From anxious mornings
to hopeful beginnings.

On the outside, everything looked pretty normal. I worked, got on with life and enjoyed a few pints after work. Sometimes I'd carry on with wine at home. It felt like what everyone else was doing.

But somewhere along the way, drinking stopped being something I occasionally enjoyed and became something I relied on.

Weekends could turn into heavy sessions. Sometimes I'd wake up with gaps in my memory. What had I said? Had I upset someone? Had I embarrassed myself? The anxiety the next morning could be overwhelming.

Another drink would calm me down for a while. But the next morning, the anxiety came back. Often worse. So I drank again. It was a vicious circle, and I didn't know how to break it. Drinking even started shaping my social life. If a plan didn't involve a pub or a drink, I wasn't particularly interested.

I didn't think I belonged in a recovery group.

I reached out for support, including AA. I have huge respect for the people and communities doing that work. But I struggled to see myself in some of the stories I heard. I felt like an imposter. I was still working and functioning, yet I knew alcohol was taking more from me than I wanted to admit.

I wondered how many other people were in that same grey area: worried about their drinking, but convinced they weren't 'bad enough' to ask for help.

So I started a Facebook group.

I called it Sober Society. I didn't know if anyone would join, let alone open up. Three years later, that Facebook community has grown to around 12,000 members — people supporting each other, sharing experiences and reminding one another that they're not alone.

Then I took the money I was no longer spending on alcohol and put it into building a completely free Sober Society app. No investors. No big funding pot. Just a belief that support should be there for people who want to stop, cut down or simply question their relationship with drinking.