GARY PARGETER. PHOTO BY CHRIS JEPSON - IDENTITY PROJECT WWW.THEIDENTITYPROJECT.CO.UK
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WORLD AIDS DAY DIARY ) Wednesday, November 24 - Saturday, December 4: BRIGHTON AIDS MEMORIAL EXHIBITION: A remembrance project showcasing the stories and history of the AIDS epidemic in the Brighton & Hove area. Open to visitors at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church, Brighton BN2 1RL between 10am-4pm. Closed Thursdays, with refreshments provided by Lunch Positive. Also on display in the windows of the Ledward Centre on Jubilee Street, Brighton. More info, email brightonaidsmemorial@gmail.com or follow on Instagram @ thebrightonaidsmemorial. ) Sunday, November 28: LUNCH POSITIVE COMMUNITY LUNCH at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church community rooms, Dorset Gardens, Brighton BN2 1RL from 12.30pm with lunch served 1pm. This gathering is an open invitation to the community to spend supportive social time together over an enjoyable community lunch as part of the city’s World AIDS Day activities. Provided by Lunch Positive volunteers. For more info, visit www.lunchpositive.org or email friends@lunchpositive.org. ) Sunday, November 28 onwards: MORE TO ME THAN HIV EXHIBITION at Jubilee Library, Jubilee Street, Brighton, BN1 1GE. An exhibition challenging HIV stigma and celebrating HIV lives. For more info, visit: www.moretomthanHIV.life. ) Wednesday, December 1 at 6pm: BRIGHTON AIDS MEMORIAL CANDLELIT VIGIL at New Steine Gardens. All are welcome to attend the remembrance event of those we have lost to HIV/AIDS in Brighton & Hove. There will be a reading of the names and space will be available for anyone seeking quiet moments of reflection. A series of videos of support will also be shown during the day on the Brighton & Hove World AIDS Day Facebook page: www.facebook.com/worldAIDSdayBH The annual gathering at the Brighton AIDS Memorial is hosted by the Brighton & Hove World AIDS Day Community Partnership. New names to be read (in addition to those read in previous years) can be emailed to susshivchap@gmail.com by November 28, or can be added to the list at the New Steine Gardens memorial space between 4-5pm on the day. ) Sussex HIV Chaplaincy - SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE AND HOPE. Details to be confirmed. For info, contact Revd Heather Leake Date: 07867 773360 or susshivchap@gmail.com.
HIV COMMUNITY REPRESENTATION By Gary Pargeter ) I consider myself privileged to be born and grow up gay in Brighton. I know it was easier here for me compared to many elsewhere, and it’s now almost 30 years since being diagnosed HIV positive. Taking part in the recent Identity Project by Chris Jepson was a joyous thing, giving me the opportunity to celebrate my HIV status proudly as integral to my identity, largely through a long held selfacceptance. It gave a space to acknowledge that the tremendous and still deeply felt loss of partners, friends and acquaintances, together with a changed path of life have all helped me develop a greater resilience; hopefully a deeper appreciation and broader outlook on life. Of course it hasn’t always felt this way. Especially when I was younger the path often felt insecure, worrying and uncertain. Communities I have known and continue to know, those I am part of and how they have supported are so important. For the last 28 years I have in one way or another been involved in the local voluntary sector, as service user, volunteer, worker, sometimes all these together. It’s the voluntary sector that I have a deep rooted passion for, its community base, ethos and values. Since 2017 I have volunteered as an elected HIV community representative for Brighton & Hove Community Works. This gives the opportunity to share insights and perspectives gained through active involvement in the voluntary sector. Local planning and decision making can be informed through the reps’ input, and for some time now much of my role has been supporting the HIV Fast Track City task force, equalities forums, and local authority policy alongside other themed community reps. Much has changed in the voluntary sector since my first involvement and continues to. Not only the funding landscape, but also the ways charities and community groups operate; the health and social care system; the dynamics, balance of power and influence between local authorities, statutory agencies, large and smaller organisations; and the opportunities for communities to have a collective control of their own support.
PHOTO: SIMON PEPPER (WAD 2019)
Living with HIV has changed beyond what we thought imaginable 20 to 40 years ago, and of course much of the voluntary sector has changed with it, as you’d expect. Where people with HIV have themselves been involved, and the genuine needs of people with HIV, rather than only the interests of those in authority have been central to that change, it must be good. Largely that’s my experience of being an HIV positive man in Brighton. Long may that continue, and always more clearly heard should the quieter voice be! D For more info on the Identity Project, visit: www.theidentityproject.co.uk
