On this weeks episode of One For The Road i am joined by Phil Briggs who is a 54 year old make-up artist living in London who stopped drinking alcohol in April 2024. Phil was born and raised in Liverpool during the 70s and 80s and moved to live amongst the bright lights of London when he was 21 years old. Phil, like many, discovered alcohol at a young age of 15 and it soon became part of all social life both in Liverpool and following the move to London. He remembers being frequently drunk from the age of 16 when he left school and began working for a large bank. Socialising with the Liverpool banking colleagues whilst at the same time regularly having nights out on Liverpool’s gay scene, alcohol featured heavily several times per week. This continued following the move to London with new banking colleagues and a busy London gay nightlife. Social drinking continued for many years and in his 30s, Phil found drinking wine with meals indoors became an additional regular time to imbibe. In 2012, Phil was hit with a series of life-changing events including job loss, divorce, financial difficulties and bereavement. While not directly responsible for these incidents, alcohol, which had previously been reserved for socialising and enjoying with a meal, became the go to coping mechanism for difficult life events. By the time the pandemic hit in 2020, Phil was already drinking every night in increasing amounts and being alone during the pandemic it escalated to whole new levels of drinking. When a very close friend of 30 years died of Covid, Phil found dealing with the grief without being able to see anyone else, cemented very heavy, nightly drinking in place. Phil knew something had to change and after months of procrastination decided on a three month break from alcohol which turned into a realisation that the only option for him was to stop completely. It hasn’t been a simple path, with extra health problems coming to the surface and dealing with living alone where most of the heavy drinking had taken place. But research on the subject and connection with others going through the same has enabled Phil to remain alcohol free.  Phil now uses his make-up skills to help those with skin conditions which cause them a loss of confidence, to use specialist skin creams to cover the conditions. Now, more than six months alcohol free, he is beginning to notice subtle but vital changes in his life and for the first time in many years is very excited about the future and finding out what he is capable of.

Phil’s websites:

www.camouflageconsultations.com

www.philbriggsmakeup.com

If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/

or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/

Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.

www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-services

https://nacoa.org.uk/

Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-Martinez

Instagram - @TheDaniellaMartinez

https://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/

www.instagram.com/grownuphustle

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