I stopped drinking - then baking business turned my life around

Lesley Smith did not want her children to face life without her

Lesley Smith gave up alcohol after years of heavy drinking - then discovered a love of baking that helped turn her life around.

Now the 38-year-old mother-of three is running her own successful cake business in Shetland.

Lesley, who lives in Scalloway with her fiancé and young children, launched Buggle's Bakes last year and is now inundated with orders.

"I just kind of fell into it really," she said. "Life before was messy."

Lesley said she had a wonderful childhood, but "fell into" drinking at the age of 12 or 13 - "when you get a little bit adventurous".

"I really enjoyed it, I loved being social and alcohol was fun from the word go for me," she told BBC Radio Shetland.

"I thought it was normal. But as I grew up I developed an issue very, very quickly. All the time I was thinking it was just fun - for a while."

Caught in a trap

Lesley says she had not realised how difficult it would be to stop drinking until she had to make the decision.

"I always drank heavily. I thought I had control over it.

"I got together with my now partner and we were very early in our relationship when he told me he thought I was a borderline alcoholic. I put the bottle down for four years because that scared me.

"And then for whatever reason I thought it would be a good idea to start drinking again after I suffered a miscarriage. Of course, in hindsight, it was the worst decision I could have made."

Lesley Smith has developed intricate cake-making skills

She said it then just became an "escape" for her.

"It wasn't fun. And I got myself into some precarious situations.

"You get caught in that trap. It's not OK. It was nearly the end of my life, alcohol."

Lesley was arguing with her partner Yan a lot, and blacking out on the couch.

'A moment of clarity'

"As horrible as this is to admit, my girls would come into the sitting room and if they didn't see my wine sitting around they would say 'oh Mum, where's your glass?'.

"That's when I started thinking I can't carry on like this. But I was scared, I didn't know how to stop."

She remembers having "a moment of clarity" in 2017.

"My eyes opened long enough. Looking around the room, and seeing my children laughing and joking, I came to the realisation that there's every chance that they might not be happy this time next year if things carried on the way they were going," she said.

"Thankfully the youngest two will never remember me drinking. My eldest does. She keeps me in check. I don't want to fail them."

Shetland wildlife features in Lesley's cakes

Lesley said she felt it was "quite taboo" to talk about addiction.

"The first year was horrible, all I could think about was getting to one year sober. I had no outlet at all, I was really quite depressed."

Then baking cakes took over.

"I became obsessed with everything there was to do with cake. It was great.

"I started baking for family and friends and always got really lovely feedback. I am quite a perfectionist."

Word-of-mouth saw more and more requests coming in.

'Life is amazing'

"I realised I either needed to stop, or make something of it, and I'm so glad I did," she said.

She can now barely keep up with demand.

"Life is now amazing," she said.

"My mental health is just the best it has been probably my whole adult life. A lot of people just don't realise how alcohol affects your mental health.

"It's quite scary to be so vulnerable publicly, but I am just glad to be able to get my voice out and hopefully help a few folk."

If you are concerned about addiction, BBC Action Line has help and support.