The National Association for Children of Alcoholics

Nacoa (The National Association for Children of Alcoholics) is a charity with a telephone and email helpline, founded in 1990 to provide help and support for everyone affected by a parent’s drinking.

One in five school children in the UK live with a parent who drinks too much and most of them will try to hide their family’s problems from the outside world. Their problems include being:

• Six times as likely to witness domestic violence
• Five times as likely to develop an eating problem
• Three times as likely to consider suicide both as children and adults
• Twice as likely to experience difficulties at school
• Twice as likely to develop alcoholism or addiction
• Twice as likely to be in trouble with the police

We believe that every child has the right to a happy childhood and to live a creative and meaningful life but when drink is the family secret they are more likely to experience family violence, neglect and other problems in their own homes.  Most parents don’t choose this for their children but they have underlying problems they do not know how to deal with.

Nacoa bridges the gap by providing care and support so children are able to find healthy solutions to their problems. We also acknowledge and celebrate with them what may seem like small triumphs in the ordinary scheme of things but which are milestones in the lives of children who have no one to share the good or bad. “I stayed at school all day today!” is real-life magic and life-changing.

Our work is all about planning for a more positive future; an opportunity for children and young people to see that the world can be different from the one they’ve always known, so they can break the cycle of addiction and go on to live happy and fulfilled lives.

Nacoa has a free helpline 0800 358 3456 or helpline@nacoa.org.uk.