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

They are associated with the Bristol street art festival called UPFEST.  I first became aware of the charity and started small scale fundraising for them after attending the festival in 2017.

In 2018 I sold my hand made paper mache cats on the street at UPFEST (a kind of art busking since I wasn't an official UPFEST artist) and raised over £200.

In 2019 I had an art 'open house' and raised over £900 for Nacoa UK through selling paintings and drawings. I used JustGiving as the way for people to buy the items.

In 2020 Covid-19 dampened fund raising but some lovely people saw one of my paintings on Facebook and asked if they could buy it ... so I started an 'Art for Nacoa' page and a little over £240  was raised despite the pandemic.

In 2021 I had a sculpture in the Turner Contemporary Open Exhibition in Margate and extended my 'Art for Nacoa' page in the hope that the sculpture would sell and I could donate the money ... but sadly it was not bought. I have now closed that page but, in the end my 'Art for Nacoa' page raised £320.

In July 2022 my first novel The Unnatural Woman was published. I make roughly £1.50 to £2 in royalties for each paperback/ebook sold through Amazon and I am trying to sell enough to give £500 to Nacoa. The book has had a number of 5* reviews. It is now March 2023 and the most recent reviewer said:

"The Unnatural Woman is gripping, impactful and highly thought-provoking.

When a simple act of freedom becomes intertwined with global politics, things quickly escalate for our protagonist. Set in a future that’s strikingly recognisable but at the same time unnervingly different, this book has echoes of books like 1984 and Naughts and Crosses.

If asked, many of us would defend our right to dress, behave, and exist in a way that fits with our ‘truth’. But this book poses questions about how far we would be willing to go for that truth and what we might be asked to sacrifice along the way.

Themes of personal freedom, choice, politics, and family make the story hugely relatable, yet the world-building is so imaginative and well thought-through, it’s clear that we’ve been transported ‘elsewhere’.

And if by the end, you think you’ve got Trueway figured out, get ready for a whole new perspective in The Red Dress and The Eternals. This is just the beginning."

As per the updates below I have now published, The Red Dress and The Eternals to complete a trilogy of books and my royalties from them all will be going to this fundraiser for NacoaUK