You said: "I'm a bit shy, so I find it hard to introduce myself"
I finally got over my shyness by approaching the one person at a meeting who was in worse shape than I was! I had put myself at the end of the row of chairs near the EXIT so I could leave if I felt too 'out of it,' but the other woman had her back to the group and was looking at the paintings on the wall! I went up to her and just said "hi - my name is Sally," and I was rewarded with the biggest smile of relief! She and I became very good friends - we at least had that group that organized the meeting in common!
Sally