Vadodara, March 8 (SocialNews.XYZ) Shane Watson came up with another dominant performance with the bat in the International Masters League 2025, scoring a century against South Africa Masters at the BCA Stadium here on Friday....
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Jaipur, March 8 (SocialNews.XYZ) A major uproar erupted in the Ajmer court on Friday following the killing of senior lawyer Purushottam Jakhotiya, who was attacked in a DJ-related dispute. Enraged lawyers forcibly removed policemen and...
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Mumbai, March 8 (SocialNews.XYZ) Maharashtra government has reiterated its resolve to further strengthen the transport infrastructure with the completion of metro railway and sea links. According to the Economic Survey for 2024-25, nearly 5.60 lakh...
The post Maha govt reiterates resolve to improve transport infrastructure appeared first on Social News XYZ.
Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder for Canada, has been added to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list in connection with a large-scale drug trafficking network and multiple murders. The U.S. State Department is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest. […]
The post Former Olympian Ryan Wedding Joins FBI’s Most Wanted for Drug Trafficking and Murders appeared first on SierraDailyNews.com.
IT’S Tuesday evening and I’m in a church in a smart corner of South West London.
I’m at a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, or AA, as it’s known.
There are 20 or so people here, about eight of them women. None of them conform to any preconceived notions of a “drunk” or “down and out” who might attend AA.
One is wearing fashionably narrow trousers and a patterned blouse, another is in smart neutral trousers and a jacket, as though she’s just come from the office.
Most of the women appear to be in their thirties and forties and I believe many are mothers. A well-dressed lady in the group looks like she’s in her late sixties.
These women have hit what’s known in AA parlance as “rock bottom”.
Health chiefs warn that Britain is in the grip of an alcohol crisis.
Last month, the Office for National Statistics revealed that alcohol-related deaths in the UK have hit a record high – 10,473 in 2023.
And British women top the list as the world’s biggest female binge drinkers, according to a 2023 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
There are ordinary mums across the country whose “wine o’ clock” reward at the end of the day has spiralled into alcoholism.
It’s a sign of the times that AA, which holds more than 4,000 meetings across Britain each week, now runs the occasional “parent and child” group.
According to the NSPCC, the number of children in England with a parent who misuses alcohol is consistently high, with more than 70,000 cases recorded each year since 2019.
One parent and child group was held every Wednesday morning for most of last year at a location in Kent.
An upstairs room was fitted out as a creche, complete with toys, where young children could play while their mums and dads attended their AA meeting.
I speak to Amanda, a 44-year-old divorced mum and chartered accountant who takes her 10-year-old son to the meetings, where he sits in a side room playing on his Nintendo Switch.
AA meetings have a reputation for secrecy, but I’ve been granted the privilege of attending one in South West London.
During these intimate sessions, chaos-filled lives are laid bare.
As Amanda tells me matter-of-factly: “I’ve been to a lot of funerals. Women who’ve relapsed, fallen down the stairs and broken their necks.
“You hear it all at AA. Drink driving with kids in the car, failed suicide attempts, stealing. But it’s all pretty normal to me.”
Before the meeting starts, tea, coffee and biscuits are served. The atmosphere is friendly, convivial even.
Then everyone takes their seats and the mood becomes sombre.
You hear it all at AA. Drink driving with kids in the car, failed suicide attempts, stealing. But it’s all pretty normal to me
A middle-aged woman, a recovering alcoholic, chairs the meeting.
Seated next to her is a man who is to be tonight’s story “sharer”.
Draped over a couple of chairs are banners outlining Alcoholics Anonymous’ famous 12 Steps, from admitting you are “powerless over alcohol” to the point where you have a “spiritual awakening” and the 12 Traditions.
These include the desire to stop drinking, anonymity and to have no opinion on outside issues.
One of the women begins by reading from Alcoholics Anonymous, aka The Big Book, which contains stories about AA and its programme of recovery.
The “sharer” then tells his story, how he used to take his daughter with him to the pub in the dark days of his drinking.
He’s in a good place, he’s sober, but his marriage has broken up.
There is silence. It’s now up to the rest of the group whether to respond.
One of the women speaks up.
“I’m Charlotte and I’m an alcoholic,” she says.
IF you’re struggling with alcohol addiction, the most important thing is to recognise the problem and seek support – You don’t have to face it alone.
Seek Professional Help
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It’s strange to hear AA’s most famous line said in real life.
“Good evening, Charlotte,” says the rest of the group.
It feels almost like a religious mass, with its church setting and its ritual and moments of sombre contemplation.
Charlotte says she used to take her daughter to the pub and give her a pack of crisps to keep her happy.
Her marriage is over, too. Alcoholism destroys marriages.
To protect confidentiality, AA has asked me not to report specifics about what is said.
Later, however, one woman at the meeting, Susan, a 64-year-old grandmother, tells me her own harrowing story.
For the past 19 years, she has attended one or more AA meetings every week.
“I was a top-up drinker for 10 years,” she tells me.
“Every day, I bought three bottles of wine for £10 and drank steadily from morning to night.
For a long time, I kept it secret. I held down a job, running a restaurant, and my four children were dressed and fed.
“My husband was an alcoholic. We split up. I carried on drinking.”
As many alcoholics do, Susan – tired of being nagged to give up – began drinking in secret.
“I stopped drinking in public,” she says.
“I had a boyfriend. I never stayed the night, we never went on holiday. If we did, he would have discovered the truth.”
Susan’s life became increasingly chaotic.
