Founder Jayne awarded the British Empire Medal
Our founder and Amy’s mum, Jayne Hughes, has been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the King’s New Year Honours List 2025.
The BEM is a British and Commonwealth award given to people who have made a significant contribution to their local community in a particular area. Jayne has been recognised for services to children with DNA repair disorders and their families, through her work with Amy & Friends.
While this is a huge honour for Jayne, the timing of the award also has powerful significance, coming as Jayne and her family mark Amy’s fifth “angelversary” on 1st January 2025.
Speaking of the award, Jayne said: “At the time I learned I was to be recognised in the King’s New Year Honours List, I was struggling with Amy’s upcoming fifth ‘angelversary’.
“When I realised the date of the public announcement and the enormous significance this will have for the charity’s ongoing work, I felt like Amy was there with me at that moment, like she’d had a hand in this.
“I accept this incredible honour but recognise it as a collective effort. Amy wanted to build something to help her friends and I continue it as her legacy. I don’t do it alone, I have the support of a small but incredible team, scientists and medical professionals and of course our amazing families who remain at the heart of everything we do.
“I hope that this incredible recognition for Amy & Friends work will raise awareness of the challenges that children with rare DNA repair disorders and their families face and help drive positive change through support to ensure better quality of life and care, and more research for the future.”
The award is the third that Jayne has received in recent months, having also been named winner in the “Women of Courage” category at the Merseyside Women of the Year Awards 2024 and “Carer of the Year” at the BBC Radio Merseyside Making A Difference Awards 2024.
Jayne continues Amy’s legacy through the work of the charity, helping children and their families in gaining diagnosis, providing information for medical papers, aiding research programmes, offering respite and 24/7 online support, organising transport and accommodation, accompanying 10 families twice monthly to a specialist clinic in London, as well as delivering regular outreach events and the annual Amy & Friends Conference, which was this year attended by more than 300 people.
