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Inspiring couple honoured by Coventry University for their tireless work helping bereaved parents
Amy and Ryan Jackson
University news
Wednesday 13 November 2024
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The courageous efforts of a Balsall Common couple to support grieving parents have seen the pair awarded Honorary Doctorates from Coventry University.
Amy and Ryan Jackson, who will be presented with Honorary Doctorates of Letters on 22nd November, founded the Lily Mae Foundation in 2012, named after their daughter and created two years after she was stillborn at full term.
Since that time, the charity has supported thousands of bereaved parents who have experienced similar heartbreak in the West Midlands, Warwickshire and Northern Ireland, raising in excess of £3million to help through an extensive range of support programmes.
The charity has donated more than 25,000 memory boxes to bereaved parents through their 14 partner hospitals that they support in the West Midlands, Warwickshire and Northern Ireland.
The Memory Boxes allow the parents to collect memories and precious items and store them. They include vouchers for jewellery engraving, candles, clay print kit, ink print kit, photo frames, books, and two teddy bears.
One of the main support programmes that the charity offers is a specialised One to One Bereavement Support Service. This service provides bereaved parents with an opportunity to fully explore any bereavement issues with a trained bereavement support worker who themselves have lost a baby.
Amy recently completed a 36-hour gym challenge in aid of the charity.
We never expected to receive this award, the Foundation is our day-to-day, we see the benefits to the families we support and to see that work recognised by Coventry University is amazing, it’s come as a big surprise.
Amy Jackson
We started the Foundation because in 2010 we didn’t really feel there was this kind of support available to us on a local level at the time, there were national organisations, but sadly it just felt that in Coventry and Warwickshire there wasn’t the same access to these kinds of services.
“We don’t do this for reward, seeing families benefit from the support we offer is reward in itself, but I’d be lying if I said it’s not nice to be acknowledged for our work, it gives that extra boost to keep doing what we do and it’s incredibly humbling.
Ryan Jackson, who graduated from Coventry University in 2008 with a BSc in Sport and Exercise Science
Coventry University graduate Alexandra Balan, known as Sasha, will be honoured on 18th November, picking up an Honorary Doctorate of Arts.
Since gaining her degree in Graphic Design and Illustration in 2012, Sasha has pursued a successful career as a 2D animator, working on a number of high-profile projects, including the BAFTA and Oscar winning short film The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.
My experience of coming to Coventry from Romania was so different to how I imagined, you have this vision of coming to England and it being like Downton Abbey, but arriving in this Midlands city, it was so modern and full of people from all over the world. It was a very exciting place to be, so many different accents and so much diversity.
I decided to study Graphic Design and Illustration, but it wasn’t until I did a module in animation in my final year that I knew that was what I really wanted to do. It just clicked and I’ve been focused on that ever since. What I loved about my course was just being able to try so many different things. If you’re interested in trying out different techniques or disciplines, there’s always the opportunity to do that. My tutors Francis Lowe and Phil Perry were just fantastic. I'm so grateful for the support that they gave me.
To be part of the BAFTA and Oscar winning film The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse was an amazing experience, it was made during the pandemic and despite the challenges that posed, it was so well organised and it’s something I’m very proud of. I don’t usually stay up to watch the Oscars but I did that time, I was jumping and shouting on the sofa when we won.
I’m very grateful to Coventry University for this award, and for the brilliant way in which they support their students & alumni.
Alexandra Balan
Professor Sir Chris Ham CBE will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science on 20th November, having spent his career working in universities as a lecturer and researcher focusing on health policy and health management.
He has been an advisor to the World Health Organisation, a civil servant at the Department for Health responsible for health strategy in the NHS in England and between 2019 and 2021 chaired the Coventry and Warwickshire integrated care system, working to improve health and care services in Coventry.
I am delighted to be receiving an honorary doctorate, it was a big and pleasant surprise to be approached and I am pleased to accept it. I think it's a delight for anybody who finds themselves in that position and special for me because of the links I have in the West Midlands and particularly in Coventry through the work with the integrated care system and my connections with healthcare leaders in the UHCW and the Partnership Trust in Coventry.
Professor Sir Chris Ham CBE
Also being presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Science on 20th November, Dr Keith Edgar was the driving force behind a project which saw volunteers create more than 19,000 visors for ambulance crews, nursing homes and foodbanks, during PPE shortages in the pandemic.
He came out of retirement as a GP, coordinating a team of hobbyists, teachers and retired engineers to create the visors using 3D printers.
Receiving this Honorary Doctorate is recognition for the public service that the team provided during a very difficult time. I am receiving this on behalf of everyone involved, it is really a way to say an enormous thank you to everybody. It was a very intense project but one where we made a real difference, not just in providing the PPE but in boosting morale to those we were supporting. A great effort by all.
Dr Keith Edgar