One of her children’s teachers tipped off social services.
“In the last year or two, everything fell apart,” she says.
“It had a terrible effect on my children – they were worried and angry. They’d be thinking, ‘Is my mum gonna be here when I come home from school? Will she be alive?’
“One of my children’s teachers contacted social services. I was fast-tracked into detox and rehab.
“I was ready to die at that point in my life.
“I went to AA. In the first year, I attended a meeting every day, after that it was three meetings a week. I haven’t had a drink for 19 years.”
Amanda started drinking heavily in her teens.
“I’d binge drink on a Friday – three bottles of wine in one night, as much white wine as I could swallow.”
“I would get very drunk very quickly, I’d go into blackout.
Amanda says she hung onto her job by a thread.
“We’d go to the pub at lunchtime. When the others went back, I’d stay in the pub alone, pick up my phone and pretend to have conversations, to look busy.
“I’d sleep around. On a good Friday I’d wake up alone, on a bad night there would be a stranger next to me.”
In 2006, she attended her first AA meeting, on the King’s Road in Chelsea, South West London, after being invited by a friend who was already a member.
“We walked into this primary school,” she says.
“I couldn’t believe how many people were there because they didn’t want to drink. I thought, ‘S**t, there are other people like me’.”
Amanda says she found the ritual and repetition of AA, and its supportive environment, helpful.
She stopped drinking and in 2010, when she had been sober for four years, began a relationship with another recovering alcoholic at AA.
She says relationships between AA members are common.
“I hardly know anyone who hasn’t had a relationship in AA – like in any other social group, people bond over common issues and spend a lot of time with each other.”
Making advances to vulnerable people who have recently joined AA is known as “13th stepping”.
I hardly know anyone who hasn’t had a relationship in AA – like in any other social group, people bond over common issues and spend a lot of time with each other
“Some people might use the term to warn people to take care around romance in their AA circle,” says Amanda.
She says her own relationship was not in the 13th step category. She had been sober for four years when she met her husband and “the power between us was balanced”.
They married in 2013, but Amanda’s husband sadly relapsed and they split up after three years.
“It was a difficult marriage,” she says. “He eventually confessed to me he’d been secretly drinking for a few years. I had no idea.
“I’ve had to remain sober for our son.
“I have a son who has grown up in AA. I’ve had to explain to him about his dad and about alcoholism. He can’t help it.”
Relapses are not uncommon.
“You get close to people and they fall away,” says Amanda. “I don’t know if they stopped coming, or if they’re dead.”
Back in South West London, the meeting is drawing to a close.
The host concludes with the Serenity Prayer, a prayer for strength and wisdom in challenging times.
She asks for a volunteer to do the washing up.
It’s mundane, but mundanity is what AA members thrive on.
And so, as the chairs are stacked and the last cups washed, it strikes me that in this quiet, unassuming church hall, lives are not just being rebuilt – they’re being saved, one meeting at a time.
According to the NHS, regularly drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week risks damaging your health.
To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level if you drink most weeks:
If you’re pregnant or think you could become pregnant, the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all to keep risks to your baby to a minimum.
You read more on the NHS website.
DAVID MOYES has revealed that Everton’s late kick-off against Wolves might throw a spanner into his Saturday night routine.
The Moyesiah worries Everton’s 8pm trip to the West Midlands might throw havoc into his down time.
Wolves host Everton at 8pm on Saturday due to broadcasting reasons.
The Prem clash was selected for TV broadcast by TNT Sports.
TNT will also show Nottingham Forest‘s home clash against Manchester City during their usual 12:30pm Saturday slot.
Still, Everton are set for 8pm because Sky Sports have the 5:30pm spot on weekends, and they are showing Brentford vs Aston Villa.
But Moyes hinted that he’s far from happy with the strange late kick-off.
On playing at 8pm, Moyes said: “I’m normally a bottle of red wine down by that time on a Saturday!
“If you’re a traditionalist then you probably don’t see 8pm on a Saturday night as a good kick-off time.
“But it’s the way it’s going and I think football clubs are signing up to it due to the money that is coming in from the broadcasters.
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“We have to go with it even if it will ruin some people’s Saturday night out.”
Moyes is known for his love of a good glass of red, as he’s frequently recalled enjoying a bottle with Sir Alex Ferguson from time-to-time.
TNT have 52 live Premier League matches this season.
After deciding against selecting certain games in recent weeks, TNT have some extra slots for the remainder of the campaign.
At the time of selection, Wolves vs Everton looked to be potentially important in the relegation battle.
However, since then, both sides have pulled away from the bottom three, with Everton 15 points clear and ten above Wolves.
Wolves will be without top scorer Matheus Cunha for at least the next three matches.
The Brazilian will start the first game of his suspension following his red card against Bournemouth in Wolves’ FA Cup defeat last weekend.
It is alleged Cunha “acted in an improper manner” after he was sent off for clashing with Cherries defender Milos Kerkez in the final minute of extra time.
The 25-year-old lashed out at Kerkez three times – fighting and kicking out at him before aiming a headbutt when the Hungary full-back got back to his feet.
Meanwhile, Everton’s Abdoulaye Doucoure returns after missing the Brentford draw due to the birth of his son.
Blizzard’s Overwatch 2 stood as the undisputed king of the king in the hero-shooter genre for years. However, everything turned upside down for the game when Marvel Rivals borrowed some of its best ideas and smashed them with the most famous pop-culture icons. Marvel Rivals has been slowly and steadily eating into Overwatch 2‘s player […]
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