Brooke Rainbow Adams, 22, from Birkenhead, is calling for alcohol to be banned from delivery apps after her father, Neil David Adams, was able to order a bottle of vodka to his home every day. Neil died aged 52 on August 30 after suffering multiple organ failure following a long battle with alcohol addiction.
Daily deliveries unnoticed
Brooke claims her father had alcohol delivered to his door day after day as his drinking spiralled. “For around two years, he had alcohol delivered directly to his home day in and day out,” she said. “For eight months, he was able to order a bottle of vodka every single day, and as far as we knew, nothing ever triggered a safeguarding concern or intervention.”
She described noticing the escalation: “I started finding large numbers of vodka bottles in the bin, seeing him attend hospital repeatedly, and hearing on several occasions that he was going to die. My dad had struggled with alcohol throughout my life, but his drinking became significantly worse during the last two to three years after he moved out of our family home and his depression spiralled.”
Family left broken
Brooke, a clinical support worker, said her family had spent years trying to support Neil through his addiction. “My dad’s death was one of the most horrific and tragic things I have ever had to experience. I watched my dad lose his life to alcohol through multiple organ failure, and our family has been left completely broken,” she said.
After Neil’s death, Brooke discovered receipts showing orders for vodka, beer and other alcoholic drinks made through a number of popular delivery apps. She claims there appeared to be no restriction on how frequently he could order alcohol.
Campaign for stronger safeguards
Brooke wants delivery companies to introduce stronger safeguards to identify potentially concerning patterns of alcohol purchases. “If somebody is repeatedly ordering alcohol every day, ordering multiple times within a day, or placing unusually large orders over a prolonged period, there should be something within the system that recognises this pattern and asks whether that person may need help,” she said.
She has taken to social media to raise awareness and claims she has received hundreds of messages from people across the UK with similar experiences. She is campaigning for alcohol to be removed from delivery apps and for stronger safeguards to protect people struggling with addiction.
“There should be systems that identify concerning patterns, allow appropriate restrictions to be put in place, and signpost vulnerable people towards support. There also needs to be much more help available for people suffering from alcoholism,” she said. “My dad was more than an alcohol-dependent person or another order on an app. He was our dad, he was loved, and his loss has broken our family.”
