Meetup is a large organisation and there are many social anxiety groups within it. Most of these groups provide the opportunity to attend social events and outings to meet other people who experience social anxiety, however some may run more structured self-help meetings.
Meetup seems to be the most common way for social anxiety groups to form although there are others – please see: Other SA groups in the UK and groups listed within SAUK Discussion Board.
Meetup hosts pay a subscription to host meetings, however Meetup users do not need to pay to register at the website or to attend an event.
Meetup is a separate and external organisation. SAAUK (the charity) cannot be held responsible for any of the groups or events they host.
To join Meetup: www.meetup.com/register.
Please note: It is possible for anyone to add the tag “social anxiety” to their Meetup group so you may want to check beforehand that the group seems right for you. If you have questions or concerns beforehand you can contact the host through Meetup.
After joining you can search for social anxiety groups via the search box. Then select the events/groups tab as required.
WalkTheTalk Peer Support group
Tom founded WalkTheTalk to provide people with social anxiety the opportunity to practise conversation and share wisdom in a safe online peer group environment.
Tom is an experienced social anxiety peer group facilitator and the group already has over 2,000 members with an attendee rating of 4.8 stars.
Attendees receive support and encouragement to face their social anxiety fears ‘in the real world’.
Groups currently meet online – see www.walkthetalk.org.uk/join or www.meetup.com/walk-the-talk.
Setting up your own Meetup group for social anxiety:
Please see the relevant sections at Running a social anxiety group and the Example rules for running a social anxiety meetup group used by the longstanding London Shyness Social Group.
London Shyness Social Group
London Shyness Social Group is a long-standing Meetup group with a membership of over 17,000. Whilst not everyone there has social anxiety disorder (SAD) – they are a long-term supporter of social anxiety related issues, and the condition is well recognised within their “About” page.
London Shyness Social Group are actively exploring collaborative partnerships with Social Anxiety Alliance UK to promote a series of sessions on social anxiety related topics.
They have had mentions on multiple media outlets including Rhod Gilbert’s informative BBC documentary “Stand Up to Shyness“, as well as features within UK national newspapers and BBC Radio.
If you would like your social anxiety Meetup group listed at SAAUK:
Please email us via volunteer@socialanxietyalliance.org.uk.
