SINGER AMY Winehouse, who was found dead in north London in July, used to sit on the wall of the London Irish Centre just down the road from her Camden home, chatting to neighbours.
Last night, her father Mitch and stepmother Jane came to the centre to switch on the Christmas lights, saying: “She dreamt about living here.”
Before a large crowd Mr Winehouse said: “We’re a Jewish family, but Christmas has always meant a lot to us. We spent some wonderful Christmases together. This is the first Christmas that we will have without our darling daughter.”
The couple, who will travel to Ireland next week, have set up a foundation to help other young people struggling with addiction, following Amy’s death from alcohol poisoning.
Some of the proceeds from the sales in Ireland of the singer's posthumous album, Lioness: Hidden Treasures,will go to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which, in turn, will donate money to LauraLynn House, a Dublin hospice caring for young children.
Mr Winehouse told the gathered crowd his daughter had “loved living” in Camden Square: “She walked past the Irish Centre every day that she was here. This place meant an awful lot to Amy and to the family.”
Director of the centre David Barlow said it was “appropriate” at Christmas to remember those who have gone, “particularly Amy, who lived just up the road”.