Hi
@barbc56 . Glad you liked it. The suspicion of support groups covers all of them, from AfME to small local support groups, from the Facebook ME Chatroom to smaller online groups like Brainfog. Such a generalization is daft!
Our local support group has around 30 members, and we meet up for tea/coffee once or twice a month. Sometimes there are only two of us, sometimes a dozen, but there never has been a time when everyone manages it. There are a couple of people on the list who are unable to make any of the meetings, but we exchange the odd emails (and emails from me can be very odd), and share bits of news, send cards etc. They aren't really up to visits, as they have family and have little spare energy for visits (although we do offer). Rather than view it as an ME support group, we think of it more as people getting together for a coffee, so it doesn't really matter how many can make it.
As far as advertising the group is concerned, we tried posters in GP surgeries, health food centres, supermarkets, church groups, local hospital .... but the most effective way is to be listed in the local free "magazine" under clubs and societies. I've also got a website (meetup.org.uk) that has a map of the UK with pins for each of the groups. It started up just covering the South-East, and only recently have I discovered how to use Google Maps and expand it to the whole country. You are welcome to have a pin! AfME also have a map and MEA have listings: originally AfME had listings, and both listings were unreliable, which is when I set up the site with help from friends. It also has some basic introductory stuff for newbies: when I first went down with it I found the sheer volume and depth of stuff online about ME too overwhelming.