Compiled
and edited
by Martin Flynn
condom distribution project will also continue."
The crisis was exacerbated by funders withholding grants for the last
quarter of 2001-2 when the financial situation became clear, though many
have now paid their instalments, following the DoH grant. Dawn Hill said:
"I'd like to urge funders to honour commitments to projects we currently
provide."
Hill and fellow board member Kojo Torunarigha told Positive Nation that
they had been concerned about Blackliners' financial viability for at
least a year, but that full accounts had not been provided to the board.
The new budget drawn up by the board is for £507,000.
Hill explained: "It was only at the end of March that it became clear
we were running at a deficit, and the board was called on to take proper
charge by the rest of the management team."
The most significant casualty of the funding crisis is the disbanding
of the Peer Education Project, whose educational courses received wide
praise for empowering African people to be public about living with HIV.
Well-respected team managers Darren Ravenor and Edith Kagwa are among
the redundancies.
"My biggest concern is the newly-diagnosed clients we have had to
leave hanging in mid-course," Ravenor told Positive Nation. "I
am trying to secure independent funding to finish the current series."
"It has taken us a long time to reach out to the African communities,"
he continued. "The moment we start succeeding, this happens."
page 2 of 8
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Blackliners' HIV prevention campaigns are also being put on hold at present,
