Terrence Higgins Trust relaunches Hardship Fund for people with HIV in greatest need.

HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust has relaunched a national Hardship Fund for people living with HIV in severe financial need. Funding has been secured from the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the M·A·C AIDS Fund, as well as via Terrence Higgins Trust’s annual Walk For Life fundraising event, to provide £1.5million of grants over a period of three years.

Through the Hardship Fund, Terrence Higgins Trust aims to make it as easy as possible for people with HIV to apply for financial support, should they need it. Applications can now be made through one of over fifty referral gateways across the UK, selected to represent a wide geographical spread and cover areas which have, historically, shown the greatest need. A full list of referral gateways can be found at www.myhiv.org.uk/News/Latest-news/The-Hardship-Fund.

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England Rugby champion Ben Cohen MBE will be joining the impressive line-up of Ambassadors for Pride House London, opening this summer during the Olympic Games.

A total of 10 high-profile individuals from around the world with strong connections to the LGBT community have shown their support for Pride House.

Situated in the heart of Clapham Common, Pride House London will be one of the most attractive open-air venues offering an unbeatable atmosphere, superb hospitality, art exhibitions, spectacular live music performances and televised broadcasts of the Games. As London's hub of diversity and inclusion, Pride House will provide a magnificent backdrop for activities and celebrations this summer with an expected 250,000 visitors over eighteen days.

Cohen’s involvement with anti-bullying programs and career in professional rugby make him an ideal community leader to partner with Pride House. The Ben Cohen Stand Up Foundation supports organizations, programs and people that advance equality for the LGBT community and help for at-risk youth by standing up against bullying.

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Author, blogger and HIV activist Kristian Johns was diagnosed HIV-positive more than a decade ago. Writing in the latest issue of FS Magazine he recalls how the first World AIDS Day following his diagnosis made him feel “ashamed, like some sort of clichéd statistic.”

In the years that followed Kristian was determined to help prevent new infections, and to represent honestly what his diagnosis meant, and so he became politically involved, talking to MTV and the BBC about his status. “I garnered a reputation for being fearless. I wanted to give people hope, courage and confidence to be unashamed of their status, to feel as worthy and ‘clean’ and deserving of love as the rest of the human race.”

But despite all of Kristian’s hard work to increase understanding of HIV, recent events have left him terrified. As he writes, “I’ve met the man I want to marry and he’s negative. I do not want to give the man I love HIV. I don’t want him to have to deal with the pills, the sicknesses, the constant blood tests and hospital visits.”

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According to new figures released by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), in 2010 there were 3,000 gay and bisexual men diagnosed with HIV in the UK, the highest yearly figure since records began.

This means men who have sex with men (MSM) made up 69% of all HIV infections acquired through sex in the UK that year, despite representing between 3% and 4% of the general population.

HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) is calling on the entire gay community to place a renewed emphasis on safer sex, and is highlighting three steps gay men can take to help reduce the spread of HIV on the scene:

1.    Use condoms with every new partner, and continue using them until you’ve both been tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). 
2.    Attend a full sexual health check up at least once every six months, and more frequently if you have a high number of partners or a symptomatic STI.
3.    If you have HIV, visit MyHIV.org.uk to gain detailed information and advice on living well with HIV, including personal support from other people living with HIV through the community forums. And start treatment when a doctor advises – modern HIV treatment reduces onward transmission as well as lengthening your life.

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To mark the occasion of World AIDS Day, the League Managers Association is once again supporting the annual HIVsport World AIDS Day campaign to raise awareness of the global threat of HIV and AIDS.

To support the campaign the LMA will be sending the HIVsport red ribbon ‘Badge of Hope’ to all 92 league managers and will asking them to wear the badge over the World AIDS Day period to show their support for the 33 million people living with HIV and AIDS across the world.

Andy Harvey, Chair of HIVsport said, ‘For the past five years the football managers and their association have shown magnificent support in helping to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS. Every manager who chooses to wear the badge does so voluntarily and this is an incredibly powerful message of hope they give to everyone around the world who is affected by HIV and AIDS.’

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