to the hospital for other reasons and is currently fighting for his life. We all hope, wish, and pray that Ralph pulls through and that they can both celebrate Christmas together.

Now Advent begins, and we wish you all good health and happy holidays, also for the upcoming New Year 2020.