A SCOTTISH hospitality boss has spoken out about his struggles with addiction in a bid to tackle the “stigma attached to it”.
Brandon Van Rensburg, the co-owner of Tempura Café in Ayrshire, recently shared his struggles with alcohol to his large social media platforms, expressing his gratitude for what sobriety has given him.
“As they say, recover loudly,” said Van Rensburg to his 50,000 social media followers.
“Alcoholism and addiction [have] such a stigma attached to it. Ayrshire, where we are based, has a massive problem.
“This video from me was just to say there’s lots of help out there for anyone who might be struggling like I was.”
The South-African explained that as of Tuesday last week, he is one year sober from alcohol after his life became “very unmanageable.”
Van Rensburg accredited Harbour Ayrshire, a charity focused on responding to the impact of drug and alcohol related deaths within Ayrshire, for helping him through his journey to sobriety.
Vicky Borland, the volunteer co-ordinator for the charity, told the National: “We, as a society can continue to raise awareness of alcohol addiction through continued use of social media platforms, lived experience peers speaking out [and support] services all working together in partnership.
“We are grateful to Brandon for the exposure and for his courage to be honest about his personal recovery journey on his social media platform, it is important that we get the message out there to those still suffering that we can recover and Brandon is a fine example of this.”
Van Rensburg won Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year at the prestigious Scottish Bar and Pub Awards in 2023.
His video, which was shared to the restaurant’s Facebook page, came just after the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that Europe continues to have alarming levels of alcohol intake and associated harm.
Alcohol consumption levels have always been a problem for Europe especially since alcohol is the number one cause of death with almost 800,000 deaths every year. Specifically in Scotland, almost 1300 people died from alcohol-related causes in 2022, which was a 2% rise from the previous year, and the highest number of cause-related deaths documented since 2008.
The WHO revealed at the end of July that since 2010, only 22% of European countries have made significant progress in reducing alcohol consumption, as set out in agreed targets of the global and European frameworks. Alongside this, Europe is still associated with the highest consumption levels per person in a global capacity.
Dr Carina Ferreira-Borger, regional advisor on alcohol, illicit drugs and prison health told the WHO: “The high levels of alcohol consumption and the associated harms in Europe are a clear indication that we are not doing enough.”
