'I'll never forget my first drink - it cost me my friends and almost my life'

Georgina Lewis will never forget her first drink - it gave her the confidence she had never had before robbing her of her friends, career and almost her life. The 44-year-old began drinking in her youth and hindsight has taught her the relationship was always unhealthy.

It would take years for her to seek support, though, as she "threw away" many of those who cared for her as her work and financial outlooks plunged to an all-time low. More hard times followed as she met her partner Craig as they worked through recovery together - sadly he relapsed and later die.

Georgina, from Coventry, is now a passionate advocate for those fighting to release the grip of alcoholism from their lives and the loves one who support them. She told her story as shocking new figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the West Midlands recorded Britain's biggest jump in alcohol-specific deaths in 2022 - an increase of 10.2 per cent.

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The Alcohol Health Alliance (AHA), which represents more than 60 non-governmental organisations fighting to reduce harm caused by alcohol, is pushing the government for an action plan to tackle what was termed a 'shameful failure' in public health.

Georgina said: "Looking back now I can see my relationship with alcohol was unhealthy right from the start. I remember my first drink of alcohol and the feeling it gave me. I felt like I could breathe easier and talk to people easier with a confidence I had never experienced before.

"I would say I lost a lot of friends through alcohol, but the reality is I threw them away, always choosing alcohol. All my relationships began to struggle, work was a struggle, finances were a struggle, life was a struggle and my mental health was at an all time low.

"The negative newsreel in my head was on a loop 24/7 saying I was not good enough, I would never get my life together and everybody else was better than me.

"Alcohol took me to a place where I was not scared of dying, I was scared of living without alcohol and I didn't know how to."

In 2011 Georgina started her rehabilitation and met Craig while in recovery. But he relapsed after years of sobriety and passed away. Georgina said: "I have experienced the struggle both sides on, which is why I am now so passionate about supporting the families and friends of people who have lived similar lives."

The 2022 increase in alcohol deaths in the West Midlands were significantly higher than the rise in other areas. There was a 7.9 per cent increase in the East Midlands, a 6.5 per cent rise in the North East and a 5.9 per cent uptick in the South West. In 2022 there were 10,048 deaths from alcohol-specific causes registered in the UK, the highest number on record according to the ONS and an increase of 32.8 per cent since 2019.

The AHA, which consists of medical royal colleges, charities and treatment providers, has written to the government calling for a national alcohol action plan to curb the rising death toll.

Policy recommendations include:

• Improve marketing and promotion regulations to protect children and those impacted by alcohol harm

• Mandatory alcohol product labelling to provide consumers with health and nutritional information relating to ingredients, calories and units

• Long-term funding of proven and cost-effective early intervention and treatment.

• Minimum unit pricing for alcohol in England to prevent the sale of ultra-low cost, high strength drinks and ensure alcohol duty keeps in line with inflation

Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the AHA, said of the rising death toll: "It made me feel sad and depressed because we have been calling for more than ten years for an alcohol strategy. Many countries are adopting these policies but the UK government has sadly failed to grasp the nettle.

"The availability and marketing of alcohol has never been cheaper than now. You can buy a bottle of whisky at 2am from a petrol station.

"One of the unforeseen consequences of lockdown was people drinking more than they should because of isolation and mental strain. Alcohol contributes to breast cancer, colon cancer, high blood pressure and strokes.

"There is more nutritional information on a bottle of milk than wine or whisky. With the NHS already under severe pressure, we cannot continue on the current trajectory. The warning sirens are ringing and whichever party forms the government at the next election must prepare to step up with a comprehensive alcohol strategy."

According to a poll by YouGov last year on behalf of AHA, a majority of the public, 55 per cent, believed the government was not taking enough action to reduce alcohol harm.

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