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Brighton & Hove, World AIDS Day events

The Brighton & Hove World AIDS Day Partnership are organising a series of events in Brighton & Hove to mark World AIDS Day on December 1. The partnership includes: Bear Patrol Social Group, BHCC Partnership Community Safety Team, CDO Sussex, Lunch Positive, The Sussex Beacon, Sussex Community NHS Trust, Sussex Ecumenical HIV Chaplaincy and THT South.

For up to the minute information, join their Facebook page World AIDS Day – Brighton & Hove at www.facebook.com/worldAIDSdayBH

Exhibitions

• World AIDS Day Exhibition: 

There will be an exhibition of The Hankie Quilt Project as well as information to promote World AIDS Day.

The Dome Foyer, The Dome, Brighton,

Saturday, December 1–Sun Dec 2, 10am–5pm each day

• Rise Living Library: Secrets & Lives

Jubilee Library, Brighton

November 28-30, 2–5pm

The RISE Living Library is an opportunity for visitors to the library to speak informally with ‘people on loan’.

Wednesday, November 28 2-5pm: Meet people whose lives have been affected by drugs and alcohol.
Thursday, November 29: 2-5pm: Domestic Abuse – discover stories of survival.
Friday, November 30: 2-5pm: Meet people living with the effects of HIV.

Memorial Space

• New Steine Gardens

Saturday, December 1, 2–7pm.

Volunteers and staff from the partnership will be at New Steine Gardens from 2pm providing a welcoming place for people to leave keepsakes, photos or messages of hope or remembrance at the memorial. Lunch Positive will be providing refreshments.

Candle light Vigil

•  Brighton AIDS Memorial Candle Light Vigil,

New Steine Gardens,

Saturday December 1, 6-7pm.

Everyone is welcome to attend the remembrance event of those we have lost to HIV/AIDS in Brighton & Hove. There will be a reading of the names and a candle light vigil. New names to be read (in addition to those in previous years) can be emailed to susshivchap@gmail.com by Nov 27, or can be added to the list during the day at the Memorial Space in New Steine.

• Positive Hope
Service of Remembrance & Solidarity,

The Sanctuary (top floor), Dorset Gardens Methodist Church,

Saturday, December 1, 7.30–8.30pm.
Refreshments courtesy of Lunch Positive will be served from 6.30pm – go along after the Candle Light Vigil. Churches Together in central Brighton & Kemptown and Sussex HIV Chaplaincy invite ALL to join them in a service of remembrance for those who have died and solidarity for those living with HIV/AIDS. An opportunity for prayer and reflection, in a welcoming and supportive atmosphere, for those with some faith or none.

 

Concerts
• AIDS MEMORIAL CONCERT:

Presented by Music for Life,

St Mary’s Church, St James Street, Kemptown.

Sunday, November 25, 6pm,
Features the Regency Singers directed by Mark Hodge, Tom Murphy tenor, Alexandra Bowa soprano, Neil Carter flautist & Andrew Ballantyne harp.

Tickets £10/£8 concs.

 

• WE ALL LIVE TOGETHER – A Concert for World Aids Day:

The Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus, The Rainbow Chorus, Qukulele, Resound and The Theatre Workshop. Compered by Neil Bartlett OBE. The concert will feature a joint performance of the first international OutPostChoir anthem, You Make Me Proud composed by Howard Alexander. Proceeds to Rainbow Fund.

St Mary’s Church, St James’ Street,

Saturday December 1 at 7.30pm

Tickets on the door or from: BGMC

 

• CELEBRATION OF LIFE for World AIDS Day:

Actually Gay Men’s Chorus and Actually Gay Women’s Chorus perform together. World Premiere of Beacons Requiem with full orchestra written by AGMC member, Richard Horscraft. The event isn’t ticketed but there will be a collection for Sussex Beacon after the show.

St Andrews Church, Waterloo Street, Hove,

Saturday December 1, 7.30pm.

Health

• Free & confidential HIV test & sexual health screening:

Shae Shae Creations, 50 Queens Rd, Brighton,

Friday Dec 7, 2-6.30pm

Fundraisers

Friday November 30

• Revenge:

X Factor’s Rylan Clark, bucket collections for THT, 10pm

 

Saturday December 1
• A-bar:

Honey Hush fundraiser, r&b/rock & roll/rockabilly night, 9pm.

• Charles Street:

Come to Daddy, 10pm. £1 per head to the Sussex Beacon.

• Revenge:

Kinky Dangerous fundraiser, for THT & Sussex Beacon, free entry, donation on the door, 10.30pm.

• Subline:

Rouge World AIDS Day Fundraiser for THT, 9pm.

 

Greens to commemorate World Aids Day on 30th anniversary of Terrence Higgins’ death

Cllr Phelim McCafferty

Green Party councillors and activists in Brighton and Hove will commemorate World Aids Day today. Green councillors will join the Terrence Higgins Trust in the city in their campaign to Stand Up and Stand Out.

Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty, said:

“30 years ago, Terrence Higgins lost his life to an Aids-related illness in St Thomas’ Hospital, London, one of the first deaths attributed to the condition in the UK.
 
“30 years on there is still considerable concern that in Brighton and Hove and throughout the UK diagnoses are increasing. This is while figures from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) tell us that almost a quarter of all people with HIV don’t know they have HIV.
 
“This comes at a time when 1 in 3 people living with HIV don’t have enough for the bare essentials- a fact affirmed by the re-launch of Terrence Higgins Trust’s National Hardship Fund. [3] So we remain very concerned at the Government budget and welfare cuts. Greens continue to argue that we need better funding for research, care, prevention and education.
 
“Green Councillors are showing their support by supporting the Brighton and Hove World Aids Day Partnership. We are attending concerts to raise money for HIV charities in the city while Cllr Mike Jones and I will be among the many people reading the names of those who are no longer, sadly, with us, in a candle-lit vigil in New Steine Gardens on Saturday.
 
 “There is still an awful lot of prejudice that people with HIV face. Almost 100,000 people in the UK live with HIV: they need our support, not judgement.”

 

Cllr Mike Jones

Cllr Mike Jones who works as a Sexual Health Adviser in the NHS, said:

“Early diagnosis and treatment of HIV dramatically improves the life expectancy of those infected and significantly reduces the risk of onward transmission of the virus. In Brighton and Hove we still see too many new infections because people make the wrong assumption about their own or a partner’s HIV status. Don’t put off testing for HIV, a test could save your life.”

‘Why World AIDS Day Still Matters’

Matthew Hodson

About 1 in 20 gay men in the UK are living with HIV? About 10,000 of them have not been diagnosed. Up to 82% of new infections come from people who don’t know they have HIV. So why is hardly anyone paying attention to World AIDS Day?

The reality of living with HIV today has changed considerably since World AIDS Day started, way back in 1988. With effective treatment, people who have their HIV diagnosed can now have a near normal life-expectancy but if you ask pretty much anyone living with the virus they will tell you they’d rather not have it. In recent years media coverage of the day seems to have weakened but the need to prevent new infections, dispel ignorance and challenge HIV stigma is as urgent as ever. This year let’s make World AIDS Day count by observing the following actions:

1. Know your own status.
If you haven’t tested for a year or longer, make a date in the diary to test now. If you’ve taken risks, you’ll have a healthier and longer life if you get diagnosed early . And even if you think that you haven’t taken any real risks you should still test – condoms can fail,  so can monogamous relationships, and oral sex isn’t entirely without risk. Even if you’re pretty confident that the result is going to be negative, it’s still better to know for certain. And make a plan to test every year from now on. You can sign up for an annual email reminder at www.gmfa.org.uk/reminder. If you haven’t got time to go to a GU clinic, you can order a free home sampling kit from www.gmfa.org.uk/thinkHIV, so you can take the test in the comfort of your own home.

2. Talk about HIV
It used to be that HIV figured prominently in the conversations that gay men had with each other. With fewer people dying, and fewer people showing symptoms of HIV, those conversations are now less frequent. On World AIDS Day, take the time to discuss it with your friends: what do they do to protect themselves or their partners? Do they disclose their status to their partners before sex? What do they do if someone tells them that they’re HIV positive? If more gay men talk about HIV, it’s likely that we can think about it more clearly, dispel any myths or misconceptions, gather information if necessary, and reaffirm the reasons why we don’t want to be involved in transmission of HIV (catching it if we are uninfected or passing it on if we are living with HIV).

3. Support a charity
Everyone knows that these are tough times economically. Many HIV and health charities are struggling, with Government cuts and lower levels of donations. Around World AIDS Day there will be lots of charities giving it a big fundraising push. All of them are worthy causes and all of them need your support. Even better, come up with a fundraising idea of your own – last year one enterprising GMFA supporter raised over £1,000 by promising to tweet a picture of himself in his underpants.

4. Wear a red ribbon
But don’t just wear it to fit in. Tell people why you’re wearing it. Talk to them about testing and treatment, about safer sex and staying in control. Encourage them to think about the sex that they have, the risks that they take and the impact of their attitudes. Remember the lives that have been lost and the people whose health will suffer in the future if we ignore the problem. Think about what we can all do to help others and reducing HIV-related stigma. That’s what wearing the ribbon is all about.

Working together we can stop the spread of HIV.

Follow Matthew on Twitter @Matthew_Hodson.

You can donate to GMFA online at:

GMFA

Health Protection Agency welcomes National HIV Testing Week

Latest Health Protection Agency (HPA) figures show there were 6,280 new HIV diagnoses in 2011, taking the total number of people living with HIV in the UK to around 96,000. Publishing in National HIV Testing Week, the data show although late HIV diagnoses dropped slightly in 2011 (47 per cent, from 50 per cent in 2010), a quarter of people with HIV remained unaware of their status.

