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Rainbow Chorus to the rescue

Rainbow Chorus volunteers recently responded to a call-out from Lunch Positive, the HIV Charity, to help prepare a fundraising buffet feeding 250 people.

The buffet for Sussex Partnership NHS Trust Member’s meeting on November 19, raised £2,000 for Lunch Positive, the weekly HIV Lunch Club that provides a healthy community meal, peer support, advice and information, and a safe and supportive social space for people with HIV.

Ten volunteers from Rainbow Chorus enthusiastically responded, and joined together with Lunch Positive volunteers, members and supporters to provide sixteen freshly prepared cold dishes, all of which had a real wow factor at the event, with diners all commenting on how fantastic the food was!

We are so grateful to Rainbow Chorus who responded so brilliantly to our call-out for help preparing this buffet. This is the largest event we have catered for. It has been an important fundraiser for us, and the Rainbow Chorus support meant not only that we could successfully fulfil the order for food, but importantly that our own volunteer team had the available time and capacity to fundraise for such a large event whilst still preparing and delivering the weekly HIV lunch club at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church.

It was fantastic working with Rainbow Chorus volunteers. They are such a cooperative, enthusiastic and happy group of people, and a real pleasure to spend time with. They worked so very hard, and we are hugely grateful. This response to our call-out is a genuine example of how community responds when there’s a need.

A community in action!

Gary Pargeter
Lunch Positive Service Manager

Take a test during National HIV Testing Week 2017

There are still alarming and unacceptable rates of undiagnosed HIV and late diagnoses, which perpetuate the spread of HIV in the UK.

However, there remains a powerful tool that could help stop the epidemic in its tracks: the HIV test.

During National HIV Testing Week, co-ordinated by Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), the charity wants to create a culture shift so that regular testing becomes the norm in every community.

People who know their HIV status, with early detection and effective treatment, can live long and healthy lives with the virus. Taking treatment for HIV lowers the amount of virus in your blood to ‘undetectable’ levels, which stops it from damaging the immune system and means the virus cannot be passed on to other people.

But, too many people are missing out on HIV tests – perhaps due to fear of the result, or the assumption that they’re not at risk. HIV remains an issue for everyone.

Aaron, who by day lives on a canal barge out in the countryside, and by night is Vicki Vivacious, the queen of drag, a star in Soho, is one of the new faces of National HIV Testing Week, and sharing his story of regularly testing.

“I regularly get tested for HIV, and I remember my first one like it was yesterday,” says Aaron. “I was 17 and it was scary because it was the unknown. I didn’t know what to expect and I was worried what other people might say if it was positive. But now I know it’s so much better to test and know.

“I want to be a part of this campaign to help spread awareness and educate people. I work on the scene, and so I hope by having people in the campaign that people know and relate to, we can send them a message and get them testing.”

HIV testing is free, fast, confidential and has never been easier. You can test in a hospital, sexual health clinic, at a community event, by post, or even at home.

Give HIV the finger: a finger prick test is all it takes.

National HIV Testing Week commences November 18, 2017.

To find out where to get a free HIV test, or order a HIV self-test kit, click here:

 

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