Positive East

We’re proud to launch our U=U community quilt! Get involved in this large-scale community art project and submit your selfie and help us celebrate the powerful message of U=U! What is the U=U Quilt? Acknowledging the powerful history of the UK AIDS Quilt – established to memorialise those lives cut short due to HIV and AIDS – Positive East will create three 6-foot x 6 foot quilt panels, comprised of thousands of selfies of both those living with HIV as well as allies of the U=U message. The individual selfies will be printed on fabrics then hand-stitched together, celebrating each individual and their contribution to the U=U movement. Overlayed will be the three, but simple and powerful letters U = U. From far away these letters will be clearly visible, however, as you approach the quilt panels, the letters will dissolve, unfolding a diverse mosaic of individuals from our community. We will craft the U=U with the same love and care as the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt, to be an ongoing testament and powerful reminder for future generations. The U=U quilt in many ways will allow us to reimagine the AIDS quilt in the historic era of U=U. Get involved here https://lnkd.in/eQUMpneG This project was made possible with the generous support from the Laura Waters British HIV Association (BHIVA) Community Grant Award.

Pamela Menzies Banton and I are featured in UCL Community Research Initiative's Impact Zine! Excited to see the contribution that this initiative will have in advancing HIV PrEP awareness and strengthening sexual health services for Black African and Caribbean women in the UK. #healthequity #women4women (@Renee West @Positive East)

Yesterday on the 1st December 2024 Positive East London were proud to collaborate with Canary Wharf Group on a historic event, transforming a globally recognised building – One Canada Square - into a symbol of HIV awareness to mark World AIDS Day 2024. The halo, nearly 240 meters above the capital, glowed red, a colour ubiquitous to the HIV movement that signifies remembrance, reflection, hope and courage. This is the first time in One Canada Square’s 33-year history where World AIDS Day has been honoured in this way. Before the lighting of One Canada Square’s halo, a candle lit vigil took place to commemorate those we have lost. Since 1988, communities have aligned on 1st December in a show of strength and solidarity, to collectively raise awareness of the global impact of HIV/AIDS, remember lives lost to the HIV pandemic and galvanise the community to continue addressing HIV stigma whilst fostering hope and unity. Thank you to everyone who made this incredible evening possible and everyone who spoke including Ayesha Casely-Hayford , Prof. Kevin Fenton CBE and our very own Executive Director Mark Santos.

We couldn’t be prouder to announce that RED RUN 2024 has raised an incredible £223,300 for 31 HIV charities! These funds will help ensure life changing HIV support and prevention services continue to make a difference. On Saturday we took action and laced up, we stood in solidarity with those living with HIV, we affirmed our loved ones and we shouted ‘U=U!’. Thank you so much to everyone who took part, ran, walked, sashayed, volunteered, fundraised and came out in support despite the weather! Thank you again to our 2024 World AIDS Day RED RUN sponsors: PLATINUM ViiV Healthcare MAC VIVA Glam GOLD Gilead Sciences SILVER & IN KIND MSD Eagle London Pryde & Co #REDRUNldn

On Saturday, Positive East will proudly host the 2024 World AIDS Day RED RUN. We are thrilled to welcome thousands as we all come together to celebrate progress made, unite for continued support and create a platform to raise awareness and essential funding. This year, we have a record-breaking team of nearly 300 hundred who will be Taking Action and Lacing Up in support of Positive East! Please join us in thanking all these amazing individuals who will be supporting Positive East on Saturday! Our goal is to raise £35,000 for our HIV support and prevention services via our runners/walkers JustGiving pages – please make a donation to our World AIDS Day RED RUN campaign page, and help our runners/walkers reach their targets!  https://lnkd.in/eVgeC_YE

