The National HIV Story Trust awarded £240,188 National Lottery Heritage Fund Grant to deliver a regional outreach programme over the next three years
We are absolutely delighted to announce that the National HIV Story Trust (NHST) has launched HIVstory – an innovative community outreach programme across the UK. This has been made possible with a grant of £240,188 awarded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and thanks to National Lottery players.
HIVstory will raise further awareness of the AIDS pandemic and generate positive social change, particularly with younger generations who may have little or no knowledge of this period of history
“HIVstory will help to preserve this rich and extraordinary history, honour the lives of so many people who were lost to the pandemic, and acknowledge those who live with HIV today.” – Paul Coleman Co-Founder NHST
This first-of-its-kind project is a three-year, UK-wide outreach programme that will raise awareness and understanding of the history of HIV and AIDS. Through a combination of live and virtual events participants will gain access to an often-overlooked part of the UK’s heritage, enter into discussion, and learn about the current issues around HIV – largely through the power of first-person storytelling.
Tapping into our significant archive of filmed interviews we will roll out a programme of events across a variety of settings and formats, ranging from village halls to creative workshops. The NHST will also work with a selection of partners to host film screenings, conferences, and heritage focused educational events. The programme will also offer skills training to local communities with the opportunity for three young persons to start an apprenticeship in the heritage sector.
An online space for people across the UK will be created to allow the widest possible audience to access and interact with the unique archive.
We will also bring together community members who have experienced trauma and loss, and live with the impact of the pandemic, improving well-being and strengthening support. The charity will host community symposiums and empowerment events to raise awareness of people living with HIV and their supporters.
“We are grateful to be working with fantastic partners as we continue to find new ways to tell the truly incredible stories in the archive, including through the arts, books, podcasts, exhibitions and film. HIVstory now presents us with an opportunity to reach even more people and ensure the essential history and the ongoing story of HIV and AIDS is not lost.” Nick Thorogood, Co-founder NHST
We are delighted to be collaborating with partners from the Royal College of Nursing, London Metropolitan Archive, and Newcastle University to deliver this landmark programme:
Royal College of Nursing: “The RCN History of Nursing Forum is delighted to be a partner in this exciting collaborative project. It is vital that we collect the stories of nurses and carers who were touched in some way by HIV and AIDS. We will be recruiting volunteer interviewers and engaging with those who worked or lived through the AIDS pandemic.”
London Archives: “London Archives is delighted to be partnering with the NHST on this exciting project which will allow for the NHST interviews held at the London Archives to be more widely acknowledged, shared and viewed. Throughout this project we hope to be able to support the NHST in its mission to use this content to inform, educate and inspire conversations.”
Newcastle University: “Newcastle University’s involvement with NHST on the HIVstory project will seek to explore, develop and link together individual, community-defined and inter-generational narratives of the HIV and AIDS pandemic in a regional context.
Using aspects of oral history research relating to LGBTQ+ stories and histories of the HIV and AIDS pandemic we will work with NHST and several other arts and archival organisations to examine how these stories become activist instruments for change.
Using the Queer Media, Culture, Heritage research cluster (QMCH) at Newcastle we will also connect students and volunteers to NHST and work to provide specific training opportunities allied to community heritage projects and oral history.”
To find out more about HIVstory or NHST email us: [email protected].
