Positively Women Changes
posted: 09/06/2010
Positively Women, based in London, has changed both its name and the focus of its work. As their website says "On 6 June, Positively Women entered a new and exciting chapter in its life. Following a major strategic review and process of consultation with service users and stakeholders we have extended our remit to reach both men and women living with HIV.
Positively UK retains its core ethos of peer support, with people living with HIV developing and delivering services. Our peer support services for women remain along with Positively Women magazine, and these now sit alongside services for men and young people."
About the changes
After 23 years, Positively Women has entered a new and exciting chapter of its life. In June 2010 following a major review of strategy, and consultation with service users and stakeholders they have decided to serve both men and women living with HIV.
It will retain its core ethos of peer support, with people living with HIV developing and delivering services. Peer support services for women will remain, alongside resources such as the Positively Women magazine. They will build on their strengths and provide peer support to new groups, notably men and young people. They are saying 'we are here to support people living with HIV across the UK'. That explains the change of name to Positively UK.
New Vision - A society where HIV and related health conditions are free from stigma and discrimination
New Mission - Positively UK champions the rights of people living with HIV and related health conditions
What they will do
- Providing specialist and peer support, advocacy and information
- Campaigning against discrimination
- Promoting positive attitudes and equitable access to health
- Increasing involvement, voice and visibility
Ambition - To provide peer led support to all people living with HIV in the UK by 2020.
Why change the name after 23 years?
Positively Women has spent a year reviewing its strategy and future. The whole country faces a period of significant change and less public funding for services. Councils and the NHS are expected to reduce the number of contracts, and will favour general support organisations rather than specialists. Providing services specifically women, meant Positively Women would be vulnerable. It has already lost some funding because of this.
Gap for Peer Support
There is a lack of organisations providing peer led work - services led by people with HIV . Continuing to provide peer services to women, and extending this to men, meets a need and helps fill this gap. Changing the name reflects this.
Why Positively UK?
They have kept the word ‘Positively’ as the organisation remains committed to supporting people living with HIV. It also acknowledges and keeps a link to the past. Adding ‘UK’ makes it clear to people using services, to funders and others that the organisation is open to everyone living with HIV, across the country.
Replacing ‘Women’ in the name was a difficult decision and they realise many people will feel a sense of loss that the organisation is no longer called Positively Women. The name Positively Women is close to many people’s hearts and is an assurance of dedicated services for women. They will keep the Positively Women brand for all their women’s services and have designed a new Positively Women logo.
This was developed with a design company Intertype who have helped before with their publications design including Positively Women magazine. Intertype came up with a series of designs for the new logo. Staff, volunteers and trustees were consulted and the new design was the most popular. People felt this was friendly and accessible. The designers did not charge and Positively UK designed and built their own new website.
Services for Women
Positively UK will have six strands of work. A main strand will continue to be Positively Women. Women still encounter gender and health inequalities, and women living with HIV have specific needs in their role as mothers and carers. Positively UK will continue to provide one-to-one and group peer support for women; women accessing services will still receive support from another positive woman.
Their current London support groups will remain women only and we will continue support for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women. Positively Women magazine will also remain women focused.
Positively UK will also continue to support the development of the national network of women living with HIV, PozFem-UK. They are also committed to new women’s services and over the next year are developing a project to support women through pregnancy and ante-natal care.
Services for Men Services for men will be developed under the accompanying strand of Positively Men.
Other services They already host Str8 Talk, a self-facilitating group for heterosexual men and women; and their Parenting and Caribbean groups are already open for men to attend. Additional peer support services are being developed for men and they are already recruiting and training male volunteers to be peer mentors providing one-to-one support, alongside female volunteers; in the meantime their London services are open to men.
Positively Youth
In early 2010 they ran a pilot project looking at the needs of young people living with HIV as they make the transition from adolescence to adulthood and paediatric to adult HIV services. They are looking for funding to implement a new programme for young people living with HIV, working in partnership with the 900 clinic at St Mary’s Hospital, in London.
Positively Health
Their prevention activities have focused upon the African communities as part of the Department of Health’s NAHIP programme. They aim to continue this and build on this to extending work in the community and with people living with HIV, and into HIV testing.
Positively Policy
The organisation remains committed to developing and supporting the involvement of people living with HIV in shaping policy, practice and services. PozFem-UK, the national network of women living with HIV, will continue to be developed and they are committed to developing a wider network to support all people living with HIV in consultations and policy responses.
Positively Information
Their website is their largest information tool for wider the public and people living with HIV. It's been redesigned along with the change of name.
Positively Women magazine
Positively Women magazine continues to be the only magazine for women living with HIV written by women living with HIV. They are developing new materials to support other aspects of our work such as information for women around pregnancy and resources for young people.
Their new website - Positively UK
PozFem-UK website
Their questions and answers document about the changes - the information above comes from this.
Permalink