What’s on in Sydney New South Wales – Go Dry in July

What do you get when you mix four mates with two cases of Jehova’s Extra Strength Fighting Juice? A raging hangover, that’s what. But weekend mornings need not be about swallowing down the sickly remnants of a late night kebab and cowering at the rays of daylight streaking in through the cracks in the curtains. You could, you know, do stuff.
In 2007, a group of mates decided to go the entire month of July without drinking. And, what with them being such nice chaps, they used this feat to raise money for adults suffering from cancer – a subject close to their hearts.
The charity Dry July was born.
What started off as a small challenge between mates, grew quickly into Australia’s national month of abstinence.
“Dry July went from being something very small to something much bigger,” says the charity’s English co-founder Phil Grove.
“We ended up with over 1000 participants (in the first year) and raised $250,000, which was outstanding.”
In 2009, over 4000 people signed up for Dry July. In addition to having saved lots of money from not drinking, these sober soldiers helped raise $1.2M.
The money raised went to upgrading facilities on cancer wards around the nation and generally making adult cancer sufferers’ lives that little bit easier.
“I had a tumour in my lung a few years ago,” says Phil as he explains the motives behind the charity.
“I was in the Prince of Wales Hospital (in Sydney) and had it removed, it was benign. It was all good but obviously I spent a lot of time in the wards there, seeing people not as lucky as me going through treatment.”
When bbm’s other half accused us of an alcohol dependency, we practically choked on the whiskey bottle that was pressed to our lips. But with Dry July 2010 just around the corner, even we can see the benefits of not drinking for a month.
Always up for a challenge, BBM’s Dan Jeffery emptied his hip flask and met up with the charity’s English co-founder, Phil Grove, for a flat white and a chat…

It all sounds very serious but, to paraphrase David Brent, who says cancer has to be depressing? Or abstinence for that matter. Though going an entire month without drinking may sound sacrilegious – the Scotch folk at BBM seem to think so at least – Phil and his Dry July co-founders won’t be sending their goons around to castrate anyone who slips up. Not quite anyway.
“We had to put a cheat in because we did appreciate that some people have weddings to go to or other events.
“You’re able to by a Golden Ticket, or as many as you like throughout the month, which means you have to make a donation to the charity in return for a pass for the day.”
Meaning your July could effectively be monsoonal and you’d still have raised money for the cause.
Dry July also allows participants to create teams and go ‘Head-to-Head’ with others in a bid to see who can raise the most money. And to spice things up, you can create a penalty or forfeit for the loser.
The hospitals and patients in the cancer wards aren’t the only beneficiaries of Dry July either. Though Phil is careful not to preach the dangers of alcohol or its relation to illnesses such as cancer, the rewards for laying off the booze speak for themselves.
“Most people have a habit of coming home from work and cracking open a bottle of wine. It’s not because they really need the drink. It’s breaking that routine and challenging yourself to see what your resolve is.
“A lot of people realise that when drinking isn’t in their lives, there’re a lot of hours in the day,” says Phil, who admits that he and the charity’s co-founders Brett Macdonald and Kenny McGilvary are all ‘big drinkers’.
“Instead of waking up with a hangover, spend the money you’ve saved on doing something you wouldn’t normally do. Go on a bushwalk or learn to surf. That’s probably what I’m going to do this year.”
There’s also nothing to stop you from going to the pub anyway and socialising with your mates.
“To be honest, we’re trying to encourage people into the pubs as well.
“Just because they’re not drinking, doesn’t mean they can’t go out for meals, or to gigs and meet their friends.
“For us, it’s all about creating a conversation about why someone is sitting with a glass of water, when normally they would have a beer in front of them.”
Not to mention the fact that, without all that liquor sloshing around in your system, you might not come across as such a prat in the eyes of the opposite sex.

Signing up is easy. Simply visit www.dryjuly.com and follow the easy steps to registering yourself and/or a team. Then it’s just a matter of challenging your mates, thinking of an embarrassing forfeit and finally do all those things you were always too hung-over to do.

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