edited by David G Taylor with Jon Keay, Email news, listings and product info to us at eye@positivenation.co.uk
NAZ PROJECT LONDON (NPL) is a long-running charity in the capital
addressing the sexual health and HIV/Aids needs of black and minority ethnic
communities. It’s currently looking for HIV and LGBT volunteers from
South Asian, Middle Eastern, North African, Horn of Africa, Latin American
or Muslim backgrounds for its Positive Choices training programme.
To apply, call Christina Soper on 020 8741 1879 www.naz.org.uk
Zimbabwean drag performer Kudah Samuriwo explores his life, love and gender
in QUEEN OF AFRICA, a one-off performance on 7 July at London’s Oval House Theatre. Queen Of Africa is part of OUTBITES,
a series of works-in-progress, which provides an opportunity for emerging
LGBT artists to cut their teeth, experiment with ideas and share work with
a live audience. Outbites is on throughout July at the Oval House. Call 020
7582 0080 or visit www.ovalhouse.com
for details of other performances.
Queen of Africa, 7 July, 8pm, £4, Oval House Theatre, 52-54 Kennington
Oval, London SE11
To
commemorate their first 15 years, the London Gay Men’s Chorus
is touring their aptly named show, The First Fifteen. While providing entertainment,
the chorus is also committed to combating ignorance on their tours.
“We faced protestors in Belfast,” said member Martin Kaufman.
“Our audience was small; it takes guts to stand up to homophobic aggression
in Northern Ireland, but they made up for it with wild enthusiasm. Our commitment
to keeping the spotlight on Aids continues with our commission last year of
Ignorance Equals Death for You’ll Do For Now.” A rousing evening
guaranteed.
The First Fifteen, 15 July, St David’s Hall, Cardiff; 26 July,
St Anne's Church, Soho, London. www.lgmc.org.uk
GEORGE HOUSE TRUST in Manchester is staging a THERAPY AND
ACTIVITY WEEKEND for HIV positive gay men in North Staffordshire
from 21-23 July. The weekend will include raft building,
archery, climbing, and abseiling, with a range of therapies to help banish
the resulting aches and pains. The weekend is free of charge, including transport,
meals and accommodation. There are just 20 places, so register your interest
now.
Call Colin on 0161 274 4499 or email colin@ght.org.uk
“When
you find yourself, often suddenly, responsible for a relative or friend who
can no longer cope independently, you need all the help you can get,” says Mary Jordan, author of THE ESSENTIAL CARER’S GUIDE.
“More than three million people juggle care with having a job”,
says Jordan, “and it’s often impossible to find the time to source
the right help and claim procedures.”
This guide offers practical advice on how to claim entitlements and benefits,
as well as addressing the emotional and social needs of the carer. Above all,
it carries the important message; you’re not alone.
The Essential Carer’s Guide; (Hammersmith Press), £14.99. www.hammersmithpress.co.uk
The Princess Trust for Carers gets 50p from each copy sold
PUSHING FOR AN AFRICAN GLASNOST A
new campaign is underway to encourage greater openness about sexual health
and to foster a culture of condom use among Africans living in the UK.
There are currently an estimated 15,000 Africans living with HIV in the UK,
although the real number is thought to be much higher, as many remain untested.
The Department of Health funded Beyond Condoms campaign also
uses posters, leaflets and community workshops to encourage African women
to take control of their sexual health. Outreach workers are taking these
messages to community meeting places including markets, schools and churches.
Community and religious leaders and sports personalities are backing the campaign
by empowering women to negotiate safer sex and challenging social norms that
encourage people to have many partners. 
Beyond Condoms is a partnership between leading HIV African organisations
including the African HIV Policy Network (AHPN), Black Health Agency
and UKC.
Campaign materials advise on sexual health and where to go for a sexual health
check. They will be translated into French, Amharic, Swahili, Portuguese and
Somali.
Syson Namaganda, support services manager at the Black Health Agency, said: “Peer pressure continues to be the biggest influence on young people
having sex, and men are still calling the shots when it comes to condom use.”
Contact Walter Gillgower at AHPN on 020 7017 8913 or email walter.gillgower@ahpn.org
see NAHIP website here
THT SHROPSHIRE is setting up a SUPPORT GROUP FOR WOMEN LIVING
WITH OR AFFECTED BY HIV (and their children). Details of meeting
times and dates are still being worked out, but to register your interest,
contact Lotte or Gill on 01952 221 410 or email info.shropshire@tht.org.uk.
Artist
BOB STRACHAN is hoping his new creative projects will illustrate
how people can achieve their goals, no matter how difficult their situation.
After a “mid-life crisis of epic proportions”, HIV positive Bob
volunteered at Positive Futures and Positive East, with the HIV sector having
a prominent influence on his way of working. He hopes to help others by securing
funding to run more creative projects.
To find out more, email Bob at bobstrachan137@hotmail.com.
picture by David Rose
CD4 COMMUNITY SUPPORT GROUP is a Birmingham-based online community
and social group uniting people of all ages affected by HIV. The group was
set up to end isolation and loneliness and meets for monthly meals and socials
in the Birmingham area. The group welcomes HIV positive people online from
all over the UK and beyond.
“To get involved with the regular get-togethers members should be from
the West Midlands,” says chair Ian M (left), “but
the site is interactive and friendships can be forged online so we have members
from further afield.”
