Lunch Positive, the HIV lunch club, celebrated their 10th anniversary on Friday, June 7, with a special lunch and a visit from the Mayor of Brighton & Hove, Cllr. Alexandra Philips who is also the new Green MEP for the South East.
LLOYD Russell-Moyle, the local MP for Brighton Kemp Town and Peacehaven, also joined in the celebration which attracted over 80 people to the weekly lunch club at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church in Kemptown.
Lunch Positive was formed in 2009 to fill a much needed gap in local HIV service provision following the closure of the long-standing Open Door project.
Lunch Positive brings people together to find social and peer support, share a healthy meal, find advice and information, and access to a wide range of other support and services.
The HIV lunch club has been built on the involvement of its members and contributions of volunteers. Volunteers have given over 50,000 hours of time since the service started.
The service remains strongly grassroots, involves and supports an increasing number of people each year, and is expanding the activities provided.
Gary Pargeter, Service Manager said: “It has been an amazing ten years so far, with everything we do based upon the amazing contributions of volunteers, our members, the community, friends and supporters. For all of us involved at Lunch Positive it is an immensely rewarding thing to actively be part of something that is based on values of supportiveness and caring about our community. Thank you everyone who has supported us and who has helped us to deliver our work. The lives of many hundreds of people have been touched by the contributions you have made.”
For more information about Lunch Positive, click here: