This first guest blog on Dry Spell was written by Michael Sargood, Founder of sobersocials.co.uk and more commonly known as @happywithoutthehooch on Instagram. Sober Socials is a not-for-profit online resource to help sober and sober-curious people find sober events and connection.
If you're trying to go sober, avoiding people and places you associate with drinking can be a really useful strategy. But if most of your social life was centered around those people and places, it can soon become pretty lonely. So, in a world obsessed with alcohol, how do you find sober friends?
The Sober Socials website is a great place to start if you want to find sober friends. It hosts a handy Sober Friend Finder tool, which allows you to plot your approximate location on a map of the UK and Ireland along with your social media handles. This then allows you to look up others on the map, get in contact with them on socials and hopefully find sober friends.
Instagram, Facebook and Meet-Up are another great way to find sober friends by locating sober groups near you. Many of the online sober groups operate in particular areas of the UK and Ireland, are free to join and also organise sober meetups.
Here are some of the biggest sober groups by region. So check them out and find some sober friends!
Sober meetups in London and the South East
Unsurprisingly, due to its large population, London and the South East of England is well served with sober meet-up groups. Sober Events is one of the largest free online communities for sober meetups, with 3.7k in its public Facebook Group alone. It hosts popular club nights, boat parties and social meetups so is a great way to find sober friends.
If music is your thing, be sure to check out Not Saints - a not-for-profit music label for artists in recovery. Although operating nationally, most of its events are hosted in Brighton and all of them are alcohol-free. So try one of their events and find sober friends to an eclectic mix of new music. London is also home to the brilliant London Alcohol-Free Comedy Club by Sober is Fun: the UK's first regular booze-free comedy event, hosting sold-out quarterly comedy shows with big names in the comedy industry and a fully stocked alcohol-free bar.
Morning Gloryville is the OG of the sober rave. Morning Gloryville offers inspirational, energising music and mesmerising visual entertainment as well as free massage, organic coffee and smoothie bars, yoga and personal motivation from trained and costumed performers. So turn up, find sober friends and then have a boogie with them!
Sobalicious is an online support and social group for people living a sober lifestyle and has made a name for itself with its wonderful brunch meetups. Although operating nationally as a support group, most of its sober meetups tend to be in London and the South East.
A similar but different raving experience is also provided by new kids on the block, House of Happiness. Their focus is less on wellness and spirituality and more on providing an authentic clubbing experience complete with strobe lights and professional dancers. Their first event was in October and was a knock-out success despite train strikes trying to hamper their efforts. Their Christmas bash looks like it will be equally as epic!
Sober & Social and Sober Girls Society are two great subscription-based sober groups that are great for injecting a bit of glam and wholesome fun into you sober social life. Sober & Social hosts events at trendy London venues and has gained renown for its alcohol-free cocktails and entertainment, while Sober Girl Society runs events in major cities across the UK as diverse as dance workshops, crafting and parties. But you have to be a girl.
Bee Sober also has a very active community in London and Surrey with regular brunches, craft and activity-based meetups, so don't forget to check them out. Many of their attendees come alone and this is encouraged: they're designed to help you find sober friends and connection, wherever you are in your sober journey.
Sober meetups in Bristol and the South West
The South West - and Bristol in particular - punches above its weight when it comes to sober meetups and sober events. Sober Circle is an online community of around 1,100 members that also organises sober meetups across the South West, but predominantly around Bristol and Bath. Members are encouraged to organise their own meets and promoted them in their Facebook group. These can be as simple as meeting for a coffee or hot chocolate with others looking to find sober friends near them, or can be outdoor activities or nights out.
Also in the South West is The Sober Parrot - an alcohol-free venue in the heart of Cheltenham and the annual Recovery Festival.
Sober meetups in Wales
It's somewhat harder to find an active sober scene in largely rural Wales though that might be about to change if you're of the female persuasion. Earlier this year, Sober Gals Wales launched as a small, friendly online Facebook group and organised its inaugural meet-up - a night of live music and mocktails. If this goes well, that would give momentum for future meetups and more opportunities to find sober friends. Sober Girl Society has also previously organised events in Cardiff so they're definitely worth keeping an eye on.
