Despite views to the contrary, people with HIV are poorer than
they used to be. Steven Inman brings us up to date with the Crusaid Hardship
Fund’s vital work and predicts tougher times ahead
The Hardship Fund was founded by Crusaid and works in partnership with the Elton John Aids Foundation, MAC Aids Fund and the Terrence Higgins Trust to assist people living with HIV who are struggling to cope with the virus. All partners to the Fund contribute a set sum of money to guarantee its long-term viability, thereby providing a critical service to those within the positive community who are facing dire poverty as a result of their diagnosis. Grants to individuals in the greatest financial need are made through organisations like THT and other referring agencies such as Positively Women. Over the years, the Fund has developed an excellent relationship with many service providers and agencies throughout the HIV sector, without whose assessment skills and support the Fund would be unable to operate.
The organisations that make up the Fund are justifiably proud of the fact that the 25,000th grant was recently disbursed, with the total awarded over the years since its inception now amounting to £5.5 million. While some people might not think that is a huge figure, it actually equates to over one quarter of all people ever diagnosed HIV positive in the UK.
As the HIV sector and the community within it have evolved, so has the Fund. As treatments advance, and the health and well-being of those who are forced to take them every day of their lives improves, the strain on the Fund has increased.
To the outsider that may seem like strange logic. The simple answer lies in the circumstances of those who are living with the virus.
The fact is that people with HIV are living longer, something all of us should celebrate. At the same time however, the associated health problems, stigma and discrimination that HIV positive people face continue unchecked. As treatments open up the possibility of the world of work for many, the need to take a cocktail of medications in secret, away from the prying eyes of colleagues, creates strain. As HIV positive people face unexplained days “off sick”, job instability exacerbates. As many people come off benefits and go into work, they find their own incomes fall. Put simply, just because things are getting better, it does not mean things are getting easier. For that reason, applications to the Fund continue to rise.
The Hardship Fund team based at Crusaid sees applications from individuals
who have tried to enter work, but have had to give up because of
the enormous discrimination and stigma they face. When an individual goes
from having
an income linked with a job, to having no regular income at all but
with looming
bills to pay, the Fund can provide a lifeline. Applications from
referring
agencies arrive in the office from those who are desperately trying
to find education and employment. Referrers forward cases to us from
those
who reside
in this country temporarily and, literally, do not have a penny to
their name.
Clearly then, the Fund is under pressure. In the autumn of last year, Crusaid
decided to do some analysis of those who are receiving grants. In partnership
with THT, we launched the ‘Poverty and HIV’ report at the House
of Commons, with the kind support of the All Party Parliamentary Group on
AIDS. What that report revealed was that the income of HIV positive people
in the UK is plummeting. The average applicant to the Hardship Fund is now
forced to eke out an existence on just £57 per week. In 1999, the average
weekly income stood at £93. Little wonder then that the Fund is now,
quite simply, overwhelmed. Since the year 2000 alone, disbursements to the
Fund have increased by a virtually unmanageable 47 per cent.
During the current financial year, the Fund expects to assist over 4,000
people, with the total amount awarded to the poorest positive people totalling
over
three quarters of a million pounds. The disbursements come in the form of
basic necessities: a fridge in which to store medications, a microwave
in which to
cook wholesome food, a bed for a young gay man forced to make his first home
as a result of being kicked out of the parental home by a homophobic family.
It is the latter group which is under the most acute pressure at the moment.
The Fund receives a significant number of requests from young gay men, newly-diagnosed
and suffering the most acute psychological, and often physical, harm.
The Fund is also assisting significant numbers of people from whole new communities
who face the reality of living with HIV/Aids: those who are unable to obtain
any state assistance whatsoever by virtue of their status as non-UK nationals.
It is a controversial subject, but the fact remains that these people are
exactly that: people. The Hardship Fund does not want to turn anyone away
if they can
prove real need.
So the Fund is now dangerously overstretched. It was designed as a last resort, but unfortunately for many, it is becoming the only resort. For this reason, control measures need to be introduced to ensure the viability of the Fund, so that it can continue to help those most in need. Otherwise, the Fund will become bankrupt within months.
Extensive consultations on the structures of the Fund since it was created are therefore now taking place. The views of referring agencies and key sector organisations are being sought and the most strenuous efforts will be made to ensure that the Fund’s partners continue to provide a tangible lifeline when it is most needed.
It is vital that referring agencies also take tough decisions. As positive people present to them seeking help and assistance, they must continue to ensure that the Hardship Fund is the absolute last vehicle that can be approached. We have not yet reached crisis point, but much work now needs to be done to stop that position being reached. For the benefit of those people struggling to cope with HIV/Aids, it is work we are determined to see through.
Steven Inman is Head of Grants & Projects at Crusaid. Information on the Hardship Fund at: www.crusaid.org.uk
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Crusaid’s recent advertising campaign on HIV and poverty has caused controversy. It was designed to draw attention to the fact that positive people in this country are still living on the breadline. Some people saw the images as realistic: others as stigmatising. What do you think? Have your say on the Positive Voices Forum at www.ukcoalition.org/discus or write to PN. |
