Meet those on the shortlist for the community
award that celebrates one individual’s contribution towards the fight
against HIV
The nominees for the 2005 UKC Hero Awards reflect the true diversity of the
HIV community, which in turn reflect its strength. We have whittled down your
nominations to a shortlist of eight and want you to cast your vote for the
most deserving. Each nominee has committed their particular talents, time
and energy to improve the lives of people living with HIV and we feel they
all deserve recognition. The winner will be announced at a glittering gala
awards evening on 25 November at Old Billingsgate, London.
All eight are heroes, but the decision, thankfully, is all yours.
SIMON
COLLINS
Simon is an HIV positive treatment advocate who works to encourage people
living with HIV to take a more active role in their own health. He responded
successfully to HAART which he started in 1996 with a CD4 count of just one.
In 2000, after working at the Aids Treatment Project, he co-founded HIV i-Base
which has produced copyright-free treatment guides, translated into over 20
languages. He co-ordinates the
i-Base treatment phoneline which has taken over 3,000 calls to date. Since
February 2003 Simon has produced and edited the monthly HIV Treatment Bulletin.
He believes that HIV positive people need to be actively involved and represented
at all levels of their care. He also sat on the writing
committee for the last two sets of UK treatment guidelines.
ANGELINA
NAMIBA
Angelina works as policy and involvement manager at Positively Women. She
has made a tremendous impact on the lives of hundreds of women she has helped
directly and as the manager of a team of positive women offering peer support
to others. Over the last few years she has overcome a natural shyness and
become increasingly open about her status, speaking at conferences, to BBC
radio and national newspapers to challenge stigma and inspire others to discard
the shackles of shame society still tries to impose on people living with
this illness. Angelina hasn’t missed a Walk for Life in the last ten
years, completing them all and almost never cheating! She shows us all that
HIV is not a barrier to living life to the fullest, professionally and socially.
DR
DEREK MACALLAN
Dr Derek Macallan practises as an HIV and infectious diseases physician at
the Courtyard Clinic at London’s St George’s Hospital. He has
been working with HIV-patients since the late 80s and his team approach to
care is key to his practice. Derek has a particular interest in TB and runs
a specialist TB/HIV co-infection clinic at St George’s. Active in research,
he supervises a small team and is currently involved in a study of treatment
options in lipodystrophy and of the impact of malnutrition on the immune system.
He was surprised to be nominated for the Hero Award and is conscious that
this acknowledges not so much his own activities but rather the hard work
of a whole team of people.
BRIAN WEST
Brian has been living with HIV for 21 years, but it is his tireless work for
other positive people that led to his nominations. In 1996, he began volunteering
for Scotland’s Waverley Care and was soon taken on in the Buddies Treatment
Support Service. He currently works in several different capacities; Information
and Development Officer for HIV Scotland, responsible for lobbying to maintain
the rights of people with HIV north of the border; and information and prevention
campaigns for Healthy Gay Scotland, where, among many other things, he writes
the ‘Liam and Eilal’ strip for the popular health promotion comic
Cocktails. He also sits on the BHIVA executive committee as the community
representative.
LISA
POWER
Lisa has been involved in the UK and international response to HIV since before
we had a name for it. She has helped shape this response through her voluntary
work with the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard and International Lesbian
and Gay Association to name just two. She began work at Terrence Higgins Trust
in 1996 where, in her current role as corporate head of policy and public
affairs, she is a prime mover behind many campaigns and has
lobbied for many of the changes that have improved the lives of people with
HIV. Lisa ensures the needs of PLWHA are foremost in all her work, and has
been, and is, the buddy, and first port of call for literally hundreds of
people in coming to terms with their diagnosis. A mover and shaker who always
gives credit to others and never asks for it herself.
WINNIE SSANYU-SSERUMA
Winnie currently works as African services manager for Positive East and was
one of the first people from the African community in the UK to have the courage
go public with her HIV status. After discovering she was HIV positive, Winnie
spent the following eight years volunteering; writing, researching and speaking
about issues affecting HIV positive Africans. To counter the stigma and discrimination
she encountered within her community, in 1999 she took the bold step of becoming
the first woman to announce her status on the front cover of this magazine,
something it still takes courage to do. As well as her hard work at Positive
East, Winnie is chair of the African HIV Policy Network (AHPN) and trustee
of National Aids Trust (NAT).
ANDY
HEWLETT
When PC Andy Hewlett announced he was HIV positive, his superintendent at
the Metropolitan Police didn’t have any policies in place to deal with
the situation. This lead to the Met, with guidance from the Gay Police Association
(GPA), developing its first supportive policy for HIV positive employees.
Andy is currently Volunteer Police Cadet Coordinator, with the additional
role of GPA HIV consultant. In 2000 he told his story in PN and in 2001 we
voted him Positive Person of the Year. Originally from Somerset, South West
England, Andy currently lives in south London with his partner, Jason.
SARAH WATSON
Since her diagnosis at the tender age of 17, Sarah has shown bravery beyond
her years, going into schools when she was barely out of them to talk to other
young people about HIV, and by giving a human face to HIV by appearing interviewed
for magazines and on TV. At a recent gala
dinner that raised £250,000, she stood up in front of a large crowd
containing many celebrities and told her story. Next she is organising a sponsored
parachute jump to raise money for another HIV charity. She will be 30 on World
Aids Day this year and continues to amaze family, friends and the people she
meets with her unselfishness and optimism.
For more details on the 2005 Hero Award…
Call Carl Mills on 020 7564 2180 or email cmills@ukcoalition.org.
To sponsor the event or purchase a table or seats, contact CRA
on 01293 763 085 or email paulf@camross.com.
WHAT TO DO NOW
You can vote for your HIV Hero in three ways:
1) Name your Hero below and send this form to: UK Coalition, FREEPOST LON7768,
London SE11 5BR
2) Send an email with ‘UKC Hero’ in the subject line and ‘I
would like to nominate...’ in the message to: jclarkson@positivenation.co.uk
3) Log on to www.ukcoalition.org
and click the button marked ‘VOTE for UKC Hero 2005’
MY VOTE FOR THE 2005 UKC HERO AWARDS GOES TO:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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