2010 was George House Trust's 25th Birthday!
George House Trust would like to thank everyone for their wonderful support during our 25th anniversary year. Read on to find out about our key achievements, during the year:
In April we held a one day National HIV Social Care conference ‘Still Living With HIV: Building Together for Tomorrow” at the GMEX. The event was attended by huge success, with delegates attending from HIV Social Care organisations from around the country.
May saw our biggest turnout of supporters in the Great Manchester Run – with over 120 people running for Team George House Trust!
In June we joined forces with Manchester Museum to hold an exhibition called Destination Unknown. The exhibition highlighted the ethical and human rights issues surrounding the deportation of people living with HIV who are on treatment, to countries where treatment is not readily available or affordable. The exhibition of photographs and digital stories drew to a close with a fantastic debate from a panel of speakers working in the sector.
In July George House Trust celebrated our 25th Anniversary in style with a fundraising gala at the wonderful Midland Hotel. Compered by Jonathan Mayor and with a huge list of talented acts and raffle prizes, the event raised £3500 to help us continue our vital work.
August saw our annual contribution to the Manchester Pride celebrations. For our 25th year, we decided to decorate our float in style – with a sparkling theme of silver and red, a steel band and some giant birthday cake costumes. Thanks to everyone who turned up to support us and to make it one of our biggest parade entries ever!
We also held an event as part of the Pride Fringe Festival. ‘Ribbons, Rallies and Rubbers – Diary of HIV Activist’ looked back over 25 years of activism around HIV and featured powerful contributions from Peter Tatchell and the original founding members of George House Trust.
Manchester Pride’s Candlelit Vigil was attended by over 3000 people who listened to 25 voices from the HIV epidemic, an amazing performance from Beverley Knight and the first reading of “Vigil” by the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy.
December saw a record number of volunteers turn out to collect and raise awareness for World AIDS Day. Hundreds of people braved the snow and lit candles to remember those lost to HIV. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to sell red ribbons and hold events to raise money for us for World AIDS Day.
A huge thank you to everyone who supported us in our 25th year! As we enter our 26th year we face an increasingly difficult climate around funding, and will be depending on your support more than ever.
If you would like to find out more about how you can support the work of George House Trust, please check out the fundraising pages on our website or get in touch.