Local mum of 2 inspires Lord Mayor to hold a meeting with her to discuss social education relating to alcohol, domestic abuse, women and teenagers.

A local former functioning alcoholic and domestic abuse survivor, who has turned her attention to inspirational speaking found an advocate in an unexpected place last month, as she attracted the attention of The Lord Mayor of Manchester and HM Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, when she met them at the launch of a charity campaign’s short film premiere, she was involved in.
Christine Wright, 47, from Leeds, was involved in bringing the topic of domestic abuse to the forefront when a local Manchester charity Independent Choices launched their educational campaign ‘Behind Closed Doors’ on which the mum of 2 worked on set design, to highlight the different elements of abuse.
After sharing her story at this event, Christine, Founder of Habitbreaker – an organisation which helps people break negative habits that have detrimental impact on their lives, including alcohol abuse, was approached by The Lord Mayor of Manchester, Councillor Donna Ludford, and the two women are exploring ways of working together.
They are in exciting conversations discussing trail blazing ideas of how Christine’s experiences can inspire, influence and empower other teenage girls and women, who may be experiencing domestic abuse.
Christine said: “Many people assume that domestic abuse is just physical harm, but it is not, it’s more than that, controlling behaviour, financial, emotional and sexual are other elements which need to be understood by all, if lives and the wellbeing of those who are vulnerable right now can be changed. It’s also important to understand how being in a domestic abuse relationship can break women in other ways too – turning to alcohol is one-way women choose to cope, and this brings its own additional problems and trauma”.
“It’s reported that 1 in 3 women have experienced domestic abuse. In Manchester alone the Office for National Statistics show 64,318 domestic abuse related crimes were recorded by Greater Manchester Police, up from the previous year which was recorded at 50,748. This means there were 22.4 domestic abuse offences per 1,000 people in the area last year. I am passionate about sharing my story and using my skills to show women that they don’t need to stay stuck in situations where they are victims -and that there are ways they can take small steps to change their circumstances and lives – this is all about Social Education”.
Christine, who herself turned to alcohol at the age of 14 to mask many traumas in her life, has broken free from being in its clutches after 30+ years, and she is now an advocate to other young girls and women who may have chosen it as a route to get them through life.
Having experienced different levels of domestic abuse, Christine experienced feelings of shame, rejection, unworthiness and unlovability and she believes that no teenage girl or woman should ever feel how she felt.
Leaving an award winning international floristry and styling career which spanned nearly 2 decades, she made the decision to walk away and re-evaluate her life choices, and focus on her new mission and purpose in life – to support over 1 million women and teenage girls who need to break the cycle of bad life choices, driven by a passion for female empowerment, leadership and self-development, equipping them with them with tools, so their lives become enriched and the habit is reduced or no longer needed.
Christine is excited about the opportunities to keep on sharing her story and opening her vulnerabilities through further inspirational talks and the delivery of workshops so she can continue to inspire others and show them that there is life after domestic abuse, alcohol misuse, the grey area of drinking and low self-esteem.
Behavioural change expert Christine provides in person workshops for women, schools and corporate companies to mentor and guide women who often reach for alcohol to help deal with the impact and negative behaviours and abuse shown to them by their partners, using an inspiring REFRAMING model to help do so.
She said: “There is an increasing need in this world for us to provide our young people with more ‘Social Education’ – to remove the still existing barriers about being open about our struggles and mental health challenges. Things are improving in this area but there is still so much more to do. The healthcare systems are still not set up to fully support young people overcoming such challenges and I feel it’s a duty of people like me, who have lived experience to use what I have learnt and connect with others on a very ‘real’ basis, to show there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”