Equality Diversity & Inclusion

Work colleagues would go to the social club during their lunch, openly have a drink in the bar and then return to work because it was normalised back then.

I used to go abroad to confrences with work, everyone would always be drinking, you’d been seen as the odd one out if you didn’t have a drink.

My drinking habits gradually crept on me, it got to a point where I was going into work under the influence. I was sneaking around, trying to hide my drinking and ultimately had to go on sick leave from work.

After I got help, my head of department told me a family member had also struggled with alcochol. She showed empathy and could’ve sacked me, but didn’t, her personal expereince made the difference.

Recovery looks different for everyone, it is achievable.
You don’t have to hit rock bottom to get the help you need.

My drinking problems began through personal reasons such as mental health, loss of family members and stress.

I couldn’t wait to get home from work to have a drink. I thought my alcohol intake was normal and I wasn’t like the others.

From my perspective, my workplace didn’t seem to be that supportive or knowledgable about substance and alcohol awareness.

Workplaces need to ensure they have a sufficient toolkit to support individuals. This could include informative posters in the office initiating open conversations and demonstrating empathy.

CAVADAS and Recovery Cymru helped me reduce my alcohol intake and slowly, my health started to return to normal. Managing alcohol became easier through 1-1’s and support from my loved ones.

Volunteering with VAC and in an NSP, has kept me open minded and highlighted to me that it can impact many people from all walks of life. There’s a lot of stigma in this world and there needs to be more support and compassion.

In my last role I worked in recruitment and was really struggling with alcohol. To the extent where I would drink whilst in work, which was a new thing for me.

I had a good relationship with my manager at the time. When I did make her aware. I remember crying and telling her how much I was struggling, and I just felt really disregarded.

Before starting the role, I had been in quite a traumatic relationship and a loss of a family member. I masked it with work and alcohol and felt I was in survival mode.

I was hiding all this shame which wasn’t me as a person. I felt like a completely different person back then.

When I first spoke to CAVDAS, I had no plans to stop drinking. I thought i’d still be able to sneak it. But then I realised I had to be honest. That’s the first step. It gets easier from there.

Now i’ve got so much more clarity. I’m focused on my health I go to the gym and run. I volunteer with Voices Action Change where I’ve learned so much and met some amazing people. The support network is worth its weight in gold.

Two VAC representatives also took part in developing a document, outlining a mix of all psychosocial interventions across the entirety of the CAU. This included identifying a range of interventions such as Behaviour Change, CBT therapy, Motivational interviewing and other recovery tools needed as part of individuals’ care. This was piece of work was jointly supported by CAU’s Nurse Manager from the Alcohol Team and a Consultant Clinical Psychologist from C&VUHB. In addition, external psychological practitioners also supported this work.