A fresh look for GHT thanks to Globe

posted: 16/12/2011

A group of volunteers from GLOBE - the Deloitte network for LGBT people,

their family and friends - recently donned scruffs and grabbed rollers and paintbrushes to help George House Trust spruce up our counselling and meeting rooms in central Manchester.

Why did these lovely volunteers want to give practical help to GHT?
 

“It was a great opportunity to do something that would make a difference to the service users so that they can feel comfortable and supported. Rather than just give a donation actually giving time felt more constructive and the results were hopefully beneficial to the clients and staff at GHT.”

“It was a pleasure to be able help GHT continue to deliver their ‘red carpet’ treatment through re-vamping a number of their meeting rooms. Not only was this for a great cause, but it was also lots of fun!”

“Personally, my interest was in getting my sleeves rolled up and doing something hands-on and practical to help an organisation providing such invaluable support to their clients. To be able to help with such a basic but labour-intensive task was a refreshing change. It was a great feeling painting the rooms, and knowing that in a couple of days staff and service users would be in there, and that our work would make a difference to their experience.”

And why did they choose GHT as the charity they wanted to help most?
 

“I wanted to get involved as I think what GHT does for people is amazing - giving people living with HIV a safe place to go and discuss their issues with other people in the same position. The fact they have so many people volunteering and giving up their time to offer a free service as well as helping to raise awareness of HIV is fantastic and giving up a Saturday was the least I could do. I have a couple of friends with HIV and I have seen how it has affected them, so I think the work GHT does to help people like my friends is inspiring.”

A really heartfelt thanks to the volunteers from GLOBE from everyone at GHT. We really needed to decorate, but just couldn’t afford it. Thanks for making this happen and for making such a difference. Rosie Robinson, Chief Executive
 

YouTube About GHT for Pride

posted: 24/05/2011

Manchester Pride has launched a new video which showcases George House Trust’s work. George House Trust is one of Manchester Pride’s fundraising partners.

The video was shot by FruitTV, a global online platform for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.

Pride supports HIV Welfare Fund
In 2010 £27,500 from Manchester Pride went to support George House Trust’s Welfare Fund to help people living with HIV through financial hardship.
 

Rosie Robinson, chief executive of George House Trust, commented: “George House Trust has a long-standing relationship with Manchester Pride. It's really great that money raised from people partying at Pride goes to support people living with HIV, experiencing hardship. I think that's a wonderful connection to make.”
 

To view the George House Trust showcase video visit YouTube

August Bank Holiday Pride Tickets on sale – cheaper before 30 June
 

Tickets for Manchester Pride’s Big Weekend (Friday 26 – Monday 29 August 2011) are now on sale and can be purchased at ManchesterPride or at various venues around the city.
 

Early Bird tickets cost £15 plus booking fee and are available until 30 June.

From 1 July tickets will cost £20 plus booking fee.

For up-to- date information, follow the Pride festival on Twitter: @ManchesterPride
 

Gay Businesses - HIV Prevention

posted: 18/04/2011

Gay venues and businesses, like saunas, clubs, bars, profile and other gay websites, travel agencies and hotels, can either help reduce, or may increase the numbers of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI) among gay, bi and other men who have sex with men (MSM).
 

There’s a new guide which sets out for businesses standards that will help not hinder HIV prevention called Everywhere. It comes from the University of Brighton.
 

Persuading gay businesses to help reduce the numbers of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI) needs more than persuasion skills, it needs HIV prevention organisations to have ways of selling the advantages of HIV and STI prevention to these businesses.

Sex sells, so how can HIV prevention help these businesses sell themselves? The answers and training for HIV prevention organisations are provided in a training manual to go with the prevention standards manual for gay businesses.

One part of the training manual is called ‘Incentives for MSM business to be socially responsible’ and another is about working with hostile businesses. The training manual for helping HIV prevention organisations work with gay serving businesses to reduce HIV and other STI transmissions, is the Training Workbook on Social Mediation with Gay and MSM Businesses regarding HIV/STI prevention.
 

