Jono Lancaster

Jono Lancaster was born with Treacher Collins syndrome, that causes facial differences. Treacher Collins syndrome is said to affect 1 in 50,000 people. Lancaster’s birth parents left him at the hospital, but he was formally adopted at the age of five. Living with a positive and protective mother Lancaster enjoyed primary school and felt comfortable both at home and in public. Upon moving to high school, however, things changed for Lancaster as fellow pupils began to pick on him for his facial differences. He became more withdrawn and his social life suffered as a result.

With a driving determination and the help of others Lancaster has learnt to control the anxiety he felt in his younger years to become a well-respected author, presenter and public speaker. He is now more comfortable in himself and uses his experience and story to influence others and make facial differences more widely accepted.

Lancaster works across the world to help those with facial differences be more accepting of themselves. Using his experiences to guide others on how to embrace their differences is a constant goal for Lancaster. Whilst he acknowledges things are changing he feels that mainstream culture could be doing more to help acceptance and equality for those with facial differences.

Communities can have a huge impact on an individual’s happiness. Individuals with facial differences can feel nervous in communities but everyone can help to make their experiences more positive.