The first meeting of Body Positive Staffordshire was a great success. A tasty buffet prepared by Robert Till was enjoyed by all. There was a good atmosphere and, having elected a leader for the meeting the group decided on a mission statement which is the same as the one for ‘Positive Lives’: “The voice of people living with HIV in Staffordshire.” It was clear from the discussions which took place over the following couple of hours that one of the main objects of the group would be peer support.

Much information and shared experiences, about the side effects of the new drugs and coping with HIV, provided useful advise and entertaining listening. Some of the stories provoked howls of laughter and whilst not out of place in this closed group, those who told their tales might have been embarrassed to repeat them in any other circumstances. It was particularly good to see the newly diagnosed seeking and being given advice from the “long term survivors”.

Why the question mark? Having decided to meet up on the first Tuesday of each month, only two people turned up for the second meeting. Maybe it was because it was Easter, maybe it was the weather. A finger buffet for 10 was prepared. The food was not wasted, however,only two of the people for whom it was intended had the benefit of enjoying it. For the next meeting it might be “Dial a Pizza” then catering numbers will be spot on.

Attendance must not seem to be an obligation but there clearly needs to be enough people to make meetings worthwhile. Any suggestions?

BP Staffordshire meets first Tuesday of each month - next meeting 5th May

Services

Tuesdays 2.00 - 4.30 Drop-In
(Therapy Sessions to be booked via therapists)

New Drop-In afternoon to be announced shortly

Internet and Computer Access by arrangement
(Tuition available Tuesday evenings by arrangement with Bob.)

Volunteers

Tuesday 5th May
Volunteer Update and Social - Upper House Barlaston 7.30pm for a 7.45pm start. Terry Davis from Barnado Broad Street Project.

Wednesday 6th May
Burton on Trent Sexual Awareness Campaign at the college

Wednesday 13th May
Executive Meeting - Lichfield

Saturday 9th May
Maz and Jane Haswell sponsored Parachute Jump. See Back Page.

Friday 22nd - Sunday 24th May
Exotica Exhibition - Britannia Stadium. Staffs Buddies display.

Tuesday 2nd June 7.30pm for 7.45pm start.
Staffordshire Buddies AGM Upper House Barlaston

TREATMENT ISSUES

Peter Butler, (Clinical Nurse Specialist) has recently been in touch to inform us of a change in procedure regarding recently (and previously) HIV+ diagnosed patients. Peter says:

“Letters have been sent to all previously known HIV positive clients informing them of my existence and, with the agreement of Dr Tubbs and Dr Singh, all new clients will be referred to myself for assessment.

The Pharmacy have also confirmed they will supply dossette boxes to those on medication and I hope that, in time, most of the clients will access these with my supervision.”

If you wish to speak to Peter you can contact him on (01782) 552299 (Ward 70)

With the current cost of combination therapy, it’s good to see that the importance of compliance (taking the correct dosages at the correct time) has been effectively addressed with the supply of dossette boxes along with the drugs. These little carry cases also know as “medication organisers,” make it simple to know whether or not you’ve taken your drugs and much easier to live a “normal” life - something most of us are desperately trying to do.

With all the changes going on at the moment, POSITIVE LIVES spoke to the Manager of Staffordshire Buddies, ANDREW COLCLOUGH about.....

Why has the organisation changed so much in the last three years? Is the time and money we spend on HIV prevention work having an adverse affect on our care services? What is likely to happen over the next three years?
We asked Andrew....

“These are just a few of the questions I’ve been asked in recent months and many more like them. The questions arise for many reasons; someone’s anxiety about the future of services they use, people living with HIV wanting to be more involved in the organisation’s development, volunteers being nostalgic about the days when there were only sixteen of them and things were so much simpler. I’ve been working with Body Positive and Staffordshire Buddies since 1991, firstly as development worker, then as co-ordinator and now as manager. I wasn’t around when the first Body Positive group was established ,it was that group who first recruited and employed me, but I’ve been around for all the major decisions since. So I think its appropriate for people to ask me these questions not only because its my job to have the answers but also because of my long history with the services.”

So how did it all start?