There is also a Bee Sober ambassador for North Wales who regularly organises meetups and outdoor activities such as mountain climbs and zip wires, to name two recent activities. They also host regular coffee meets in beautiful Llanfairfechan. So keep checking their events page.
Sober meetups in East Anglia
East Anglia has its fair share of sober meetups... if you know where to look. If you're in Essex, there are two Facebook groups with regular sober meetups: Sober Essex and Sober Socials Essex Community Both organise small meet ups locally as well as organise groups to attend larger meetups in London. They encourage people to come alone and find sober friends at the meetups, so check them both out.
The Sober Butterfly Collective also has a few meetups in their group, including in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. They don't have a website as yet, so finding out about the meetups is a little trickier. Find @SoberButtefly Collective on Instagram and DM to be connected to your local "flutter" of sober friends.
Sober meetups in Birmingham and the Midlands
Surprisingly, given its population, the Midlands appears to be underrepresented when it comes to sober meet-up groups. But that might be about to change.
The Midlands Sober Society is a steadily growing community that, post-pandemic, has started hosting regular meetups in both the West and East Midlands. It operates as a friendly and active Facebook Group and has organised sober events that are both adult-only and family-friendly. Many members start as strangers but find sober friends at their meetups.
The East Midlands is also home to two sober venues: Yada Collective in Derby and Café Sobar in Nottingham. Both hold regular events and Café Sobar offers 15% off your order if you tell them you find them via the Sober Socials website.
Lastly, Bee Sober have "ambassadors" who organise regular meetups in Nottingham and Worcestershire.
Sober meetups in the North West
The North West is beginning to rival London and the South East in terms of its sober scene.
As the home of the UK's largest sober meet-up community, Bee Sober, the North West has a well-established sober events calendar. Bee Sober organises brunch meetups, dinners, outdoor activities and an annual campout and most events are open to non-members too. In the North West, it has Bee Sober "ambassadors" who organise sober events and meet-ups in Cumbria, Chester, Liverpool and Preston, Lancashire. For those into sober raving, Manchester is also home to DryWave Events, whose legendary parties can now attract up to 400 sober ravers.
As home to one of the largest LGBT+ communities outside London, it stands to reason that Manchester is also home to one of the UK's largest LGBT+ sober groups, Sober Gay Socials. It organises regular sober nights in the Manchester's famous gay village as well as other ad-hoc meetups to help the local LGBT+ community find sober friends.
Sober meetups in Yorkshire
As the birthplace of one of the UK's largest social meet-up groups, The Sober Butterfly Collective, sober meetups happen the length and breadth of God's own country in the form of local "flutters": groups of sober friends. To find one near you, look up @SoberButterflyCollective on Instagram and send a DM or contact them via their website. The Sober Butterfly collective has recently teamed up with The Alcohol Free Drinks Company to form B0ld Events, which is now ramping up its activity and organising fun sober events in Leeds and across wider Yorkshire. Check the events section of the Sober Socials website to find the next one. Bee Sober also has ambassador who organise meetups in Sheffield, Rotherham and East Yorkshire. So look them up and find sober friends!
Sober meetups in Newcastle and the North East
At the time of writing, sober events in the North East seem to be few and far between. However, we have found a small but active group on Meet Up, Non-Alcoholic Newcastle, which organises walks, days at the fair and snooker and darts nights.
Sober meetups in Scotland
Freed Up is Scotland's largest sober events organiser, with regular, well-attended comedy and dance nights in Glasgow as well as ad-hoc events across the rest of Scotland. If you want to find sober friends in Scotland, it's worth following their socials, signing up to their mailing list and checking on their Eventbrite page as their events can be a little tricky to find. In addition, Sober Buzz Scotland organises occasional meetups.
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