A free sober social event is taking place in Manchester next month as part of the launch of Sober Rebel Society, a new Manchester-based non-profit set up to support people who want to cut down, stop drinking or explore life without alcohol beyond Dry January.
A free sober social event
The event will be held at Hinterland, Manchester’s alcohol-free bar and café, on Saturday 28 February 2026, with free entry and complimentary alcohol-free drinks. It aims to bring together people who are sober, sober-curious or simply looking for social spaces that don’t revolve around alcohol.
Sober Rebel Society is headquartered in Manchester but operates nationally, offering free peer support, community connection and sober-friendly spaces for people who feel isolated or unsupported in a culture dominated by drinking.
The launch comes as alcohol harm remains a significant issue in Greater Manchester. Recent public health data shows that alcohol-specific death rates across Greater Manchester are higher than the England average, with the region showing pronounced inequalities between boroughs. Alcohol-related hospital admissions continue to place sustained pressure on local health services, with rates rising across most Greater Manchester local authorities in 2023–24.
Alcohol harm remains high nationally
Nationally, the scale of alcohol harm remains substantial. In 2023–24, England recorded over one million alcohol-related hospital admissions under the government’s broad definition, underlining the ongoing impact on individuals, families and communities. At the same time, attitudes to drinking are increasingly polarised. In 2024, 36% of UK adults reported drinking alcohol less than monthly or not at all, while 13% said they drank four or more times a week, highlighting a widening gap between those stepping away from alcohol and those drinking more frequently. By late 2025, 44% of UK adults reported choosing low or no-alcohol alternatives as part of efforts to moderate their drinking, reflecting a growing shift towards alcohol-free and alcohol-reduced lifestyles.
Sober Rebel Society is open to anyone navigating their relationship with alcohol, including people who are newly sober, sober-curious, trying to cut down, or struggling with addiction. Membership is completely free, funded through voluntary donations so that cost does not prevent access to support.
The non-profit provides a moderated online forum, peer-led online and in-person meetings, and alcohol-free social events, giving people the chance to connect, talk openly and build friendships without alcohol at the centre.
The founder, Nicky Wake, has personal experience of alcohol related problems
For the organisation’s founder, Manchester-based Nicky Wake, 53, the launch is deeply personal. For years, Nicky was drinking heavily while running a business and raising her son, Finn, often disguising how much she was drinking. She would sometimes start before breakfast and regularly drink multiple bottles of wine a day.
Her drinking escalated after her husband Andy suffered a sudden and catastrophic heart attack at home in 2017. While their son called 999, Nicky performed CPR, believing Andy was dying in front of her. As soon as paramedics arrived, she went straight to the kitchen and drank a full bottle of wine, unable to process the shock any other way.
Andy survived, but with devastating brain damage. He was placed in an induced coma and later moved into specialist care. For two weeks, Nicky sat at his hospital bedside smuggling vodka into the ward in a Diet Coke bottle, drinking constantly while doctors tried to save him.
When Andy eventually woke, he could no longer walk, talk or recognise her. He spent the next three years in care before dying from Covid-related complications in 2020. During that period, and particularly through lockdown, Nicky’s drinking spiralled further as she tried to cope with grief, isolation and exhaustion.
Despite this, she continued running her business and told herself she could not be “that bad” because she was still functioning. Privately, her health was failing and she was often waking with no memory of how she had got to bed.
Nicky finally got the help she needed and now helps others
After several failed attempts to quit alone, Nicky reached crisis point in November 2024, when she tried to stop drinking and ended up in A&E with severe panic attacks. She checked herself into rehab and completed a medical detox. She has now been sober for 14 months.
Since getting sober, Nicky firstly launched SoberLove, a dating and friendship app for people who are sober or sober-curious. Sober Rebel Society is the next chapter, a Manchester-based non-profit community designed to provide year-round peer support, meetings and sober social spaces for anyone who wants to live without alcohol.
Nicky Wake said, “Sober Rebel Society exists because I couldn’t find a space that felt real, human and without judgement when I needed it most. I was offered labels and rigid programmes, but none of it reflected how messy and complicated my real life was. I wanted to create something different. This Manchester event is just the start of that, a place where people can turn up, connect and feel welcome without alcohol at the centre.
At my lowest point, I was drinking from morning to night and hiding bottles around my house. I looked fine on the outside, but I wasn’t fine at all. I was running a business, raising my son and getting through the day, but inside I was completely lost. Alcohol was how I coped with stress and grief, and eventually it became what I was trying to bury myself with.
Dry January can be a start, but real change happens every day after that. I’ve now been sober for 14 months. I laugh again. My son has his mum back. If even one person in Manchester feels less alone because of this community or this event, it’s already made a difference.”
For more information, to join Sober Rebel Society, or to sign up for the free Manchester alcohol-free event on 28th February, visit www.SoberRebelSociety.com
All photos credit: Nicky Wake.
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