“In 1990 a loose association of people living with HIV, their friends and concerned health professionals set up a self help support group called Body Positive North Midlands - “self help” meaning that the service was run by people living with HIV for people living with HIV. In 1991 the group successfully negotiated substantial funding from the West Midlands Regional Health Authority enabling them to employ myself as development worker and a part time clerical post.”

What was the service like in the beginning?

“We had the use of a small office in the Hanley Druglink Building which provided a basic office facility and space for visitors, two at a squeeze!. There was a drop in once a week on Thursday evenings which was the only time we could regularly use Druglink’s coffee lounge. In 1992 the drop in was offering complementary therapies every fortnight, no home visits, and there was a facilitated HIV positive only support group every four weeks.”

Where did Staffordshire Buddies come in?

“Some people needed things that the Body Positive self-help group couldn’t offer; things like regular home visits, transport, practical help and support in South Staffordshire. You have to bear in mind that back then Body Positive had a core of around six people living with HIV some of whom were unwell and most of whom lived in the Stoke area - it was impossible to do all these things. We first started to talk about recruiting Buddy volunteers in 1992 but it was 1993 before we secured the funding for the new service.”

So was Buddies set up to take over Body Positive?

“Absolutely not. We were very concerned that Body Positive should retain its self-help philosophy and not become volunteer led, the original intention was that Buddies would be a separately constituted organisation that worked closely with but was distinct from Body Positive.”

So what happened next?

“Once Staffordshire Buddies was set up we started to look at their working relationship with Body Positive. There were a lot of reasons for working closely together - funding was being squeezed and sharing offices, workers and other resources meant that more could be done with less money. Also, our biggest ambition was to move to our own centre and this could only be achieved by pooling resources. “

So why did the services merge?

“As I already said, Body Positive had a relatively small core of regular members. Many of these members were getting worn out with running the organisation and it became increasingly difficult to form management committees. By 1993 only one member of the management committee was a person living with HIV, the rest being carers and professionals. To take the pressure off Body Positive we started to transfer practical arrangements like employment responsibilities and the negotiation of funding contracts to Staffordshire Buddies. We didn’t see this as a merger at the time – Body Positive was still intending to operate independently but with a much reduced work load. But in 1994 Body Positive decided to cease holding funds altogether, wind up as an organisation and become an informal self help group financed through Staffordshire Buddies.”

How did things work out after that?

“The people in Body Positive who had carried responsibility for the organisation for years were very relieved. The substantial input that could be made by volunteers meant that existing services were soon expanded and new services were introduced. By 1995 Staffordshire Buddies had become a registered charity, and acquired the new Hanley Drop In Centre that has made such a difference since.”

What happened to Body Positive?

“We tried to keep the identity alive by redefining the membership requirements and using the name to refer to regular users of the Thursday evening drop in. I think people were fatigued from the busy early years and their wasn’t much enthusiasm to maintain an independent identity. By the time we started the Tuesday afternoon drop-in the name had fallen from use and most new service users didn’t identify with the name at all. More recently people living with HIV have begun to revive the self help philosophy and the Body positive identity is being redefined.”

So will Body Positive become an independent organisation again?

“There are no plans for that at the moment. In fact many Body Positive groups around the country are merging with other services because funding is being squeezed even more. In the last six months I’ve been contacted by five Body Positive groups considering merger who wanted to know how we successfully married our services. So considering what is happening to other groups it probably wouldn’t be helpful to split our service in the current funding climate. Anyway, self help is not about bank accounts and management committees; our new Body Positive group is developing on the basis of shared responsibility and an independent voice and that is the essence of self help.”

But isn’t Staffordshire Buddies run by volunteers?

“Its true that Staffordshire Buddies was set up to be a volunteer led service. Although its always been the case that people living with HIV could join as volunteers we appreciate that not everyone who wants to run the service wishes to train a s a buddy. Over the last year we have started to re-structure Staffordshire Buddies to increase the involvement of people living with HIV or AIDS.”

What will that mean in practice?

“The training requirements for volunteer members are being revised to reflect the bare basics of what people need to know in order to be part of providing the services and running the organisation – this will include knowledge of the organisation’s structure, services and our policies. We hope that the new training structure will encourage more people living with HIV or AIDS to become involved. We are also trying to revise our constitution (governing document) to incorporate annual election of service user representatives to our trustees.”

