Author: Besi

Men Get Eating Disorders Too (MGEDT) a charity for men with eating disorders have announced a new peer support service in partnership with the Carers Centre, As You Are and Brighton and Hove Eating Disorders Service (BHEDS).

The Peer Support Service will involve three groups for adults affected by eating disorders in men, women and carers living in Brighton and Hove. Until now, limited community-based support has been available for those suffering from anorexia, bulimia, binge eating and other eating disorders.

Sam Thomas, MGEDT Founder and Director, said: “The new partnership will help improve early intervention and improved support for those with eating disorders in the local area. Too often, sufferers and their carers feel unable to seek support due to the barriers faced. By creating safe spaces for those in need, we hope that those affected will not have to suffer in silence or get to crisis point before the seek help.”

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses that affect 1.6 million people in the UK as well as their friends and family.

Sam, added: “Watching the effect of an eating disorder on a loved one can be extremely distressing; it is difficult to know what to do and how to react or where to turn. It is expected the Peer Support Service will address this gap in provision.”

Neil Holmes, Chair of MGEDT, commented: “We are pleased to be working in partnership with our local NHS Foundation Trust: Sussex Partnership, who have recognised the importance of having a community led Peer Support service within the overall treatment and support for people with an eating disorder in Brighton and Hove, and significantly that men are targeted as a specific group alongside Women and Carers: targeting these three groups individually is essential. We hope that we can build on these positive developments with Sussex Partnership, towards an accessible Peer Support service across Sussex for all members of the community.”

Dr Renate Pantke, Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, added: “For some years we have been working together with our partners in the NHS commissioning group towards improving services for people with eating disorders. We are delighted that we are seeing this come to fruition in the developments of the peer support groups as well as the extended Brighton and Hove Eating Disorder service (BHEDS). BHEDS offers interventions to adults with eating disorders of any level of severity. Our close links with the peer support groups will reduce isolation in those affected by eating disorders and facilitate access to treatment.”

Any person affected by eating disorders and problem eating over the age of eighteen from the Brighton and Hove area is able to attend the groups. Those wishing to attend are welcome to be part of the Peer Support group whether or not they are currently receiving support such as counselling or other therapies.

The men’s, women’s and carers peer support groups will be held monthly on a weekday evening (dates/times tbc) and due to start in the Summer.

For more information, CLICK HERE:

MGEDT is celebrating it’s fifth year birthday by putting on the ‘Stand Up To Eating Disorders’ event on April 24, 7-10pm, at the Latest Music Bar.

The event will be a showcase of their work to date and future developments and will be attended by a mixture of special guests, supporters as well as members of the community. Everyone is welcome to attend.  Tickets cost £10 and proceeds go to MGEDT.

For a list of performers and to book your tickets, CLICK HERE:

A new report published by Counterpoint Policy Alliance (CPA) highlights the damaging impact welfare reforms are having upon people living with HIV.

Based on a survey of 287 people diagnosed with HIV across England the report found that two-thirds of respondants were affected by benefit changes, with nine out of ten reporting poorer health and limited access to HIV care as a result. The report was carried out by the Counterpoint Policy Alliance, a collaboration of three leading HIV charities – NAZ Project London, Positive East and Positively UK.

Key findings in the report are:

• The number of benefit changes individuals go through make a significant difference to their health and well-being
• The medical assessments of PIP and ESA are failing to addressing the psychological impact of HIV and the variable impact of the condition on day-to-day life
• There are significant reductions in the services offered by HIV charities
• Women from black and minority Ethnic communities, Latin Americans and white gay men over 50 are hardest hit by welfare reform
• There are serious mental health issues caused by the shame and stigma that respondents feel when applying for benefits.

Handling of the reforms is criticised in the report in particular assessments and their failure in supporting some of the most vulnerable.

In the words of one person living with HIV: “I had to appeal against my medical assessment. When it went to appeal it was given to me and not only that they decided I should have been in support group of ESA. This is so stressful and makes problems worse when having to appeal and money reduced until it is sorted.”

According to a Counterpoint Spokesperson the combination of benefit cuts to people living with HIV and funding cuts to HIV charities are placing people at risk.  “All of our charities are seeing a lot more people coming in who are homeless and sleeping on friends’ sofas, have no money to pay for basic essentials such as travel or clothing and can’t afford to feed themselves and their children.”

As a result the Counterpoint Policy Alliance is launching a new campaign ‘No-one should leave the clinic hungry’ to raise awareness of these problems.  “We need to bring this issue to the attention of the NHS, MPs, Local Authorities and all those who can help change these punitive policies.  Anyone who doesn’t have enough to eat will suffer poor health, and this is worse if you are living with HIV in getting the right foods to keep fit and healthy.  If we don’t act now this problem could become a crisis for many people living with HIV.”

To download the summary report CLICK HERE:

For more information about NAZ Project London, CLICK HERE:    

For more information about Positive East, CLICK HERE:         

For more information about Positively UK, CLICK HERE:                         

A postal HIV testing scheme received over 3,000 orders in one weekend; showing “significant demand” for option to test at home says Terrence Higgins Trust (THT).

HIV and sexual health charity THT received more than 3,000 requests for postal HIV tests during one weekend, demonstrating “significant nationwide demand and acceptability” for the option to test for HIV at home.

This figure is included in initial findings from the charity’s HIV self-sampling scheme, presented today at the British HIV Association (BHIVA) Conference.

The scheme, which launched in January 2013, invited groups at increased risk of infection to place an order online and receive a free HIV test kit through the post. Users were asked to provide a finger-prick of blood, which they then posted to a laboratory for testing. The result was returned within 14 days, either by text message (if the result was negative), or with a telephone call to provide support and referral to a specialist HIV service (if the result was positive).

The scheme was launched in partnership with Public Health England and was promoted through HIV Prevention England’s campaign It Starts With Me.

Key findings from the pilot of the self-sampling scheme include:

• 9,868 HIV test kits were ordered between January and September 2013, 64% of which were returned.

• 73% of those who returned a test were gay or bisexual men, while around 4.4% were African (the two communities at increased risk of HIV in the UK).

• 32% of those who returned a test had never tested for HIV before, and 25% had not tested in the last 12 months.

• 1.7% of the returned tests were positive, rising to 1.8% among gay and bisexual men and 3.6% among Africans.

• 97% of a sample of 915 users agreed that they would use the HIV self-sampling service again.

In March 2014, following a concerted marketing push during its second phase, the scheme received more than 3,000 postal orders in one weekend.

Dr Michael Brady, Medical Director at Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “We set up this pilot because people were telling us they would be more likely to test for HIV in the privacy of their own home. What we hadn’t anticipated was just how popular the scheme would be, with demand very nearly outstripping supply on more than one occasion.

“Given the scale of public demand, and the positive feedback from those who have used the service, it is likely that HIV self-sampling will form a key strut of our prevention work in the UK from this point on. It also suggests there may be reasonable demand for HIV self-testing once an approved kit goes on sale.”

There are currently more than 100,000 people living with HIV in the UK. However, around 22% of those with the virus remain undiagnosed. Undiagnosed infection is widely recognised as a key factor driving the UK’s HIV epidemic, as someone who remains undiagnosed is much more likely to pass the virus on unwittingly than someone who has tested and is on treatment.

From Sunday, April 6, the sale of HIV self-testing kits – where a person performs an HIV test on themselves and receives an immediate result – will become legal in the UK. However, no kit has yet been approved that is available for sale. It is likely that the first approved kits will be available by late 2014 or early 2015.

For further information on HIV testing, CLICK HERE: