I’m going to do one whole year alcohol free to raise money and awareness for The Listening Place, an incredible charity based in London.

This challenge is deeply personal to me. To be very, VERY honest, alcohol affects my own mental health pretty badly. Even just a little bit of it can leave me feeling anxious and low for days if not weeks. Gone are the days where I could have a weekend bender and show up bright eyed and bushy tailed on a Monday morning, ready to smash the week. I have tried in the past tried to reduce, moderate, quit completely (I managed three months back in 2023), but each time I’ve decided to drink again it’s taken its toll on my mood, energy levels, health, productivity.

I am doing this challenge so that I have not just accountability, but also a cause bigger than just myself and my own mental health. I want to do this for the mental health and wellbeing of others too, and that’s where The Listening Place comes in.

In the UK we lose someone to suicide every 80 minutes and it is the highest cause of death in men under the age of 50 and in all adults under 35. Despite this, effective support is hard to find.

The Listening Place (TLP) meets this need by providing free, face-to-face, ongoing support in the form of listening counselling to those who feel suicidal. And they know that their support works, with visitors reporting a highly-significant reduction in how suicidal they feel after 3 and 6 months of support.

To date TLP has supported 14000 people and aims to support 6000 this year.

I lost one of my best friends from university, Michael, to suicide in 2019, and I will be doing this challenge in his memory. 🖤