Lilya's Lighthouses is a social movement in memory of the wonderful Lilya Coleman Jones promoting our Three Steps to a Better World.

Lilya believed in fairness, and a world where difference is embraced.

The Helena Kennedy Foundation charity is also close to my heart. I grew up in a different part of the country to my sister Lilya, and I struggled to attend college due to personal and financial circumstances. The scholarship I was awarded in 2009 transformed my life, and gave me the boost I needed to attend University and train to be a specialist teacher.

Lilya, 16 years younger than me, loved to hear my stories about teaching, and she would often pretend to be a teacher herself. You can read more about my sister, and our journey of understanding her Autism diagnosis here: https://www.tes.com/news/autism-why-are-we-still-not-spotting-girls

In 2018, Lilya was diagnosed with leukemia and we sadly lost her in June 2019. Just one month later, I received my own Autism assessment. I subsequently learned that I too was autistic, something that I would have loved to share with my sister.

Lilya blogged about her experiences of leukemia and Autism, and even encouraged me to create our first vlog whilst she was staying in hospital. Lilya was inspirational, and spoke on TV and radio, encouraging many people to sign up to the Anthony Nolan charity to become a bone marrow donor. As well as all of this, Lilya inspired a #hospitalweartocare campaign that aims to reduce sensory stimuli on hospital wards, creating a better experience for patients and their families. Watch the YouTube link in the bio to learn more!

In Lilya's memory, I would love to fundraise enough money to sponsor another person to access the same life-changing support that I was lucky enough to receive. Not only does a bursary give a student from a disadvantaged background the means to improve their social mobility chances, but it has rippling effects on that person's community, doing more good than can be imagined.

I am not a runner, or skydiver, but I do love making specialist visual resources that support autistic children and young people with their learning, communication and social-emotional skills. I have worked in SEN schools for the last 8 years; roles have included SEN Teacher, Whole School Autism Provision Leader, Head of Autism Research and Development, and Specialist Teacher.

On December 19th 2020, I plan to do a 24-hour live stream resource making session. I will take requests from anyone donating to this page, and will send/share high quality resources that will benefit families, professionals and autistic people themselves. I will share this live video with Twitter and YouTube, and take requests from anyone who is in need of this type of support, regardless if they can afford to donate or not.

Please share with anyone who you feel would either be interested in supporting our cause, or would benefit from free visual resources. Please send your resource requests to micajaynecolemanjones@gmail.com. Thank you for your support!

My fundraiser will also be supported by my younger sister, Demi Aldridge, and my 7 year old son, Alfie!