So where does HIV prevention fit in?

“Staffordshire Buddies was originally constituted with two objectives, help and support for people living with HIV and a catch all public education clause that covers HIV prevention work. Although our initial priority was to develop services for people living with HIV we anticipated that in the long term we would do HIV prevention work as well. In fact there is an increasingly close relationship between care and prevention but I’ll save that for another day!”

What is the MesMen project and why did we take it on?

“In 1995 South Staffordshire Health Authority invited us to bid for funds to develop a project targeting HIV prevention with men who have sex with men. The Health Authority’s own Health Promotion unit was already doing HIV prevention work with most parts of the community but the men who have sex with men work was seen as politically sensitive and better placed within the independent sector. We took the work on for several reasons, first and foremost because it is an important piece of work that needs doing. Secondly because the funding secured would contribute to the underlying costs of our office, management and administration thereby making the whole organisation and its services more secure.”

Why did we start to work in Shropshire?

“Although we are called Staffordshire Buddies there is no restriction on the areas we work in. Our successful development of the South Staffordshire MesMen project resulted in Shropshire Health Authority approaching us to take on management of a similar project in Shropshire. We considered the pros and cons very carefully before deciding to say yes.”

 Do the MesMen and Shropshire projects take away time and resources from the services for people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS?

“No they don’t. Health Authorities hold separate restricted funds for HIV prevention and it is these funds that are used to pay for the projects. Staffordshire Buddies doesn’t use any money given to help people living with HIV to support these HIV prevention projects.”

But what about the time it takes to manage the projects?

“The projects have their own workers paid for from HIV prevention monies. The portion of time that I as manager and Sarah as administrator spend on work for these projects is also paid from HIV prevention monies. Without this contribution to the organisation’s management and administration their would be an increased burden on funding for care services. So although it can be frustrating that Sarah and I are so busy, the organisation is actually better off for managing these projects than it would be if we had remained a smaller service. In fact diversifying the organisation’s activities has been a major factor in our ability to continue developing in a climate of shrinking funds. This present situation means that I can assure you of my continued commitment to all our services for people living with or affected by HIV or AIDS.”

So now you know !!

Andrew will be back in the next issue to look at what lies ahead and to answer some more questions . Let us know what questions you want us to ask him!!

Marie-Luiza (Maz)
 

I was asked to do this profile before I left Staffordshire Buddies for the heat of Phoenix, Arizona. I thought to myself, how am I going to fill a double page spread about little ole me? I sat down and said, “Now come on Maz, be methodical about this and start from the beginning”.

I was born on a cold winters night weighing just 6lbs.. Don’t stop reading I was only joking. I’ll start a little later, from how I got involved with HIV/AIDS voluntary work and what makes me tick.

The History

I went over to Lisbon during my gap year (Jan 95) to learn the language and do Voluntary work for the homeless. However, the placement fell through so I spent my afternoons with a friend who happened to volunteer for Abraço (HIV/AIDS NGO).

Two weeks into my 6 months in Lisbon, I started volunteering as a fundraiser for Abraço. They needed someone with good written and spoken English for the numerous applications to English speaking organisation and I needed to get out of the scorching afternoon sun.

During my time with Abraço I helped with securing £5000 of funding, an extension into new premises and providing PR to the visiting funding organisations. I gained an enormous amount from working within such an enthusiastic team who kept on fighting in the face of a very moralistic/traditional society. I also sadly lost my dear friend Julio to an AIDS related illness. He had been brave enough to force politicians to address the issues around HIV/AIDS.

I left Portugal for Staffordshire University (yes, I know I’m mad) expecting to find liberated students who would be tolerant and aware of the facts about HIV/AIDS. How naive I was at the tender age of 19. I was faced with remarks like “You can only get it from queers”, “I wouldn’t touch him, he’ll give you AIDS”. Why these people are given the privilege to attend university I’ll never know.

