Now, after running a famous clinic in London for almost 20 years and helping 20,000 alcoholics recover, Nick has packed up ship and moved to the idyllic town of Ramsey to open a free alcohol misuse treatment and education centre to save even more souls.

Starting singing at the tender age of 10, Nick had a bright future in the music industry and in his own words nearly "made the big time" on more than one occasion.
But from his first taste of alcohol at the age of 17, Nick knew his relationship with the drug was different than most, as he developed an unquenchable thirst for the demon drink.

Caught up in the hype of the 1970s, Nick sung and drank uncontrollably for more than 14 years, until one day he found his love for a tipple had grown into a full blown addiction and he was living in a cardboard shelter in Charing Cross station.

Nick's life drinking and sleeping on the streets finally came to a head after he was stabbed one night during a drunken brawl.
At that time Nick was sleeping in a large sewer pipe and describes the events following the brawl as the most horrific thing that has ever happened to him.

Nick said: "I remember waking up the following morning and these rats were actually eating my congealed blood, and I was terrified.
"I remember thinking I actually have to die or I have to stop drinking, because this can't go on."

Toppling on the edge of Lambert Bridge hoping to end it all, Nick decided to make one last ditch attempt at sorting his life.
That very day he went along to the famous Garrick Club in London's West End and eventually managed to secure a job, a home and his life back.
It was that first day on the job, when barman Nick offered to take a drunk ex-army officer to an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting that his career helping alcoholics to recover began.

Nick added: "Although I never set out to open a clinic or help people, I actually started helping people from the day I stopped drinking."
After opening and running the Chaucer Centre in West London for 20 years, Nick decided to move locations.

So after a random Google search on the internet landed in Ramsey, Nick enlisted the help of doctors Arun and Rita Aggarwal at the Rainbow Clinic in the town, and the Gainsborough Foundation was born.
The treatment and education centre, which is a registered charity, will be running a 20-bed clinic from a location in Huntingdonshire yet to be disclosed.

But on top of that Nick is also keen to tackle the binge drinking culture which has gripped our society, particularly teenagers, and will be running roadshows for young people to educate them on the subject.
Nick's treatment and education is based around his research into what he calls "cancer of the soul", which has found that alcoholism is a genetic problem.

And with a grandfather, uncle and all but two cousins alcoholics, Nick believes he is living proof that the built-in lack of resistance to alcohol that sufferers of this addiction have, is something passed through the generations.
He said: "Alcohol for me opened up a door to a magical world and I wanted that door to stay open permanently.
"What I want to explain to kids is, if you have a drink and after a couple you feel like a king, beware, you may have the genetic qualities for alcoholism."

>> If you would like to contact Nick Charles for further information about the Gainsborough Foundation, email him at nic.charles@yahoo.co.uk