Kent woman calls for children of alcoholics to get more support

A woman whose father died from alcohol addiction is calling for more support for children of alcoholic parents.

Sarah Drage wants the government to fund a helpline run by the National Association for the Children of Alcoholics (NACOA).

It received over 30,000 calls in 2022, up from 23,000 in 2019, but the helpline's funding ended last year.

The government says it is investing £532m over two years for substance misuse treatment.

The charity Alcohol Change says the children of parents who drink too much are four times more likely to become dependent drinkers themselves.

Ms Drage, from New Romney, lost her father Stephen in 2017 after years of battling alcohol abuse. He was only 59.

"He suffered with PTSD and depression and he would drink to forget," said the 34-year-old, who is a volunteer for NACOA.

"I didn't know what dad I was going to get. Drunk dad, or sober dad. It was a really unpredictable, anxiety-fuelling way to grow up."

NACOA runs a free helpline and offers online support to those who have been affected by alcoholism in the family.

For a number of years the service received government money as part of a wider package of measures, but that support finished in 2022.

Ms Drage told BBC South East the helpline is a vital service and that the funding should be "reinstated".

For help and support on alcohol abuse check out BBC Action Linehere.

Liam Byrne MP, the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Children of Alcoholics, had an alcoholic father who died in 2015.

He said: "If we want to break the cycle of alcohol addiction cascading down the generations then we have got to break the silence.

"We have got to give children somebody to talk to about what they are going through so they can put in place the support systems they need to flourish."

The Kenward Trust, a charity that provides rehabilitation for people with addiction, says children of alcoholics are more at risk of developing problems with alcohol themselves.

Penny Williams, the chief executive of the Yalding-based charity, said: "A lot of the residents that we have, have gone through childhood trauma or watched parents with addiction issues and replicate that behaviour."

Gary, who sought help from the trust, has been sober for 20 months, and he recognises the impact his addiction had on his son.

"I personally, through being an alcoholic, thought I deserved to be father of the year, but to my son he missed out on a lot through me," he said.

The government said it had invested £6m on a package of measures known as the Children of Alcohol Dependent Parents programme, which included funding towards the NACOA helpline.

The programme has now ended, but the government says local councils can invest some of the £532m Drug Strategy funding for interventions, which will strengthen the services available to children and families.

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