I took it upon myself to do something about this ignorance and prejudice. After all these people needed protecting from their own stupidity. Thus SHAG was born (Oct 95) by me cajoling my newly made friends into starting up a Students Union Society to reduce prejudice, provide information and resources and raise money for local HIV charities. I would like to thank those very first members of SHAG. SHAG would not be doing the work it is doing today without their initial dedication and hard work.

It was at this point that I came into contact with Staffordshire Buddies. (SHAG continues to support Staffordshire Buddies being our biggest single donators to date.(Present (ish)

As part of my International Business Management degree I had to take a third year working placement. I desperately wanted to work for a charity doing fundraising work but this was going to be difficult to arrange because of my limited experience and shortage of funds.

The challenge was set. After a lot of calling around, twisting of arms at my LEA, speaking nicely to Andrew and proving myself to the Executive Committee, I finally secured my placement with Buddies as Fundraising and Events Officer! I would work 30hrs per week. This would give me time to earn extra money elsewhere to pay for my living costs, as my grant did not cover this. (Thus, you may have seen me curving around tables at Le Café de Tyn Tyn).

There were so many people to meet, all of whom seemed to know my name and have heard of me (what for I still don’t know ?!?). The staff made me feel very welcome and Sarah and I spent our first few weeks together, solving the worlds problems and ganging up on the boys in the office. (Keep it up Sarah).

So what have I been doing since being in post? I’ve created a Fundraising Guide, Updated the World AIDS Day Pack, Organised displays, Restructured the collection box system, Supported external groups in their fundraising efforts. Supported (cajoled) volunteers and clients with fundraising and events, Worked alongside Sexual Health Programme on the week of events for World AIDS Day, Sat on the WAD Steering Committee. Organised street collections, Updated various forms and publicity material, Attended training on fundraising. Kept volunteers amused with my mail-outs and I’m still pestering people to “just do this for me”.

The Future

In addition to continuing the work above, I am working on a number of projects which include the Exotica Exhibition, Birmingham Pride, Reorganising all display material/resources and setting up folders to sustain the work and contacts I’ve already made. Oh, I almost forget, Jane Haswell and I are doing a Parachute Jump (see the back page for the scary details).

On the 29th May I leave Staffordshire Buddies to finish my degree (studying, yuck). But it’s not all bad news. I am travelling around America with my girlfriend Vicky for seven weeks ending up in Phoenix, Arizona. Vicky will return whilst I stay on to study for one semester at a University there. In January 1999, its back to Staffs Uni. for my final semester, to graduate.

After that it’s anybody’s guess. Any offers for work will be greatly appreciated! Volunteers be careful, I may come back to find you something to do! So don’t stand still for too long.

The Personal Stuff

I’ve gained so much from working for Staffordshire Buddies and I’ve been looked after very well. I’d like to thank all those who’ve helped me, be it through helping on a stall to calming me down during World AIDS Week (especially those who have made me laugh).

It will be really strange not being with Staffordshire Buddies especially around WAD. It will be the first time in three years that I will not be involved with Stoke’s WAD activities. But I’m sure there will be plenty of things for me to do in Phoenix. Please keep up the work I’ve started and continue to support Buddies in whatever way you can. (Slushy bit coming) I’ve found every minute a learning and rewarding experience and with self-motivation you can too.

Bye-Bye, I’ll miss ya!

Maz

I have been working as an HIV counsellor for the past four years. The number of health professionals working alongside me has increased but one thing that has not changed are people. Nobody reacts in exactly the same way as another when they get their HIV positive diagnosis or when they live with the diagnosis. I hope that I am able to help people at the times of crisis in their lives, providing a listening ear and an empathetic response. I don’t feel I have any answers for somebody else's life, all I can do is to help them find their own answers.

I’m sure life is not meant to be lived alone, it is meant to be lived as part of the human race. Sharing our weaknesses and strengths with each other, sharing our qualities, our fears. Those of you who share your life with me, thank you, those who feel I could help them, please contact me - beware I am human!

 

Michael Carey, the Community Services Co-ordinator, offers some thoughts on the question –

INTRODUCTION

In recent months the issue of resuming some kind of “work” has risen to the top of the agenda for some of our people who are both HIV positive and undertaking a programme of (at least) triple combination therapy, and this interest reflects what is being experienced elsewhere in the country.

