THE family of a Ventnor man who battled a life-long struggle with alcoholism has launched a fundraiser to help pay for his funeral.

Andrew Ward, 53, worked as a department manager at Morrisons, Lake, for the better part of 20 years, but had struggled with alcoholism in recent years and distanced himself from his loved ones.

"Andrew was funny, independent, and used to be a very hard worker," said sister, Cherry.

"But in the last ten years, he became more dependant on alcohol. He would withdraw from us. I would contact him all the time, and sometimes he wouldn't reply ­— I ended up contacting the police because he hadn't been replying to me for a couple of years.

"In the end, he messaged me and said he had been struggling and he was sorry, and then he spent a lot of time with us from 2017 to 2019.

"At the tail-end of last year, he became very withdrawn again, and would tell me he was getting help with his drinking but I knew he was struggling.

"He stopped replying to my messages so I thought he needed time again."

On December 2, one of Andrew's friends phoned Cherry to say he had heard Andrew had been found dead in his flat in September.

A neighbour had called the police as Andrew hadn’t been seen or heard from for a couple days.

Cherry said: "I've started the fundraiser to help my mum pay for the funeral and lay him to rest.

"We, as a family, don’t like asking for anything, but it is such a sudden passing and finding thousands of pounds, especially with the current Covid problems, is a struggle.

"The gofundme donations will sit there until we have official confirmation from the coroner."

To donate to Cherry's fundraiser, visit https://uk.gofundme.com/f/apmr3-1000?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unknown&utm_campaign=comms_mhpy+apmr3-1000