'I was homeless at 15 - now I have an MBE'

When Dr Ava Easton was 15 years old, she was homeless and choosing between a night in the park or on someone's sofa.

She said her dreams of going to sixth form and then university had been "dashed", following a family estrangement that resulted in her leaving school with no qualifications.

However, gestures from a few kind people meant she could pay for her board and lodgings until she turned 16 and managed to get her life back on track.

Now aged 59, Easton, from Malton in North Yorkshire, is chief executive of the charity Encephalitis International and was made an MBE in the King's New Year Honours for services to people affected by the condition.

"It was a challenging time when I was young and I think even the years that followed were challenging times as well," Easton said.

"I didn't know it was going to be okay and I didn't know what I was going to do.

"There were moments where I thought that I might have to earn money in ways that perhaps I didn't want to earn money.

"I didn't go down those paths, but that was purely because of the generosity of some other people at that time."

After securing full-time work, Easton started her first degree with the Open University and managed to finish with honours by the time she was 33.

"I did my postgraduate degree and got that at the age of 39 and then finally did my PhD and achieved that at the very late age of 48," she explained.

"So I often say to people, if you're having problems with your kids, don't worry, there is hope for them."

In 2000, Easton said she started working in the world of encephalitis, which is a serious condition in which the brain becomes inflamed.

It can be caused either by an infection or through the immune system attacking the brain in error, can occur at any age and affects about 6,000 people in the UK each year.

"Originally I'd taken the position with the charity as, simply, it was a job but within a few months, my whole life changed and I suddenly felt that I was working with people who I just had this huge affinity with," Easton said.

"For 26 years, I've probably done very little other than eat, sleep and breathe this condition, try to make the world a better place for people that are affected by this condition and their families and caregivers, no matter where they live in the world."

Encephalitis International provides research, information and support to people with the brain condition.

It also brings scientists together to help organisations such as the World Health Organization understand more about encephalitis.

Easton was awarded an MBE in the New Year's Honours for services to people affected by encephalitis by Princess Anne.

"You get this rather large envelope drop through your letterbox when you're least expecting it," she said.

"I wasn't sure what it was, but I just got a tingle when I saw the colour of the paper and I couldn't really tell you why.

"So it was a big shock, but a great honour."

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