This development has coincided with increased concern nationally about a range of benefits issues for those living with a disabling condition. The present government is carrying out the previous government’s “economy drive” reviews of incapacity benefit and disability living allowance in order to reduce the total cost of these to the national purse, because they believe that the country cannot afford the increasing levels of expenditure in these areas, especially since some “disabled” people (the government believes) appear to be receiving these benefits when they no longer need them (i.e. the original qualifying condition has improved or cleared up).

What is still unclear, is exactly who will be affected by these government/DSS reviews and their outcome. Will there be blanket reductions affecting everyone, as has been the case with payments to single mothers, or, will only new claimants be affected through a tightening of the criteria surrounding the award of these benefits, or, will benefits like DLA become means-tested (which it currently is not), or, is there some other possible change that could be made that we don’t know about yet?

What is abundantly not helpful in the present climate is the uncertainty that this process of review is creating for those whose standard of living is dependent on these benefits, causing a great deal of concern and distress to individuals who are imagining that they are going to lose their quality of life overnight, even before anything has actually been decided, let alone changed.

As you can imagine such a narrow (albeit important) focus has drawn attention away from many other equally pressing issues that need to be explored and decided upon, in addition to benefits issues, by those people who are looking seriously at a return to work, whether part-time or full-time. The most important of these are signposted below in an attempt to widen the debate, so that people living with HIV are enabled to explore the whole picture for themselves rather than just one piece of it. The points are not exclusive, however, and readers are free to add their own or to dismiss as irrelevant those that don’t apply to you.

The article does not attempt to provide an answer to the big question of whether an individual should return to work; for one, that can only be decided by the person themselves, and then only after a great deal of thought and consultation with others, including one’s HIV consultant. For two, no two people, given the same circumstances, will necessarily agree on the same conclusion, so such a path of answering for others, especially by someone who is not living with the situation 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, is fraught with difficulties!

SOME BARRIERS TO RETURNING TO WORK -

• What type of employment should I seek? Are there issues for me around health, levels of confidence and skills, stress, disclosure of status or (assumptions) of sexuality? What are these issues? How do I feel about them? Am I ready to deal with them? Are they all negatives, or are there some positives, too?
• Are there other alternatives to returning to paid employment? Education? Training programmes? Voluntary work? Therapeutic work?
• Are there opportunities locally for re-training, re-skilling, to reinforce old or existing skills or to learn new ones to make me more employable?
• What attitudes might potential employers and future colleagues have towards me? If they deal with me differently to everyone else, how will I deal with that, how will I feel about myself?
• How will I account for my previous period(s) away from work?
• Will additional time off be allowed for medical or other HIV service appointments?
• If my drug regime intrudes into my working life, what affect will that have – for me, and for others?
• If I negatively react to my present or future drug therapy, how sympathetic will my employer be?
• Is there employer tolerance for flexible working to accommodate changing patterns of health or other needs?
• Does my choice of employment lend itself to flexibility of that kind?

• Will I cope with full-time work? Is part–time work a better option?
• Will I be able to pace myself properly; does the work lend itself to steady routine, or does it tend towards explosive bursts of activity, or is it entirely unpredictable? What effect will that have on me?
• How will starting work again affect my viral load?

• How will my quality of life be affected by returning to work?
• Is there job security? If not, what implications are there for my benefits position?
• Which benefits will I lose by returning to work, either full or part time? Which will I keep?

• If I return to work and then have to give up again, what will my future benefits position be?
• Can I afford to work part-time only? How much do I need to earn either to compensate for lost benefits or to provide a reasonable quality of life?
• Will returning to work trigger other problems that have been dormant, e.g. debt problems?
• What do I do now about pensions and other financial provisions – life insurance, mortgages, savings etc.?

ACCOUNTING FOR “TIME OUT” – POSSIBLE OPTIONS!

• Tell the truth (and shame the devil!).
• Be economical with the truth or fox them with science – e.g., “a chronic viral condition stabilised with medication”!
• Evade the question (on the basis that it’s none of their business, but be aware a potential employer might end up thinking you have been in prison!).
• Tell a lie – but be aware that lying is not a good idea, as it can lead to dismissal or even court action to recover wages already given (and that has happened!) if discovered at a later date.
• Claim a period of self-employment – consultancy/freelance work, own business, etc..
• Claim working abroad (more difficult if references required from last employer).
• Claim a period of voluntary work (repeat problem of references, if required).

