Weekends Away with Baseline

posted: 17/05/2010

Eat, sleep, walk, relax is the invitation Baseline offer for three holiday weekends for people living with HIV. Pick a weekend on the Gower peninsular in South Wales, in the Lake District, or in Snowdonia in North Wales.

Want to meet other people with HIV or do something relaxing and healthy for a change? How does 2 days in some of Britain’s beauty spots sound?

What's offered - and what's not

Daytime guided walks and nature talks. Night time eats and drinks.
The weekends are subsidised and each weekend costs £75. For this you will get two nights accommodation in an exclusively booked venue, breakfast on both Saturday and Sunday, three course evening meal on Saturday night. Plus tea, coffee and squash. Two days of guided walks, all group safety kit.

Not included: Personal drinks, you also need to take two dishes of food for the buffet for Friday night, arrange yourself a packed lunch for Saturday, take walking clothes / trainers / boots, and make your own way to the weekend's location. However, if transport is difficult please contact them as they may be able to arrange car shares from Manchester / NW England for you.
 

Booking - be quick
More details and online booking or by phone from Gareth 07779 040 396, or Robert on 07886 159 735
 

There are a limited number of places, and the bookings are all first come, first served, so book early.

Where and When?
Gower peninsular, near Swansea, South Wales September 10-12th 2010
When we posted this news item there were 7 places left for this weekend.

Gower holiday information      

More details Baseline Weekends and what you can expect to happen each day.

New HIV Respite Centre

posted: 27/11/2009

Cornish HIV charity, Kernow Positive Support, has been given £270,000 from the Government to create a HIV respite centre. It will be the only one in England, as the alternative is Tyddyn Bach, in north Wales.

Kernow Positive Support said it still needs planning permission from Cornwall Council, but has found a suitable property for conversion in north Cornwall, near Camelford. The Department of Health's AIDS Support Grant awarded the charity the special capital funding for the building conversion.

Centre will help boost people's outlook

Nicky Salisbury, a consultant in HIV at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, said the facility is not for medical care. She said: "It's not like a hospice for sick people, it's for respite care, for the psychological recharging rather than any medical recharging."
 

Kernow Positive Support have found a Grade II listed farmhouse near Camelford that needs renovating and conversion. Anthony Basnett, of the charity, said: "It's in a beautiful but fairly remote part of Cornwall and offers peace and quiet and beautiful scenery."

AIDS Support Grant
Mostly AIDS Support Grant is used by councils to pay for HIV support services, social care, HIV needs assessments and expert training, but they can also apply for money to pay for capital (building) projects. In NW England one council recently proposed this to fund development of special housing for people with HIV.

Running costs

Following the dramatic impact of modern combination HIV treatments since the mid 1990s, the small network of UK HIV hospices and respite centres has now almost completely vanished. A major problem is meeting the annual running costs - persuading NHS Primary Care Trusts and others to pay for someone to have a respite break is not easy. Obtaining the capital grant for a building conversion is the easy part.

We do wish Kernow Positive Support well, but hope that the competition doesn't threaten almost the last of what is left, Tyddyn Bach.

Source
 

Kernow Positive Support 

Tyddyn Bach HIV respite centre, North Wales 
 

AIDS Support Grant

HIV Respite Centre on YouTube

posted: 26/05/2009

The Tyddyn Bach HIV respite centre in North Wales has launched an online video to provide a voice for those directly affected by HIV.

The short film is on YouTube and is narrated by writer and broadcaster Nick Turnbull.

The video explains the role of the Tyddyn Bach Trust in Penmaenmawr and the support it provides to people living with HIV.

Tyddyn Bach manager Philip Kearton-Smith believes the attitude towards HIV in North Wales is one of ignorance.

He said: “There’s still enormous stigma attached to HIV and people are quite often afraid to come forward with their views. Tyddyn Bach is often misunderstood as a hospice or care home but people come to stay here for a boost in confidence. If you are suffering from a life-changing illness then the last place you want to be is on a hospital ward. Everybody who comes here is referred, and guests usually stay for a week or two. It is not just a holiday, it is a learning curve in their lives and a real confidence boost for them to deal with the illness. Volunteers help guests cope with the disease and offer hope along the way.”

Former guest Tommy describes in the video how Tyddyn Bach gave him hope.

“I decided to come to Tyddyn Bach and it was the best thing I ever did. Everybody was very helpful, the atmosphere around the place, the mountains and the sea, it’s all so therapeutic,” he says.

It is hoped the video will also help boost funds as the Trust receives no statutory funding from the Government, and relies on voluntary donations and the income generated from guests.

The centre opened in 1997 and has provided support to over 2,000 individuals with HIV, as well as their families and carers.

To find out more about Tyddyn Bach, or if you would like to donate, visit their website .

You can watch the video here
 

Source