'What we're trying to do is help people understand that recovery isn't all or nothing': Carrickfergus man turns addiction battle into app helping others stay sober

A Carrickfergus-born software developer has transformed his personal battle with addiction, grief and unemployment into a new sobriety app designed to help people rethink their relationship with alcohol.

Matt Waterworth, founder of Better Without Booze, says the idea for the platform emerged from some of the most difficult periods of his life, including the loss of his mother, struggles with mental health and the impact of artificial intelligence on his career.

The 42-year-old spent much of his younger life drinking heavily and later became known online as the "Angry Jogger", building a following through his running exploits and charity challenges.

After quitting alcohol in 2015, Waterworth remained sober for seven years and completed a series of endurance events, including a Land's End to John O'Groats challenge for mental health charity Mind that was equivalent to 38 marathons in 38 days.

However, a combination of personal grief and global uncertainty led to a relapse in 2022.

"My mum died at the end of 2021 and then the Ukraine War started," he said. "I was living on my own and grieving. When Vladimir Putin put his nuclear forces on high alert, I just panicked.

"I bought a bottle of rum and all this survival gear. At the time, I felt like I had thrown away seven years of sobriety. Looking back now, I realise it was one day out of around 3,000."

That experience would ultimately shape the philosophy behind Better Without Booze.

"Most recovery apps treat a lapse as total failure," he explained. "What we're trying to do is help people understand that recovery isn't all or nothing. You can learn from setbacks and keep moving forward."

Matt says many sobriety apps focus primarily on counting alcohol-free days, while his platform aims to tackle the deeper reasons why people drink in the first place.

"A key question is why you drink," he continued. "We all have reasons for wanting to escape difficult emotions or situations. If you don't understand those reasons, it's much harder to make lasting changes."

The app was co-founded with sobriety advocate and content creator Stu Nugent and is built around the concept of creating a "complete recovery system" within a smartphone.

Rather than operating as a simple tracker, Better Without Booze contains 21 separate tools that focus on different aspects of recovery. These include features such as Sober Firsts, Recovery Wins, Gratitude Logs, Sobriety Motivations, Coping Strategies and craving tracking.

All of these feed into a personalised timeline that helps users understand patterns in their behaviour and monitor their progress.

At the centre of the system is a feature called the "StaySober Battery", which represents a user's resilience to cravings. The battery depletes through stress, poor mental health and other pressures, while positive activities and healthy coping mechanisms help recharge it.

An AI-powered daily check-in system is designed to identify early warning signs that may indicate an increased risk of relapse.

"We've built an early-warning trigger system that uses onboard AI to track key wellbeing indicators," Matt explained. "The idea is to identify problems before someone reaches the point where they're struggling with a craving."

Another feature, known as the Future Projection Engine, allows users to see potential long-term outcomes based on their habits, behaviours and experiences logged within the app.

The platform also encourages users to examine the identities they have formed around alcohol and to actively build what Waterworth describes as a "sober identity".

He believes many people in Northern Ireland continue to grapple with cultural attitudes towards alcohol that have been passed down through generations.

"My parents were both drinkers, but nobody really talked about it," he stated. "There wasn't the language to discuss what was happening. A lot of people were trying to cope with difficult things in the best way they knew how."

The project has been developed on a limited budget after Matt found himself unemployed following changes within the software industry.

"I moved to Liverpool for software work, and the AI-driven job market took it away," he reflected. "It wasn't a boss. It was the technology itself. That put me somewhere very dark."

Rather than stepping away from technology, he decided to use his skills to build a platform based on his own experiences of addiction and recovery.

The app currently has around 150 users, with a number of people signing up for lifetime subscriptions. While still in its early stages, Matt says feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

"Launching anything with no money is incredibly difficult," he added. "We're running on a shoestring budget, but the response has been amazing."

Ultimately, he hopes Better Without Booze can offer support to people who feel isolated by addiction and mental health challenges.

"Whether it's our app, Alcoholics Anonymous, counselling or simply talking to somebody, the important thing is finding something that works," he concluded.

"We know how lonely addiction can feel because we've both lived through it. What we're trying to do is give people hope for the future, without shame about the past, and show them that life really can be better without booze."