Sobriety over Hangxiety; a panel discussion with the UK's leading Sober and Sober Curious Influencers

‘Sobriety over Hangxiety’ is an influencer panel discussion about the increasing numbers of people binning the booze in a bid to take control of their mental health.

Part of WeAreWaterloo’s PowWow series of talks (designed to provide safe spaces to have challenging conversations) this event is taking place during Waterloo Food Fortnight.

A recent study by The Lancet reported that alcohol consumption has dropped 10% since the 90s with 1 in 4 adults turning their back on booze. The research found that while average alcohol intake is rising across the world, the trend is reversed in the UK.

The Sobriety over Hangxiety panel discussion will feature some of the UK’s leading sober and ‘sober-curious’ influencers.

The range of speakers will give insight into their personal sobriety experiences with a particular focus on the impact drinking (and not drinking!) has had on their mental health.

Encouraging sociable experiences for non-drinkers, the event will begin with a drinks reception showcasing a range of new and exciting non-alcoholic spirits. These will include Caleño (a non-alcoholic, tropical free spirit inspired by Columbia), and Outfox (non-alcoholic wine to make dry drinking better).

Panellists will then introduce themselves to the audience before moving on to a discussion hosted by Millie Gooch, the founder of @SoberGirlSociety.
Having given up alcohol aged 26 (after years of partying too hard), Millie went on to set up @sobergirlsociety, an Instagram-based community that now has over 30K followers (including a few famous faces). She also runs a series of regular London-based meet-ups, has appeared as a panellist at Club Soda’s Mindful Drinking Festival and written about non-alcoholic drinks for numerous publications.

Panellists include former Sunday Times Style Features Editor turned and author of ‘Sober Curious’ (Ruby Warrington), Mental Health champion and founder of Welford Wellbeing (Rachel Welford), owner of non-alcoholic spirit brand Caleño (Ellie Web), writer of ‘The Boy Who Drank Too Much’ (Scott Pearson), founder of alcohol-free drinks brand Outfox (Jessica Hook) and Writer of Girl and Tonic (Laurie McCallister).

The night will provide the perfect opportunity for the sober-curious (a term first coined by Ruby Warrington to explain a popular new movement that encourages mindful drinking and questions our drinking habits) to learn more about this increasing trend, meet other liked-minded individuals AND leave armed with useful tips and tricks on improving mental wellbeing through sobriety.