Marking World Aids Day 2020 in Brighton & Hove, online and offline

The city’s annual partnership main event for World Aids Day (WAD), the vigil and reading of the names, will, for obvious reasons, be mainly online this year, although New Steine Gardens will be open to visitors.

In a normal year, between 150 and 200 people would gather at the home of the Brighton & Hove Aids Memorial to mark the day and hear the reading of names of those who have lost their lives to the disease.

This year, Lunch Positive will be serving hot drinks from a marquee in the gardens from 11am; stewards will make sure social distancing is adhered to and face coverings are worn, but the majority of the event will be broadcast through Facebook.

The focus for 2020 is on frontline staff in the HIV sector and how they have responded over the past six months and adapted a lot of services to online.

Throughout the day there will be regular uploads of 90-second videos of people, including Sussex Beacon nurses, local MPs, volunteers and others, talking about how their HIV work and personal lives have been affected by the pandemic. At 6pm there will be a live reading of the names, which will remain online for a couple of hours.

Phillip Wragg, health promotion coordinator – community engagement & outreach for THT South, said:

“People can look at the different speeches and leave comments, as well as their own reflections on what WAD means to them.

“If people want to go to the gardens in person that’s absolutely fine. We are going to be there from about 10am. It really is impossible to do something physical on the day as a mark of remembrance. This [approach] doesn’t make it better but it does give us a bit more scope to involve more people – and they are not going to be standing around in the freezing cold.”

Join in online on the day at: www.facebook.com/ worldAIDSdayBH

The Brighton & Hove World AIDS Day Community Partnership is pleased to announce the following events to mark WAD on or around Tuesday, December 1.

Brighton AIDS Memorial Candlelight Vigil: Tuesday, December 1 @ 6pm, www.facebook.com/worldAIDSdayBH

Due to the current situation and restrictions with Covid 19, this year the WAD names reading and vigil will be held online and not as a physical event at the memorial.

The online event will be hosted on the Partnership’s Facebook page World AIDS Day – Brighton & Hove at www.facebook.com/worldAIDSdayBH on Tuesday, December 1. Short speeches by frontline workers, volunteers and local HIV organisations will be available to view throughout the day. The names reading and vigil will take place as a Facebook Live event at the usual time of 6pm. New Steine Gardens will still be open throughout the day on Tuesday, December 1 so members of the community can visit the Brighton & Hove Aids Memorial and pay their respects to loved ones.

Stewards will be present to ensure adherence to Covid-19 guidelines and to signpost people to emotional support if required.

For more information please contact Phillip Wragg at THT South on 07552 755161.

New names to be read (in addition to those read in previous years) can be emailed to susshivchap@ gmail.com by Friday, November 27.

Positive Space at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church (ground floor), Brighton, BN2 1RL on Sunday, November 29, pop by any time between 12.30pm and 3pm.

The Sussex HIV Chaplaincy invites you to drop in and reflect on what WAD means to you. An opportunity to light a candle of remembrance, to spend some time in personal prayer or reflection, or to talk with the HIV chaplain in a welcoming and supportive atmosphere, for those with some faith or none, ALL are welcome.

For more information, contact Revd Heather Leake Date: 07867 773360 or susshivchap@gmail.com.

Lunch Club members, friends and supporters of people with HIV are invited to a community WAD Sunday Lunch with Lunch Positive @ Dorset Gardens Methodist Church (1st & 2nd floors), Dorset Gardens, Brighton, BN2 1RL on Sunday, November 29 from 1pm with lunch served from 1.30pm.

As part of maintaining a Covid-secure setting, invitations will be sent out in advance or people can enquire about a place by contacting friends@lunchpositive.org or call 07846 464384.

Tuesday, December 1: WAD Lunch & Community Drop-In with Lunch Positive @ Dorset Gardens Methodist Church (1st floor), Dorset Gardens, Brighton BN2 1RL.

Open to anyone, Lunch Positive will open from 12pm till 3pm for light snacks and refreshments in a café style setting. There is no charge, but donations are welcome. This is an open event, though numbers may be limited as part of a Covid-secure setting.

For info, contact friends@lunchpositive.org or call 07846 464384

More to me than HIV from Tuesday, November 24 onwards – online at www.moretomethanHIV.life.

An online exhibition of self portraits, celebrating the diversity of people living with HIV, championing the fact that HIV does not define us, and that we can live as normal a life as anybody else. The exhibition will also be available with other video content on the YouTube channel www.youtube.com/channel/ UCSK3TdZxG6VdiXra8syTV1w.

More To Me Than HIV aims to combat stigma by showing the passions and ambitions of people living with HIV, by asking them to define themselves with one self portrait, two pictures of their passions, and three words to describe themselves.

For further information please contact David Fray, phone 07871 705575 or email info@moretomethanhiv.life

The Brighton & Hove World Aids Day Partnership comprises: Avert, BHCC Partnership Community Safety Team, Frontline AIDS, the HIV and SHAC (Sexual Health and Contraception) teams, the LGBT Safety Forum, Lunch Positive, More to Me Than HIV, Peer Action, The Rainbow Hub, The Sussex Beacon, Sussex Ecumenical HIV Chaplaincy and THT South.