The Lily Foundation was founded in October 2007, by Lily's family. Lily's uncle Jonathan Pearce believed that Lily's short life had a purpose, and could make a difference to other families. The Lily Foundation is committed to finding a cure for Mitochondrial Disease through funding research, raising awareness and family support. Research There are currently very few effective treatments and no cure available for Mitochondrial Disease. We are currently supporting research initiatives at Guy’s and St Thomas’/Evelina Children’s Hospital, Newcastle University and Great Ormond Street Hospital/ Institute of Child Health and Sir John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. By funding this work, we hope to enable doctors to get a better understanding of how mitochondria function. This will help identify new disease causing genes and improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis. This will lead to the development of effective treatment options, techniques to prevent transmission and ultimately to find a cure. Raising Awareness In the UK 10 million people suffer from diseases where mitochondrial disfunction is believed to be involved and yet most people have never heard of it. We need this to change as without awareness there is no funding, without funding there is no research and without research there is no cure! It is vital that the medical community are fully aware of Mitochondrial Diseases. We fund training of medical professionals to ensure they have the most up to date information on global advances in this area.
Charity website
The National Three Peaks Challenge takes in the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales, often in 24 hours.