Dr Arabella Byrne announced new ambassador of Nacoa
It is a delight to announce Arabella Byrne as an official ambassador of Nacoa UK.
Arabella is a prolific writer and journalist on issues of alcohol and family. Her own memoir published with Harper Collins will arrive in book shops in early 2024.
Her father and mother were both alcohol-dependent. Then later on, in adult life, Arabella developed her own issues with alcohol.
Arabella wrote a viral article in The Mail with her novelist mother, Julia Hamilton, about their shared journeys of recovery.
You can find out more about Arabella by watching her Lunchtime Lives interview here.
‘Nacoa would have changed my life’
Arabella Byrne says of the appointment:
‘As the child of two alcoholics and a recovering alcoholic myself, Nacoa’s message could not be more profound to me. I am always moved by the important work Nacoa does, day in, day out, to advance the COA philosophy into mainstream conversation and policy and to ensure that children of alcoholics know that they are never, ever alone.
‘As a journalist and writer, I discovered Nacoa after publishing my experience of growing up in the shadows of alcoholism for the Daily Mail, an article that my mother (also a recovering alcoholic and writer) co-wrote with me. That article, and its message of hope and healing, was the germ of a mother/daughter memoir to be published by HarperCollins in Spring 2024, the first of its kind in the genre. I am also honoured to have spoken at the Stafford Ward Memorial Lecture on behalf of Nacoa in the House of Commons in 2022 alongside patrons Sophie K, Calum Best and Liam Byrne MP.
‘I say it often, but if Nacoa had existed when I was growing up, it would have changed my life. It is one of the many privileges of my recovery that I am able to play a small part in the change-making process at the heart of the COA revolution.’