• Claim a period of full time education or training (non-existent qualifications is dismissable offence however ).
• Been caring for a sick relative.
• Been travelling round Europe/America etc. (good excuse to bring out the holiday snaps!).
• (space for your own ideas!)
• (ditto)
• Prison! (now we’re getting desperate and fast running out of ideas!)
• Monastic life!! (sounds vaguely familiar – who do I know...? .)

BENEFITS

There are a large number of points that need to be made about the benefits implications for people considering returning to work after an enforced period of incapacity as a result of living with HIV and the associated illnesses. However, as a result of the latest budget, the information that is available to me is out of date and therefore not suitable for this edition of Positive Lives. Consequently, the next edition will include a follow up article on the benefits position for those thinking about returning to work once I have verified the latest position; in the meantime, should there be any particular questions around a benefits issue, I can find out the answer on an individual basis, but cannot yet provide the wider picture.

However, I do want to say something about Therapeutic Work, as a number of people have asked about this, which is a legitimate way of pursuing a rewarded activity which is exempted by the DSS and therefore does not threaten your benefits as long as you play by the rules!

Therapeutic work – this is work which:

• you do on the specific advice of your G.P. or consultant, and
• for which you do not earn more than £46.50 a week (pre-budget figure), and either
• you work for less than 16 hours a week on average, such work helping either to prevent the medical condition or disablement which causes your incapacity for work or stopping it from getting worse, or
• is part of a medically supervised treatment programme while you are an in-patient or a regular out-patient at a hospital, or
• is done as part of a sheltered work scheme for people with disabilities.

You cannot start working part-time, intending to claim it as therapeutic work, without getting the permission of the Benefits Agency Adjudication Officer. To do so would almost certainly lead to a loss of Incapacity Benefit once your new circumstances came to light and you would probably have to re-apply for this benefit all over again. It might even affect your other benefits. It is important to have your doctors support in seeking this work, but permission to start work under these circumstances does not lie with the doctor, but lies with the Adjudication Officer. You must write to that person care of your local benefits office requesting permission; it might save time if you include a letter from your G.P. supporting your application. There is no application form for this.

Feedback and

All the comments about the last edition were very complementary:

• “Definitely the best yet”

• “The paper has got flow now and some style”

• "I liked the layout it has a professional look.

These were but a few of the many nice things you said about the last edition but if we are to improve still further we need a bit more critical feed back.

• ¨ Does the newsletter have all the sections you would like to see

• ¨ Is it too serious/too light hearted

• ¨ What would you like to see more/less of?

If anything strikes you, give us a bell straight away whilst the idea is still fresh in your mind... or why not

email us?

In the back room at the centre you can find copies of the Crusaid & Star Information Exchange Facts sheets which are issued to patients at the Kobler Centre in London when they are prescribed HIV drugs. There is a separate sheet for each drug as well as information on side effects such as Neuropathy and diet sheets appropriate to certain drugs. More sheets have been added from the ATIS Web Site.

These facts sheets are the best available as they give the fullest information including details on how to take the drug, possible side effects and best methods of storage and where appropriate a diet sheet as well.

Positive Discounts is an excellent scheme which now costs nothing to join and allows you to buy goods with a COUNT DOWN card which is virtually the same as any other Count Down card ie there is nothing on it which would identify you as positive to a shopkeeper.

You get a book which lists the shops which give discount by regions, and there are a surprising number in our area. There are application forms in the filing cabinet.

Although it is still a bit chaotic and there isn’t a table you can sit at, the resources room is a useful place to find all kinds of information.There are Books, Pamphlets, Newsletters, NAM updates as well as sheets of information downloaded from the Internet. If you can’t find what you are looking for, just ask, there is ususally someone around to point you in the right direction.

There is also a list for requests to search the Internet on your behalf - you will find it pinned to the noticeboard behind the door.

