Adrian Chiles to speak at online alcohol conference
Former Match of the Day 2 presenter Adrian Chiles will speak this afternoon at an online conference about alcohol addiction organised by a former mayor of Shrewsbury.
Broadcaster and journalist Camilla Tominey will also address the two-day Alcohol: Sharing the Truth event organised by Councillor Jane Mackenzie, who lost her daughter to alcohol dependency.
Chiles, who grew up in Hagley, near Stourbridge, has written a book about his battles with drink. He admitted to previously drinking the equivalent of 50 pints of beer a week before taking steps to cut down.
LBC presenter and Telegraph journalist Tominey will speak tomorrow, sharing her story about growing up with an alcoholic mother, and her own experiences with drink before becoming teetotal.
Other speakers include former government advisers Prof David Nutt and Chip Somers, and shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth.
The event has been organised by the charity Share Shrewsbury, founded by Councillor Mackenzie in memory of her daughter Amy Liebich, who also served as a councillor before dying three years ago from alcohol addiction at the age of 37.
Councillor Mackenzie said the conference was for anyone who wanted to understand more about alcohol and the impact it has on the individual, the family and society, with information about the latest research and treatment of alcohol dependency.
“For the last 10 years of her life, I watched Amy being slowly destroyed by alcohol," she said.
"She was a beautiful, charismatic and extraordinary woman, and to know Amy was to love her. But during her 20s, her dependence on alcohol became an addiction, and she lost control of her life.
“Although she’s no longer with us, Amy’s voice continues to carry an important message about changes that need to happen in order prevent others dying as she did.”
Learn more at shareshrewsbury.org.uk/conference.
