A new alcohol free social club wants to offer something different for people in Wirral.
Rek41 is due to open in The Copperfield, an old pub in Birkenhead as a place to bridge the gap between addiction recovery and mental health. The idea behind it is that there is little in the local area for an adult to go and socialise that is free from alcohol.
This may not seem like a problem to some, but for those dealing in recovery from drink or drugs it is massive. Those in recovery will either have to avoid such places - and go without their positive social aspects - or go and put themselves at risk of relapsing.
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The social club wants to bridge that gap and provide people in recovery with somewhere to go free of that temptation where they can enjoy themselves with friends and other people.
Director Michael Quinn, 29, said he once reached "rock bottom" after years struggling with a drug and alcohol addiction. He told the ECHO: "My friend approached me about the idea of a non-alcohol social club.
"We've seen a gap in recovery and mental health and addiction. Once 5pm comes the services available to people in recovery close and we saw there was nowhere for people to socialise apart from places like pubs.
"Even if they just want to play pool then they've got to go to a pub. So we're trying to change a culture. There's a new drug every decade for people to get addicted too, and alcohol comes with that as well.
"We wanted to give people a place away from all these kinds of things. I know the services are great but they just don't continue past 5pm.
"We've had an unbelievable response since we opened and so much help from volunteers. We're all volunteers here.
"It's brought a community together. It was an idea but we didn't realise how big the idea was. When we've spoken to people they've told us it's something that's been needed for a long time.
"It's amazing that we've got so much support and donations which are more than welcome - that's the only way we can continue to do this. It's key we are supporting people, no matter where they are in their recovery we want to help them."
You can learn more about Rek41 on their Facebook page, and anyone interested in contributing to their efforts can find their fundraising page here.
Rek41 will officially open on Friday, March 3.
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