Both the standards for businesses and the the training manual are the work of the Europe-wide Everywhere Consortium for HIV prevention and their website has sections for gay men’s HIV and sexual health organisations, for businesses serving gay and bi men, and for gay men a section of the website lists venues and businesses which meet these HIV and sexual health prevention standards. So far few businesses are listed as meeting these standards - in the UK there are some in London and Brighton; in France some in Paris, in Spain some in Madrid, for example.
 

• Everywhere: A European Seal of Approval in HIV Prevention for Gay and MSM businesses
• Training Manual 
• Everywhere Consortium – for responsible and safer places where men have sex with men - Everywhere

Comforted Creatures Video

posted: 14/04/2011

We produced this animation (with apologies to Ardman Animation’s Creature Comforts) as a serious but amusing presentation on some of our work, for the Elton John AIDS Foundation. You can view it on the new videos page of the HIV magazine Baseline.

We interviewed people with HIV who have benefited from our positive prevention work and residential weekends, funded by the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
 

Excellent Presentation

After presenting all our Positive Prevention work which they have funded, to the Foundation's panel, they told us:

"George House Trust were the first to present and I have to say set a standard that was not replicated. If there was ever a lesson on how to do an interesting presentation, that was it.

Lynda and Colin spoke with passion about the work, the achievements so far and the publication of initial outcomes (they had the BHIVA/NHIVNA poster displayed).

An individual talked very openly and honestly about how he had benefited from the programme and to top it all we were treated to an animated film with people’s real experiences of the support and help they had received.

A perfect presentation with something for everyone - excellent!"

CHAPS impressed

We also showed this at the recent CHAPS conference held in Manchester for organisations and people involved in HIV prevention work with men who have sex with men. Robbie Currie, a leading NHS HIV prevention commissioner in London was very impressed, asking number of questions and commenting how useful a resource it was, and his interested in having something similar.  

View Comforted Creatures here http://www.baseline-hiv.co.uk/latest-videos

Action Call to Faith Leaders

posted: 08/04/2011

Religious leaders around the world are urged to really think about how faith communities help or hinder support for people living with HIV, in a new report.

The report, Prayer alone is not enough – people’s stories of HIV and Faith was published on World Health Day, 7 April. It gives first-hand accounts of people living with HIV, and of people working to support people with HIV, in poor and marginalised communities in Zimbabwe, Yemen, and El Salvador.

"The stories are deeply personal, often brutally honest and challenging, and share emotions that range from grief to encouragement, from despair to hope," said Christine Allen, Progressio's executive director.

Wide range of people

Interviewees, including Christian and Muslim faith leaders, child heads of household, sex workers, former gang members, and development workers, reflect movingly on their own personal experiences of faith in the light of HIV.

• Jane, a married woman living with HIV in Zimbabwe, said: "People living with HIV don't want church members to know because they will be stigmatised."
• Abdulla Mohammed El Qadesi, an imam in Yemen recalls: "I used to think HIV was a punishment from God… I changed my mind about it".
• Ana Deysi in El Salvador said: "As a person of faith working in the HIV community, I consider the HIV community to be my community."

Human Face for the Future
The report gives a human face to a diverse group of people living with HIV in difficult circumstances - all of whom have shared their experiences in the hope of building understanding.

Faith matters with HIV
Their personal accounts demonstrate that the attitudes and behaviours of faith communities really do matter and can make the difference between people living with HIV being able to access care, support and treatment or not.

"Mobilising faith communities to break the silence, confront stigma and condemn discrimination surrounding HIV is essential if we are to overcome this barrier" the report concludes.

Prayer alone is not enough is an invaluable insight to anyone willing to examine their own attitudes and reflect on how we, and faith communities especially, can play a positive part in an effective response to HIV.