Words by Josh Sharples, Sue Hunter, Tony McGraff, Stephen Hart and David Fray.
Perhaps one of this city’s best, (or depending on your view, worst), kept secrets, is that we host the only radio programme dedicated to people living with HIV, and it is also for people affected by HIV. Doesn’t that mean everyone? Yes, we think so.
The HIV Hour is broadcast on 97.2 FM in the Brighton & Hove area and on DAB+ radio. Whilst there are other podcasts produced for people living with HIV, the show is currently the only one that is broadcast on radio.
We have a small team of volunteer presenters and producers that is quite a good representation of most of the communities that we aim to reach. All our presenters are living with HIV and are local to Brighton, Hove and Worthing, with one of our presenters representing communities in London.
Our audience has gotten to know us over the years and trusts us as a source of news and support. We inform listeners about local and national services and how to make healthy lifestyle choices. We talk about stigma and the importance of education and sharing up-to-date information.
We have built up a good rapport with healthcare providers and service providers, with many coming forward to ask to come onto the show and engage with our audience. At national HIV conferences, we have been applauded by healthcare professionals for reaching into people’s homes such as in rural areas where internet connectivity is patchy.
Our podcast, with its national and international reach, expands the show’s influence far beyond Brighton & Hove. We strive to have as many of our communities as possible represented in our guests and news features and discussions.
At the end of July 2023, the HIV Hour show took part in the first Zero HIV Sigma Day in Brighton & Hove and encouraged our audience to attend the first Stigma March in London.
We were thrilled to be invited to take part in the recent Ageing Well with HIV Community Lunch where we met people who had been on the show in the past and new people who wanted to take part.
It was good to meet our audience in places where they meet, and that is what we have planned for the next year, to outreach to our audience and invite them to join us in talking about the HIV issues they want discussed.
In October we were thrilled to be given a grant by the Brighton Rainbow Fund to do exactly this, meet our audience in their natural habitat, (so to speak). After all, we broadcast into their homes, it is only right that we meet them in places where they access services. So we aim to visit Lunch Positive, (including their outer Brighton services), the Worthing Hub, the Sussex Beacon and the Lawson Unit Patient Panel and others.
So please get in touch with us and join us on the show. Please email us at HIVHour@gmail.com, we would love to hear from you.
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