GlaxoSmithKline presents awards to five HIV charities for their work with Africans Neil Gerrard MP, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Aids (APPGA) and Mike Thompson, (centre) a vice president at GlaxoSmithKline with the winners at the 'Embrace' Awards ceremony last month. Embrace is GSK's health promotion programme for African people living in the UK who now make up a quarter of HIV diagnoses in this country. Five voluntary sector groups were each awarded £5,000 for their work in raising awareness of HIV testing among British African communities. The winners, out of 123 nominations, were the Black Health Agency from Manchester, GMFA from London, Gloucestershire Aids Trust, the RAIN Trust based in west London and Widows and Orphans based in east London. |
Questions are being raised about the lack of success of government schemes to get disabled people back into work after it was revealed that only five per cent on Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) programmes have found permanent jobs.
A new study reveals that only 1,400 disabled people worked for more than six months after getting help and just over 6,000 people were helped into any form of work - way short of the government target of 90,000.
The government’s ‘New Deal’ programme to get disabled people off benefits and back into the workplace is now being dismissed as “a sham and a fake” by disability campaigners. And compulsory work-focused interviews at job centres are being criticised.
Catherine A’Bear of the Shaw Trust said voluntary organisations were better placed to provide advice to disabled people.
“Employment interviews and work placements can’t be provided by the same people who are responsible for monitoring people’s benefits,” she said.
“Personal advisers at job centres felt they lacked the skills to adequately deal with disabled people,” a DWP spokesman said.
Allan Anderson, Operations Manager at Positive Futures, a partnership of five London HIV charities aimed at reskilling, retraining and getting HIV positive people back to work, said: “We have found that job centre advisers rarely understand the range of issues facing people with HIV, such as the impact on benefits and disclosure of status. The voluntary sector has this knowledge and is in a far better position to provide individual support.”
HIH the Grand Duchess Regina Fong. 1945 - 2003
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People of Caribbean background in the UK have experienced an increase in HV diagnoses second only to UK Africans, the 9th BHIVA Conference heard on 26 April.
Doctor Sara Dougan of the government’s Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre said that 2.3 times as many Caribbeans were diagnosed with HIV in 2001 as in 1997. One hundred and sixty seven tested HIV positive in 2001. About two-thirds acquired the virus heterosexually and about one-third through sex between men.
The heterosexuals had tended to acquire it in the Caribbean, which has, as a region, the second-highest rate of HIV in the world to Africa, but the gay men tended to be London residents. The HIV rate among gay Caribbean Londoners is a startling 18 per cent, nearly twice the rate of gay Londoners generally.
Caribbean men are also four times more likely than average to get gonorrhoea and women three times more likely.
Researchers are urging more research into the black gay Caribbean community here and better prevention messages tailored for them.
The 2002 Public Health Agency figures reported 745 black Caribbean HIV diagnoses in the UK since 1995, but the real statistics are likely to be much higher.
Anonymous testing has revealed that of heterosexual Caribbeans treated at GUM clinics who actually did have HIV, only 36 per cent either already knew they were positive or had an HIV test when they attended the clinic. Gus Cairns
Knights of Soho Easter Bonnet Parade
Entrants included beauties from bars and businesses, including Kandi Kane representing QX and Ebony for The Royal Vauxhall Tavern. The winner was the glamorous D'arcy from Heaven's Fruit Machine, in a classic 50s green satin number, who was presented with the first 'Fong Award', in memory of HIH Regina Fong. The Court raised a total of £3,000 for Positive Nation magazine. Thanks to all who made the event such fun. |
In April’s PN we reported that Manchester’s two biggest HIV charities - George House Trust (GHT) and Body Positive North West (BPNW) were about to merge. We spoke too soon. Late in April, BPNW’s trustees voted to reject the merger, leaving the future of both charities in the balance.
At press time, PN had no official word from BPNW. Sources close to the organisation told PN that Chief Executive Ian Jeffery, who had helped negotiate the merger, was considering his future. Employees and clients of BPNW were reportedly evenly divided over whether a merger with GHT was going to be in their best interests, with some concerned that it was a GHT ‘takeover’ rather than a merger.
GHT’s Chief Executive, Michelle Reid, told PN: “Clearly I’m disappointed with the decision. We believed that a single, strong, unified organisation would be in the best interests of people with HIV in the region. However, we will continue to maintain links with BPNW in the hope that one day this can be achieved.”
As to whether the merger was a de-facto GHT take-over of BPNW, Ms. Reid says: “This is absolutely not true. This was to be a merging of two organisations, using both their strengths. George House Trust does have a larger financial turnover, and sees larger numbers of HIV positive people. But the question of merger was broached by BPNW.” Edwin J Bernard
We
are saddened to announce the death on 15 April of popular stalwart of the London
drag scene Regina Fong. Regina, whose real name was Reg Bundy, died after a brave
battle against cancer at the age of 57. Regina was greatly loved by generations
of gay men in the capital. Over 350 people attended a moving ceremony at Golders
Green Crematorium on 28 April followed by a packed reception at the Black Cap
in Camden. Among celebrities present were Paul O'Grady, aka Lily Savage. Regina
was a long-term supporter of HIV charities.
A
riot of glamour and excess descended on London’s gay village on Easter Monday
as the Regal Court of the Knights of Soho inaugurated its first Easter Bonnet
Parade. Superhostess Pam Ann was crowned in Old Compton Street as the Regal Court’s
new Princess Royale with Jason Dickie, manager of the Vauxhall Tavern, as her
Consort.
The
procession paraded, or in some cases staggered, through Soho and ended up at G.A.Y.
for judging.