Archives: Projects

The Food Chain exists to ensure that people living with HIV in London can access the nutrition they need to get well, stay well and lead healthy independent lives. They reduce barriers to good nutrition and they address broader issues of poverty, ill-health and social isolation experienced by many people living with HIV.

Many people living with HIV struggle to make ends meet. Poverty, ill-health and isolation can prevent people from accessing the food they need, leading to poor diet and putting their health and the health of their dependants at risk.

‘Eating Together At Weekends’ is a communal lunch service provided by The Food Chain, which aims to alleviate poverty and reduce the isolation experienced by people living with HIV in London, by bringing them together over a hot nutritious meal and some good conversation at weekends. Weekends are a particularly difficult time for people who are socially isolated and living on low incomes as there is less availability of support services than on a week day. The service is also designed to improve participants’ overall health, energy levels and confidence, offering opportunities to meet new people, share experiences and learn more about healthy eating and relevant topics.

As a result of the Eating Together At Weekends project, people living with HIV are expected to benefit in the following ways:

• Improved physical health as a result of increased consumption of nutritious food.
• Reduced financial pressure and improved economic status.
• A greater understanding of dietary requirements and the types of food they need to access.
• Better food preparation skills and recipe knowledge.
• Reduced isolation with increased opportunities for regular social contact and peer support.
• Increased confidence, self-esteem and motivation, leading to improved mental well-being.
• Enhanced ability to live independently in the community as a result of signposting to a range of support and services.

NAT is the UK’s leading charity dedicated to transforming society’s response to HIV. They provide fresh thinking, expertise and practical resources. They champion the rights of people living with HIV and campaign for change.

Shaping Attitudes – Challenging Injustice – Changing Lives

The case for HIV Support Services project is focused on developing an agreed minimum pathway for non-clinical HIV support services. These support services are designed to meet a range of psychological needs of people living with HIV in the UK. The three phases of the project will:

• Identify those services most valued by people living with HIV service providers and clinicians;
• Develop the evidence base for the efficacy of these services and an evidence-based care pathway for non-clinical HIV support services;
• Undertake a gap analysis to establish what services local authorities are currently commissioning and how these compare to the recommended pathway;

The project will develop tools which will enable commissioners to commission the right services to meet the needs of people living with HIV, and for third sector HIV support services to make the case for the provision of quality HIV services.

Africa Advocacy Foundation was established in 1996 to address increasing health inequality gaps within African communities in the UK and particularly to tackle increasing HIV/AIDS prevalence levels among Africans at a time of very low awareness levels, limited HIV treatment opportunities and widespread HIV stigma and discrimination. This is achieved through practical support, advocacy, campaigns, information, advice, guidance and training.

The HIV Peers Educators Project is a beneficiary led programme training 20 HIV positive Africans in South London as peer educators to support 50 newly diagnosed individuals in accessing services. It aims to empower and equip men and women living with HIV in South London with the skills and tools necessary to reach out and support other newly HIV diagnosed and vulnerable peers through mentorship, information, advice and guidance.

The Project will deliver a structured peer educator-training programme focusing on the peer educator roles, qualities, basic HIV info, communication and basic counselling skills. It is expected that the training provided will equip the educators with competency to support and empower others to access appropriate information, treatment and care services and improve their health and wellbeing.

The 20 trained advocates will assist the beneficiaries to understand and make better use of services in hospitals, GUM clinics, GPs, Maternity services etc. as well as involvement in networks and initiatives such as the local health boards, patient reference groups, HIV networks, meetings, conferences e.g. BHIVA, UKCab etc. The beneficiaries will also be supported to maximise the use of available HIV treatment services and patient resources available across the board.

It is expected that the support provided by the peer educators through mentorship, information, advice and guidance will inspire confidence, reduce stigma, isolation and increase the physical and emotional wellbeing of all project beneficiaries.

The Positive? Awareness of and Attitudes to HIV in the UK project is the third phase of a three-part programme that sees the development and dissemination of a multi-media educational resource and campaign package for schools to promote HIV awareness and stigma reduction. The kit will be used as a curriculum based product in 6,500 schools in the UK, as well as at a host of round table events with the Department of Education, and national screenings across the UK for ‘National Schools Film Week’.

The robust findings from the People Living with HIV (PLHIV) Stigma Index in the UK provided the first systematic evidence that documents PLHIV’s experiences of stigma. The findings have significant implications for policies and practices, including those relating to HIV, as well as health services, poverty, employment, education, social attitudes and immigration. HIV related stigma is well recognised as a hurdle when addressing prevention and care, and creates a stumbling block in ensuring access to essential services. This phase builds on the results and activities in Phases I and II by focusing on schools, young people and teachers to build and promote social change and justice across every school in the UK, with an initial catchment of 6,500 state run schools.

The project seeks to educate young people about the impact of stigmatizing attitudes and beliefs around HIV in the UK. By focusing the development of an ‘HIV stigma-free’ generation the project seeks to improve the quality of lives of PLHIV as well as those most vulnerable to stigma (including men who have sex with men, sex workers and people who use drugs). The project also seeks to enhance the knowledge, awareness and attitudes of young school goers in the UK by providing informed, engaging, and accurate information about sexual and reproductive health and about HIV. In so doing the project also seeks to support more effective stigma-free HIV prevention in schools.

Make a Difference Trust are supporting the costs of Waverley Care’s Financial Benefits Support Project (a part of Waverley Care’s Community Project). The Project helps people living with HIV and Hepatitis C in Edinburgh and the Lothians, and provides service users with finance and benefits advice and support from the team’s Community Project Workers.

Through evaluation and monitoring, Waverley Care know that there are a number of issues affecting people living with HIV and Hepatitis C that impact on their ability to live an independent and healthy life. For instance, the process of having benefits reinstated after being wrongly taken away, can be lengthy and very stressful and, whilst this process is taking place, service users still need to pay their utilities, access food banks and attend health appointments. Financial worries around employment and immigration status can all have a big impact on people and may push people further into isolation from society, with possible mental health consequences.

Addressing these issues by providing support can ultimately improve the lives of people with HIV and reduce the numbers of people living in poverty.

The Cara Trust was founded in 1988 by Father David Randall, following a sabbatical trip to San Francisco encouraged by his bishop at the time.

As well as offering care to those directly affected, through its AIDS Ministry courses Cara helped to work out the radical implications of HIV for all churches and pastoral agencies, given the high incidence of loss amongst gay men and drug users, mostly young and unchurched. Funerals, counselling, complementary therapies, community meals, and religious events were offered through a small inter-denominational staff and many volunteers.

David himself was diagnosed HIV positive in 1988 and sadly died in the London Lighthouse in 1996. In 1997 the new combination therapy drugs began mercifully reducing deaths from HIV and our emphasis shifted to supporting people to live as fully as possible in their various settings. They have continued to develop since then, trying to ensure that they continue to make life better for people living with HIV.

It’s important that Cara continues to be a safe, supportive place for people with HIV. They also provide a challenge for those who are ready, to get actively involved in providing support for others. This emphasis on positive people supporting positive people is one thing that makes Cara a special place.

“Positive solutions to housing problems facing older people with HIV” aims to provide ‘a better life for people living with HIV’, by focussing on supporting people around the key issues of ageing and poverty.

It will deliver a community based service clearly focused on meeting the needs of older people with HIV who are facing up to a transition phase in their housing. Most users of this service live on welfare benefits and suffer from a degree of poverty. The Trust works primarily with clients living in London.