A RECOVERING alcoholic is attempting to cycle across six countries to raise awareness of addiction.

Charlie Provan, 24, from West Mersea, said mental health problems, trauma, rejection and loss all played a part in his alcohol addiction.

He hit rock bottom two years ago, but found a lifeline in the charity Action on Addiction.

The charity helped him get back on track and on July 12 he will be attempting to cycle across six countries in five days to raise money for it.

The journey will start in the UK and go through Holland, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and France before finishing back in the UK.

Charlie said: “I want to raise awareness of addiction. I want to help others who are impacted by the widespread destruction it causes and I want to encourage people to speak up and look into getting the help they need.

“I will also be raising money for the rehab centre that helped me start the journey to sobriety in November 2018.

“Addiction is mostly misunderstood. Many people do not even see it as an illness.

“There is a stigma surrounding addiction with many people believing those who develop addiction have done so through choice.

“The truth is addiction can affect anyone, no matter where they come from or how old they are.”

Charlie says he was given the best start in life and his family supported him through everything. He said: “They couldn’t have done any more for me yet things happened out of my control. I had key experiences I didn’t have the tools emotionally to deal with. Each experience left scars.”

Charlie was diagnosed with emotional intensity disorder which is characterised by heightened and intense feelings like pain, fear, excitement, love or happiness.

He said: “Sometimes feelings can become so powerful and compelling I would feel out of control, losing the ability to think straight.

“Not looking after my own mental health was a big mistake. With the heightened emotions and alcohol backing my actions, it made me not think about the consequences.”

When he was 16, Charlie also faced the trauma of being stabbed in the stomach.

He said: “Because I was a victim of an attack, people’s perception changed of me. Most people, including friends, turned their backs on me. I had never been really been alone.

“These experiences were mostly out of my hands, but all paved the way for alcoholism.”

His addiction escalated from a few beers to a whole crate.

He then moved to hard spirits, drinking nearly a litre of spirit on a daily basis at his worst point.

Charlie said: “I destroyed pretty much all relationships, I tore holes in my family. I rejected any help or support. The truth is, nobody could help me. Alcohol was my answer to everything and it was my comfort blanket.”

Charlie hit rock bottom aged 22.

In June 2018, he was sentenced for a string of serious driving offences after a night out in Colchester.

He was under the influence of both medication and alcohol when he crashed a Volkswagen Golf into five concrete posts, causing the car he was driving to drift into waters at The Strood in Mersea.

He was given a two-year suspended sentence, but then he was given a lifeline.

He said: “My alcohol counsellor gave me an opportunity to attend rehab with Action on Addiction. Naturally I was apprehensive at first, in my head I didn’t know if I was ready to give up the alcohol.

“It was my longest lasting relationship, I didn’t know if I could be fun without it, whether I would like life without it.

“I made every excuse in my head not to go, to put myself off but remained headstrong.”

However, the course gave him time to think and reflect.

“I learnt more about myself in that two-month period than I did in the five years of drinking,” he said.

“I didn’t realise how broken I was inside, how high I had built my walls and how much destruction I had caused.”

He was taught to face his own demons and let go of the past.

He said: “A year on from attending the rehab centre and I have my life back. I am still rebuilding the mess I made over the course of the years drinking, but I can say I have experienced true happiness.

“Admitting you have a problem, whether that be with addiction, mental health or something else, is the first step.”

To support Charlie's fundraising, visit www.gofundme.com/f/charles039s-campaign-for-action-on-addiction.