Entry 796 - My World AIDS day

Today I helped Positive East collect money at Clapham Common station:

"Positive East is a leading community-based HIV Charity. By building on more than 20 years of experience in the successful delivery of services across east London boroughs, we are now even more able to provide a fully comprehensive and co-ordinated practical and emotional support for those people living with and affected by HIV in east London."

I went to G-A-Y bar in SoHo and had a test (Negative), which they donated £10 to the Elton John Aids Foundation:

"The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) was established in the United States in 1992 by Sir Elton John, and is now located in New York City. In 1993, Sir Elton also established his Foundation as a registered charity in the United Kingdom, headquartered in London. These two organizations function as separate entities with their own distinct grant-making portfolios, but both pursue the same mission - to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS through innovative HIV prevention programs, efforts to eliminate stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS, and direct treatment and care services for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Today, EJAF is one of the world's leading nonprofits working in this field. Together, the two organizations have raised more than $275 million in support of worthy projects in 55 countries around the world, including significant funding dedicated to programs in their respective home countries. The U.S. organization awards grants to community-based projects across the United States, the Americas, and the Caribbean. The U.K. organization focuses its grant making on programs in Africa, Asia, and Europe."

And then at work we were raising money for the GMFA:

"Founded in 1992, GMFA is the UK's leading charity dedicated to gay men's health. Our mission is to improve gay men's health by increasing the control they have over their own lives.

We believe that the best health promotion for gay men comes from gay men themselves. For this reason, we use the knowledge and ideas of volunteers, most of them gay men, to design and plan our sexual health interventions. These include a range of advertising campaigns, leaflets, postcards and booklets; FS, our health magazine, distributed nationally in gay venues and GU clinics; and national and London-based courses covering sex education, life skills and smoking cessation. In addition, we create targeted sexual health interventions for black gay men and HIV positive gay men.

Independent surveys have concluded that GMFA's advertising campaigns reach up to 60% of the London gay population and hundreds of thousands of gay men access our online sexual health information each year, making GMFA the most reliable agency for reaching gay men."

As always

We all can make a difference, whether it's through a donation, volunteering or simply making wiser decisions regarding your sexual health. Together we can stop the spread of HIV and end prejudice. HIV: Act Aware.