I thought not drinking would leave me isolated. But sobriety gave me lifelong friends.

But I’m in a quandary. How do you socialise without alcohol?

I reached out in a local Southend Facebook group to see if anyone else would attend alcohol-free events and, to my shock, I was connected with 200 local people within a week.

So intertwined was my personal identity with drinking and socialising, that I couldn’t imagine who I’d be without alcohol.”

The early months of not drinking felt like coasting - rolling terrified down a hill with an uncertain destination or outcome.

I’d found a tribe that I didn’t know existed and it felt like my tribe. A tribe that allowed me to be my authentic self, to love others and to be loved.