More than 180,000 Londoners are currently homeless and living in temporary accommodation. That’s around 1 in 50 Londoners, one child in every classroom. This “temporary” arrangement can often last for years, with significant and damaging impacts on people’s health and wellbeing. Through our “Better Temporary Accommodation for Londoners” programme, we've worked with organisations across the city to better understand the health impacts of London’s temporary accommodation crisis. Here’s what we’ve learned: ▪️ Long stays in temporary accommodation are detrimental to physical health, mental wellbeing, and even children’s education ▪️ Some families are put in accommodation without basic cooking and food storage facilities. This can make a healthy diet impossible, which can have long term impacts on children’s health ▪️ People in temporary accommodation can often feel isolated, insecure and hopeless, exacerbating mental health problems ▪️ Healthcare needs or mobility issues are often not considered when people are placed in temporary accommodation. Several people have described living in temporary accommodation they found hard to even access ▪️ People with specific health needs, such as those living with HIV, can face additional challenges - such as around privacy, or safely storing medication The work of organisations like Groundswell - Homelessness Charity UK, the Magpie Project & Positive East is helping to shine a light on the health toll of London’s temporary accommodation crisis. The government needs to tackle the homelessness crisis at its root, so that eventually temporary accommodation is no longer necessary. This means we need to build significantly more social housing. In the meantime, when people do have to rely on temporary accommodation, their stays should be as short, safe and healthy as possible. For this, we need national regulation and enforcement of quality standards. Read our full blog to learn more about the research carried out so far by our funded partners and what we know about the link between temporary accommodation and health & wellbeing: https://lnkd.in/e-6h_97f

Positive East presented at HIV Prevention England's 2024 conference with the theme 'Prioritising Equity and Impact’, bringing together community organisations, commissioners, clinicians and the private sector for vital conversations during this time of change in HIV prevention. We are so proud of all the incredible work presented by Positive East at the conference. Renee West presented on PrEP awareness, access and adherence among people from black African and Caribbean (BAC), Latin Gay, Bisexual and Men who have Sex with other Men (GBMSM) and trans and non-binary communities. Renee also presented on the treatment journeys of 12 black African women living with HIV in London as well as advocating for global equitable access to HIV diagnosis, prevention, treatment and on-going support to be able to end HIV transmission by 2030. Euriza Mata presented the results of a survey to determine sexual health knowledge and service access preferences for people of Black heritage resident in the City of London and Hackney. Pamela Menzies Banton presented a poster on the Sexual Health service responsiveness to telephone requests for access to PrEP in London. steve Worrall also chaired the session on ‘Making an impact in re-engagement and retention in care’ and Pank Sethi chaired the session on ‘Working in partnership for impact’. You can watch the conference and view the presentations at HIV Prevention England's website.

And I’m thrilled to be doing this with @positiveeast! The October edition in our series of Wellbeing Matters will be focusing on ‘Being heard by your doctor’. We’re thrilled to be welcoming Dr. Rageshri Dhairyawan, Consultant in Sexual Health and HIV Medicine, at Barts Health NHS Trust who has written a book on this subject Unheard: The medical practice of silencing. We’ll also look forward to hearing your own experiences of not being heard by medical practitioners – as well as your good examples of when you have felt listened to. For more information, to book a place, or register to receive the Zoom link head to our What’s On page - https://lnkd.in/ecxCHxc5

We are delighted to announce that The National Lottery Community Fund has awarded Positive East £300,000 towards our Health and Wellbeing programme over the next three years!  This funding will provide peer-led health and wellbeing support designed with and for People Living with HIV. This programme supports over 500 people a year with wellbeing panels, peer mentoring, support groups, courses and workshops, social outings, and our soon-to-launch befriending service. Through this programme, People Living with HIV have the opportunity to build stronger support networks, reduce isolation, improve their mental health, boost their self-esteem and confidence in managing their health.  Thank you to The National Lottery Community Fund for working to improve the wellbeing and quality of life of People Living with HIV in East London. 

Congratulations to Maxie, one of our wonderful volunteers, for winning an award for their dissertation at the UCL 2024 Community Research Initiative Showcase! Positive East's collaborative work with universities is to encourage and support researchers to gain further insight into topics that benefit People Living with HIV and towards providing improved support and care.