A woman is taking her first steps to offering help to families dealing with alcoholism after her own husband died of excessive drinking.

Tracy Jarvis, 39, of Fern Hill Road, Cowley, Oxford, offered to help relatives of alcoholics when she was featured in the Oxford Mail and has been touched by the responses she has had.

Her husband Mike, 44, turned to drink after he lost his parents and other close family members and friends to cancer.

During the last years of his life she was forced to give up work to look after him, and wished to use her experience to help others going through the same thing.

Mrs Jarvis said: "If I can make a difference to just two people, then I'll be happy.

"One man wrote thanking me for highlighting the problem and telling me about his own experiences. His story mirrored that of Mike's.

"The other letter I got was from someone dealing with alcoholism within their family. I'm going to write back to start with and try to do what I can to help."

After an inquest into her husband's death, Mrs Jarvis spoke out to raise awareness of alcoholism. She said she thought there was not enough help and support available for sufferers and their partners and families.

"A lot of people have stopped me in the street and said it's nice someone is making a stand," she said.

"Other people have been quite nasty, because I said alcoholics are in la-la land. But they are. That's the truth. I'm sorry to offend people, but there's no point in sugar-coating it.

"I just want to make things more open and let families know there is someone there for them. I might have upset a few organisations with what I said but the thing with professionals is they can go home at the end of the day.

"I had to deal with it 24-7. There was no escape. That's the reality."

A tree and bench in memory of Mr Jarvis have been put up in Elder Stubbs allotments.

Mrs Jarvis would like to raise money for animal charities in memory of her husband and is appealing for people to donate items such as candles or ornaments with a sun theme.

To contact Mrs Jarvis, write to her at 23 Fern Hill Road, Cowley, Oxford, OX4 2JN, including a phone number.