A woman whose dad died after suffering with alcoholism is helping to raise awareness of a cause that supports families like hers.

Paris Warburton, from Bury, is holding a charity event to raise money for charity, The National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACOA), after the death of her dad Ian, who was aged 56.

The charity is a national helpline that provides information, advice and support for anyone affected by parents who drink.

Paris, 26, said: “I’ve never personally used the charity but when I lost my dad, I found the charity and I really liked the purpose of it.

“I lost my dad because of alcohol, and I found the charity and really like the idea of what they did and how they helped people, so I did my research into it, and I wanted to try and make a difference.

“Obviously, then lockdown happened, and it made me want to help the charity even more because these kids who are using the charity are locked down at home with their parents who are drinking and not having any escape or going to school.

“So, this charity obviously needed even more help, so I did to quite a lot in lockdown by raising quite a lot of money through social media for them and things like that.”

Paris has raised quite a lot of awareness of the charity on her social media platforms to help other people who may need support or help.

She said: “I’ve actually had a few people who I don’t know get in contact with me and thanking me for raising the awareness and making me aware of this charity and thanking me for talking about it as it’s made me feel more confident to go and get help myself.”

The charity works with anyone who is affected by their parents' drinking but it primarily focusses on working with children.

The charity event was supposed to take place in 2020 as that was when Ian would have turned 60 however, Covid ruined those plans.

Paris said: “When my dad was here, he was always the life and soul of the party so I thought what I could do is celebrate his birthday even though he’s not here.

“He was going to be 60 I thought I could do a party but make a difference and do a charity event for this charity.

“Although Covid ruined it, I’ve been able to redo it this year, so it will be on the 8 October and will be at Powerleague at Bury College.

“It’s an open event and anyone can come but my purpose was that I wanted to get my dad’s friends, my friends and the community together.”

Tickets will cost £5, and all the proceeds will go to the charity.

A drag DJ who is a family friend will be there performing his acts as well as DJing, a saxophone player will be performing, and businesses have donated some raffle prizes which people can still enter even if they can’t attend the actual event.

Paris added: “Basically, it’s still celebrating my dad, but I want to be able to raise as much money as I can and raise awareness for this charity.”

To donate to NACOA, the QR code below redirects you to their contribution page:

Bury Times: