A SOUTH Fremantle hot dog shop became an unlikely dance floor last weekend, with 65 people squeezing into Run Amuk at 6am for an alcohol-free silent disco.
The event was the latest in a series of “random events” organised by Sober Party People founder and sobriety coach Kim Raysmith, who has spent the past decade helping people rethink their relationship with alcohol.
Ms Raysmith teamed up with Run Amuk owner and DJ Emily Mansbridge, also known as Lady Boom, for the event, which was a sell-out.
DJ Emily Mansbridge (Lady Boom) and sobriety coach Kim Raysmith.
The idea grew from a conversation between the two friends about creating an alcohol-free event that was still genuinely fun.
“I asked her a while ago, ‘hey, do you want to do like a silent disco, because it’s alcohol free and it’s a really great way to promote being alcohol free and having lots of fun’,” Ms Raysmith said.
“She knows what I do, and she was like, ‘yeah, I’d absolutely love to do that’.”
The event combined music, coffee, food and community, with participants dancing for about an hour and 20 minutes before being served hot dogs.
Ms Raysmith already uses headsets in her work, particularly for breath work, but saw an opportunity to put the technology to a very different use.
“I use it in my work as a sobriety coach, so it really helps with addiction, and really with lots of problems,” she said.
“But then, we can also use it to have fun and bring people together. So this is about bringing our community together and having lots of fun.”
• WHO needs booze when you’ve got hot dogs and a dance floor? Sixty-five early birds packed into a South Fremantle shop for a 6am silent disco with sobriety coach Kim Raysmith and DJ Emily Mansbridge – aka Lady Boom
For Ms Raysmith, moving the event to 6am is part of what makes it work.
Many of those attending were people she has coached or who have attended her sobriety retreats, while others are coming through the Run Amuk network and do not necessarily identify as sober.
“It’s just a great way to have fun and it really does promote the fact that you can have an awesome fun time without booze,” she said.
“When we bring it into the morning time, it just takes away any of the thoughts about drinking.”
Ms Raysmith said the event was also about showing people who had stopped drinking that they did not have to give up the activities they once associated with alcohol.
“If you’ve stopped drinking it’s really hard to imagine having a good time, going to things like raves again or anything like that,” she said.
“So when you bring it into the morning time, and you’re all in there together, it makes it so easy.”
Ms Raysmith said she had noticed a broader shift in attitudes towards alcohol, particularly among younger people.
“The younger generation is fantastic. They’re well educated, and it’s not cool to be drunk anymore,” she said.
“I mean, us kids from the ‘70s and ‘80s, that was all we did. It was cool to be drunk, wasn’t it? And it was hero status.”
She said the growing availability of alcohol-free drinks had also made it easier for people to choose not to drink.
“When I stopped drinking 10 years ago, there was nothing,” Ms Raysmith said.
“And now all of our bars are starting to serve it. It’s a real norm now to be going out, and a lot of people just choosing not to drink.”
Ms Raysmith said the change was being reflected in workplaces as well, with more companies becoming interested in alcohol education.
But she believes the biggest challenge for people giving up alcohol can be learning how to have fun again.
“You have to relearn how to socialise and that’s actually one of the tasks that I do as a sobriety coach,” she said.
Her answer is to replace drinking with activities and focus on who people are spending time with.
“Drinking’s actually boring. That’s actually the truth of the matter,” she said.
“And we need to come back in time and start doing things like, ‘let’s all have a dance night’.”
Ms Raysmith said her own network had grown substantially since she began working in the area, with more than 1000 people now on her email list and collaborations reaching people across Australia, the UK and US.
She said the growing network of alcohol coaches was helping drive a broader cultural change.
“Stopping drinking when you know you got a problem, it’s hard. You can’t beat around the bush, it’s tough,” Ms Raysmith said.
“But great things can come from pushing through really challenging things and and going against the norm.”
by STEVE GRANT