For a lot of sober people, Christmas comes with a quiet question attached: how much of this am I going to have to navigate?
Not because we're tempted. Not because we're fragile. Most of us made the decision to stop drinking a long time ago, and we're perfectly at peace with it.
It's everything else. The raised eyebrows. The "go on, it's Christmas." The fourth time someone asks whether you're sure. The moment in the evening when the room starts to tilt and you realise the best conversations of the day have already happened.
So we decided to do something about it.
A proper Christmas, not a diluted one
We're hosting a five-night Christmas break for people who are secure and comfortable in their alcohol-free or sober lives.
This isn't a traditional Christmas with the alcohol taken away, leaving a slightly awkward gap where the champagne used to be.
It's a proper Christmas that never needed alcohol in the first place.
The food, the company, the festive traditions, the late nights and the laughter are all still here. They just don't come with a bottle attached.
Why it matters to us
We're Jane and Pat, and between us we have almost 40 years of sober living.
We've done the office parties with a lime and soda in hand. We've fielded the questions at family get-togethers. We've quietly checked the ingredients on the Christmas pudding, the trifle and the suspiciously festive-looking sauce. We've worked out our exit line before the evening had even started.
And over the years, we've found ourselves wondering what Christmas might feel like if none of that was part of it.
This break is very close to our hearts. Quite simply, it's the Christmas we would have loved to attend ourselves.
Imagine a Christmas where...
- Nobody asks why you don't drink.
- Nobody encourages you to have "just one".
- You don't have to check whether there's alcohol in the Christmas pudding.
- The mood doesn't change as the day turns into evening.
- You don't need an excuse ready for leaving early, because you won't want to.
Instead, you can settle in and enjoy good food, good company, festive experiences and conversations everyone actually remembers the next morning.
Who it's for
This break is for people who are already comfortable in their sobriety, whether that's a few years or a few decades. You don't need to be saved from Christmas. You don't need a support group around the dinner table.
You just want to spend Christmas with people who get it, without having to explain yourself.
If you're the kind of person who stays out late, dances, laughs until it hurts and wakes up on Boxing Day feeling brilliant, you'll be in very good company.
Your kind of Christmas?
If this sounds like the Christmas you've been waiting for, we'd love to hear from you.
Register your interest here and we'll send you full details about the break, what's included and how to book.
Here's to a Christmas where "no, thank you" is a complete answer. Nobody will even need to hear it.
Jane and Pat