To use the site you’ll need to sign-up for an MSN Passport.
www.groups.msn.com/CD4CommunitySupportGroup
To
mark SEXUAL HEALTH WEEK (7–13 August) the Wellcome
Trust is staging a trio of free events at London Soho Theatre exploring the
nation’s health. The events are being run as a taster to the opening
of the Wellcome Collection (www.wellcomecollection.org.uk),
a major new exhibition exploring medicine, life and art, which opens next
year. Each event from this summer’s preamble will include short talks,
chaired discussion, open-floor debate and an informal drinks reception. Topics
include: ‘What Makes Us Happy?’ (11 July) ‘Exploring
the Rhythms of Life’ (19 July) and ‘Full Life,
Long Life?’ (26 July).
Tickets are free, but must be booked in advance. Call 020 7611 8442 or email
events@wellcome.ac.uk
SPEND YOUR WEEKEND POSITIVELY
Do you want to talk with other HIV positive men about sex, relationships and
life? POSITIVELY SPEAKING is a free residential weekend workshop
for gay men living with the virus to talk with other men in the same boat.
The weekend takes place in Gloucestershire between 29 September
and 1 October.
Call 020 7281 3121 or visit www.pacehealth.org.uk
Our
eagle-eyed products writer has uncovered a couple of new hair raising products
to give your barnet and spirits a lift this summer and turn a few heads in
the process.
This September, Boots introduces its new Styleworks range
with everything a guy or gal needs in the way of hair products, from putties
and waxes to good old-fashioned ‘firm hold’ hairspray. The utterly
reasonable £1.99 for each of the products earns it 7/10.
Duck’n’dive combo styler from Fish combines the
hold of its Jellyfish gel and pliability of its FishFingers wax. The great
coconut aroma bags it 8/10. Priced £4.99, for stockists, call 0800 0838
416. JK
Summer is given over to Gay Pride festivals up and down the UK. London’s EUROPRIDE FESTIVAL 06 takes place on 1 July
(www.pridelondon.org);
OXFORD PRIDE takes over Oxpens Field on 15 July
(www.oxfordpride.org.uk);
NOTTINGHAM PRIDE lays siege to Arboretum Park on 29
July, while
MANCHESTER PRIDE is a whole ten days of sports, arts, parading
and partying from 18–28 August.
1ST SURREY = Stories of Hope is a new play produced by the
South London African Women’s Organisation. Written by a group of HIV
positive women, it reflects their stories of living with the virus since arriving
in the UK. Pollards Hill Community Centre, South Lodge Avenue, Mitcham, Surrey.
Call 020 8648 1808 for tickets.
2ND LONDON The Gay Sunday Walking Group meets twice a month
and boasts over 160 members. If you fancy meeting new people and have the
stamina to ramble around the South East, get out your walking boots. 020 7701
1013.
2ND LONDON The Soho Masses Pastorial Council with Father
Bernard Lynch extends a warm welcome to LGBT Catholics, their parents, families
and friends. The Mass is followed by refreshments. The names of those recorded
in the Catholic Aids Memorial Book are remembered in prayer on the first Sunday
of every month. Contact Catholics for Aids Prevention and Support on 020 8986
0807 or email sohomasses@btinternet.com for details.
6TH WATFORD Join Murray and his stud muffins for some serious
funk and disco at the Vanity Pride Party. All door profits
and collections go to a Pride London charity. Baraka, The Parade, High St,
Watford. Call 07918 148039 or visit www.clubvanity.co.uk
for info.
14TH LONDON Sister Rebecca Harrill will talk about her HIV-focused
work in Africa, North America and the UK at Cara’s
Friday peer support group for people living with HIV. Call 020 7745 7257 or
email mail@caralife.com.
21ST LONDON NAM is hosting feedback on the International Aids Conference in Toronto from a top HIV doctor. 7-9pm, University of London Union, 3rd Floor, Rooms 3 C & D, Malet Street, London W1. Entrance is free. Call 020 7840 0050 or visit www.aidsmap.com for further details, or just turn up on the day. Please note: there is no forum in July.
UPDATE
An intrepid group of barristers from 2 Temple Gardens Chambers in London and
their friends are planning to raise £20,000 for the Children with Aids
Charity by cycling 350km from Bordeaux to Toulouse in August.
Sponsor them at www.justgiving.com/2tg
SHIELD SOUTH YORKSHIRE HIV SUPPORT GROUP offers a range of
services for people with HIV in the Sheffield area. Weekly activities (must
be pre-booked) include benefits advice (Wed), Learn Direct (Thu) and Tai Chi
(Fri). Monthly activities include Positive Men’s Group (1st and 3rd
Thu), Positive Women’s Group (2nd Thu) and relaxation classes (first
Thu).
Shield is also trying to secure a long-term future for its work. It has found
funding for its premises, but need to raise an extra £130,000 by the
end of August. Donate at www.justgiving.co.uk or visit www.shield.org.uk and buy a key ring, bracelet or badge for just £2. For more info on
their fundraising campaign and courses, call 0114 278 7916.
HARBOUR TRUST provides a Living Well self-management course
designed for people living with HIV in Greenwich, Bexley and Kent, under licence
from Stanford University, California.
This free course is run as one session per week for seven weeks, with participants
expected to complete the whole programme. It aims to improve life management
skills and self-empowerment. Call Beth on 020 8301 8142 or email beth_harbour.trust@yahoo.co.uk.
TERRENCE HIGGINS TRUST and SOLIHULL PRIMARY CARE TRUST have
joined forces to mark Sexual Health Week (7-13 August) by handing out sexual
health packs to young holiday makers. The campaign stand will be at Terminal
One, Birmingham International Airport, targeting those in the 18-30 age group.
Distributors will hand out packs containing condoms, lubricant, safe sex materials,
alcohol unit calculator wheels and bottle tops that protect holiday drinkers
from having their drink spiked.
