Each month, unLTD chats to a local charity’s founder, delving into the reasons why they set up the organisation. This time around, Ash Birch caught up with John Leaver, founder of Better Today, a Rotherham-based CIC that provides free-of-charge support services on a range of issues including mental health, substance abuse through their online community and weekly drop-in sessions…
Hi John. Can you start by telling us a little about Better Today?
When I hit 1000 days sober in 2022, my friend suggested I start putting video content out on social media, talking about my journey – what’s been good, what’s been bad.
To begin with, Better Today was just a TikTok channel. It got off to a steady start, in terms of interaction, but then one video on cocaine went viral and from that day I was spending a lot of my time trying to reply to all the messages.
I realised that people were struggling for relatable, accessible support. I’d opened a can of worms and could have spent from the minute I woke up to the minute I went to sleep trying to support people, so I decided to set up a CIC in order to be able to dedicate more time to it.
We now have a large online community, who support each other, as well as drop-in sessions in Kiverton Park, that are open to anybody. It’s about the community helping each other and breaking down the stigmas.
Did the fact that you had so many people getting in touch, with potentially serious issues, worry you?
What made me uncomfortable was the volume of people getting in touch. I’ve been a youth worker for over 20 years, working on various youth initiatives, so I understand about safeguarding and risk, and my forte has always been supporting people.
Better Today didn’t initially set out as an advisory platform, but as it grew, and as we’re in the domain of alcohol, drugs and mental health, you’re then touching on suicide and I realised quickly that we had a duty of care and needed to set up some infrastructure within the organisation.
I was also in London last week to receive my diploma in positive psychology coaching, an extension of which is an alcohol-free coaching certificate.
Why do you think your content resonates with people so much?
People really find the content relatable. Because I was going into it not intentionally wanting to support people and on the same level as them, there was quite a big uptake.
Can you tell us about your own relationship with alcohol and drugs?
I was a very sporty teenager and loved football and cricket. I didn’t like drinking or smoking and was completely anti-drugs. As I got to 16, I started playing football and cricket with the men’s teams and got into drinking through that. I’m also a DJ and started going to raves around that time.
When I was 18, I first started taking drugs. The next few years is a blur of partying, DJing and getting completely off my face every weekend. I stopped all my sports and completely hammered my body.
In my 20s, I got to a point where I was rarely excited about anything and felt pretty down. I was in and out of relationships and drinking quite heavily, especially on weekends where I would binge drink a lot. I felt like I had loads of potential, and even though good things were happening, underneath the bonnet I was deeply unhappy and aspiring for more.
I stopped taking drugs in 2012, but I was still in a place where I thought there had to be more. I tried lots of self-development, but nothing hit the spot.
In 2019, I split up with my child’s mum and had a proper breakdown, and for the first time felt unable to cope. I was drinking vodka every weekend and got to a point where my head went. One day I was out with my friends, in a VIP with a big bottle of vodka, and I just had a sort of epiphany and went home.
From there, I did a month sober and started a personal training program. Things started feeling better and I realised I was onto something. There were peaks and troughs, but generally things started to improve and I refound natural happiness towards simple things. I hit 1000 days and that’s when I started to document it and started this path that I’m on now.
What are your plans for Better Today going forward?
We’re hoping to replicate the sessions in other areas. My vision is for two or three sessions on a Wednesday night that become self-sufficient, so that everyone knows they have a place to go. We’re also looking at going into schools and other venues doing workshops. On a personal note, I’m also about to launch my own alcohol-free coaching programmes, separate to Better Today, called Lose the Booze.
