“I had more of a hangover problem than an alcohol problem.”
Scott Woolley was born and raised in Port Sunlight and while he’s never been dependent on alcohol, he’s been alcohol-free for 10 years.
In 2015, after working in drug and alcohol treatment services in Wirral since 2009 supporting people in recovery, Scott, now age 37, was curious about a life without alcohol himself.
Scott said:
I spent some time abroad travelling and decided to start what would become my alcohol-free journey. I’d never drunk daily, just the usual drinking with friends on nights out and at the pub.
But as I got older, the hangovers were harder to shift and I started to think about a life without alcohol.
Scott was ‘sober curious’, a recently-coined phrase for someone who is questioning alcohol’s role in their life or perhaps thinking about exploring other ways of living and feeling.
In 2022, after seven years of living alcohol-free, Wirral native Scott founded Arclett. Arclett is a community-driven initiative, devoted to making the alcohol-free lifestyle visible, attractive and culturally relevant.
A few years ago, being sober or sober curious would often result in your being barracked or shamed by others - ‘go on you can have one’ or ‘don’t be boring’ being phrases I regularly heard.
It’s different now, more people especially Gen Z are embracing the positives that come without drinking and there are so many alcohol-free drink options on the market.
Arclett were recently commissioned by CHAMPS, a Public Health Collaborative led by the nine Directors of Public Health in Cheshire and Merseyside, to promote their sober curious message to residents across the region. Through a digital campaign, Scott says 100s of Wirral residents have engaged with their organisation and expressed an interest in alcohol-free living.
I always say, we’re not anti-alcohol, we’re pro-choice. We’re not trying to get to a place where alcohol doesn’t exist but just to a place where people don’t feel like they have to drink as the default.
Scott is clear that his group isn’t a replacement for alcohol treatment.
We’re not here to support people who have a dependency on alcohol, there are some fantastic Wirral organisations out there if you need that kind of help and treatment. Arclett is about encouraging no or low risk individuals to make that healthy lifestyle change across a spectrum from weekday abstinence to a 30-day break, to living completely alcohol-free.
After 10 years, Scott continues to enjoy the benefits of a life lived sober.
I asked Chat GPT to calculate how many hangovers I avoided in 10 years of not going out every weekend and it was over 800 hangovers - that’s two years of the past ten I would’ve been feeling anxious, hungover, crap, regret – and then I think of all the money I didn’t spend on alcohol or alcohol-related spending. I’m so glad I made the change for so many reasons.
The Arclett ethos is to swap drinking culture for the great outdoors and to enjoy the beauty of the natural world around you. During their recent campaign they shared what Arclett call a ‘sober trail’ about much-loved local gem Hilbre Island, encouraging people to swap a drink for a breath of fresh air.
It’s about showing people that the alternative to going out drinking isn’t sitting at home. You can get out there and experience the world. We share sober stories, run community events, outdoor hikes and bring people together.
To learn more about the sober curious movement with Arclett, visit their website: www.arclett.com | Discover Alcohol-Free Living Today.
To read the Hilbre Island sober trail, visit: Trail No. 09: Hilbre Island - www.arclett.com.
Wirral Ways to Recovery is a free and confidential drug and alcohol service which provides a non-judgemental service, with qualified, experienced staff & volunteers who offer support in health & wellbeing and substance misuse. They offer information, treatment and support to help an individual reduce their substance misuse or become abstinent. If you need support visit: www.changegrowlive.org/wirral-ways.