The ‘HIV in the UK’ report also found:
·         New diagnoses among men who have sex with men (MSM) reached an all-time high in 2011 (3,010) – nearly one in 12 MSM in London and one in 20 in the UK now has HIV (47 per 1,000).
·         The black African community also remained at higher HIV risk in 2011 with 37 per 1,000 living with the infection.
·         Nearly half of all new diagnoses were acquired heterosexually (2,990; 48 per cent). Of these, over half were probably acquired in the UK in 2011, compared to only 27 per cent in 2002.
·         The small decline in the total new diagnoses (from 6400 in 2010 to 6,280 in 2011) was driven by a reduction in diagnoses among people born outside the UK.
·         Overall HIV prevalence in the UK was 1.5 per 1,000 population.
 
Dr Valerie Delpech, HPA head of HIV surveillance, said:

“These figures are a reminder of how vital safe sex programmes remain. Promoting HIV testing and condom use is crucial to tackling the high rates of transmission, late diagnosis and undiagnosed HIV still seen in the UK. National HIV Testing Week is a great opportunity to encourage people to get tested. We also encourage clinicians to take every opportunity to offer the test to those in higher risk groups and, in high prevalence areas, to all general medical admission and new GP registrants.

“The good news is that with the excellent services and treatments available nowadays, if diagnosed and treated early someone with HIV can look forward to a normal lifespan, as well as protecting their sexual partners from infection. That’s why it is vitally important that anyone who has been at risk gets an HIV test, and that those in higher risk groups get screened regularly.”

 

To read the ‘HIV in the UK’ 2012 report, view:

HIV in the UK

La Normandie – douze points

Le Mont Saint-Michel

We love France, mainly because it’s the nearest ‘foreign’ country and only a few hours by ferry from Newhaven. I’ve been going to Normandy, which is the region directly opposite Brighton for longer than I care to remember – well the first time was 1962, I was very young.

Dieppe

It remains my favourite part of north western France with Dieppe being one of the prettiest ports on the coast; a contrast from Newhaven, which will never be called pretty or even attractive.

Rouen, the capital of Upper Normandy, is a lovely city which we have visited many times and never get tired of. Last year I was asked to take a look at the town Forges-les-Eaux, which I had never heard of and which is not far from Rouen. At just 35 miles south east of Dieppe, the town has just opened a major new hotel with a casino attached.

Never one to decline an invitation we boarded the good ship Côte d’Albâtre in Newhaven in mid-August, along with 546 people of which 144 were children. Those sweet little Henrys and Hermiones certainly made their presence felt. Their yummy mummies and dishy daddies were far too busy discussing the route to their houses in the Dordogne and sipping Sauvignon to bother with ‘les enfants’. But it was only three hours twenty minutes before we were off the boat and en route to Upper Normandy.

Forges-les-Eaux town centre

Forges-les-Eaux was originally a Roman mining settlement and a local Lord apparently accompanied William to Hastings in 1066. The town today is completely unspoilt, its 4,000 inhabitants preferring the quiet rural life, commuting to Paris or Rouen for work. It has a chateau, three small museums and a couple of churches. It really is very quiet; we walked down the main street on a Sunday evening and felt that we should speak in whispers.

From here in the south east of England, Normandy is easier to get to than say Cornwall. I had never really explored this area, it is quite beautiful. The countryside is similar to Sussex but in many ways quite different. Straight roads run through lush green gentle hills populated by millions of cows, this is dairy country. Being a city boy I was amazed to turn a corner and see a cow actually giving birth right before our eyes. We had seen this on TV but seeing it literally in the flesh was a great experience. We quietly stopped the car and watched as the calf was born – it was one of those moments you never forget.

There are hundreds of tiny quiet villages throughout rural France. We later discovered that a few we drove through, including the perfect village of Gailefontaine, have been labelled as some of the most beautiful villages in the country by the National Tourist Authority. We also discovered that the road we were cruising along is listed as being one of the most beautiful detours in France. We didn’t even look at a map but just enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Coming as we do from the bustling south east, driving along a country road and seeing no traffic was a very pleasant experience. You could drive for hours and be quite relaxed as there were no trucks or angry commuters in a hurry.

There has been a casino in Forges since the 19th century; after a fire it was rebuilt and reopened in 1902 designed in typical French rococo style. Adjoining the casino is the very modern hotel, imaginatively named the Forges Hotel. It sits in a stunning 27 acre park including a big lake with rowing boats and lovely woodland. As the building is so new it hasn’t yet fully settled into its surroundings though time will mellow it and the trees will grow, but that could be said for any new building. The hotel itself is way above its three star rating. We had a large room, as big as the average one bed flat, with all the usual facilities: enormous bathroom and free WiFi. There was even a small terrace. The large bar and restaurant is very popular with the locals and being only two hours from Paris many visitors come from the capital. Of course there is a spa with all the usual therapies and a reasonable pool.

Forges-les-Eaux is lovely little medieval town, ideal for a weekend of peace and quiet. You really are in the heart of rural France and they really only speak French, bon journeé!

For more information, view:
www.forgesleseaux.fr
www.forgesleseaux-tourisme.fr
www.forgeshotel.com

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