The evening of Friday March 27th saw the glitterati of Staffordshire Buddies join others at Le Café de Tyn Tyn (Broad Street, Hanley) for a delectable meal of many courses, lots of wine, and elegant conversation. Well, on tables other than my own;- Sarah, Neil and John providing a coarser variety and a lot of raucous laughter. I tried to keep Oscar Wilde’s flag flying but failed miserably.

Our hosts were Ian and Barry, who kindly put on the event. Whilst Maz organised the finer details of the night, which included a mega-raffle to rival the Lottery. In all, £538.88 was raised for Staffordshire Buddies. Certainly a painless way of extracting cash. Hopefully another charity event will be organised so that I can hear what happened to Sarah on Stoke Station the following day. Watch this space.

Thanks to Ian, Barry, Maz and all the staff at Tyn-Tyn’s for a lovely evening and friendly atmosphere.

Brian (Williams)

The raffle was phenomenal for the Charity Night at Le Café de Tyn-Tyn. I would like to thank the following people/organisations for their generous donations and support.

Shiatsu is one of the therapies of Oriental medicine - it has the same roots and works on similar principles as Acupuncture. It stimulates channels of energy in the body through pressure applied to certain points, thereby helping the vital organs to function more efficiently and redress any imbalance. It is rougher than massage but without the needle pains of acupuncture.

Alan Norburn recenly underwebt a course of Shiatsu as one of three therapies to consider whether complementary therapies should play a part in treatment options. His article can be found in the April issue of “POSITIVE NATION” under the heading “truly, deeply, badly,” it gives a much fuller account than is possible here. The article ends: “Only six weeks in and I am addictied. Now I cannot imagine a month going by without a Shiatsu session.”

Maybe Shiatsu could be made available at the new drop-in afternoon in addition to Massage, Reiki and Refexology.

Maurice’s

I would like to wish Bob Good Luck as he takes over the editorship of this ( and hopefully more) editions of the newsletter.(see here -Ed) The idea of a rolling editor was suggested some time ago by Andrew - one of his better ideas - so anyone interested in training up for the next roll? Please get in touch.
Change continues on the HIV front at an unbelievable pace. Who would have thought that the London Lighthouse would close its doors and come up for sale? The changes here at the Centre and with Staffordshire Buddies and BP Staffordshire have been touched on in the two previous issues of “Positive Lives” Andrew continues by responding to the questions put to him by “Positive Lives” on pages 4&5. The voice of people living with HIV is being heard outside the centre and is being noted.
Newsletter TAKEN TO TASK! The dramatic headlines of our last edition drew the attention of many people including Dr Singh head of the G.U.M. Clinic (see here - Ed) who, at the last HIV forum, took the newsletter to task for printing erroneous information. The cuts threatened in the lead article had already taken place( -see here - Ed) and the increase in the HIV drugs budget this year would be slight. The error was acknowledged but it had to be pointed out that the sensational impact of the headlines had achieved their object by focussing attention on an area of importance. North Staffordshire currently enjoys a standard of care second to none. But it is vital that we see it remains so.
Not just pill-popping!
From another angle, Bob spoke out at the last HIV Forum saying that it was wrongly imagined that all people with HIV had to do nowadays was to pop the pills and they would be OK. Dr Singh strongly agreed that this was far from the truth. (Good to hear this from a voice of authority) and a fact born out by my being unable to identify a single person of my acquaintance who has not had problems with the new drugs. This was highlighted when a friend in London who had to be taken to hospital after an AIDS related episode discovered that the HIV ward was completely full and there would have been no bed for him if he had needed to be admitted.
Ignorance still rife! Whilst there are still authorities in the country who are prepared to make cuts in services using the cost of drugs as an excuse; whilst there are still authorities who use HIV money for other purposes; whilst there are still doctors and dentists who tell HIV+ patients that an operation would put their staff at risk or that the patient’s life expectancy did not justify the cost of treatment, we cannot afford to give up the fight against ignorance and prejudice.
Is HIV a Crime?
Perhaps some of you managed to read the cover feature in the March edition of “Positive Nation” by Sue Newman. It makes depressing reading but in the belief that you should be informed of the bad as well the good I draw your attention to one of the harshest anti-HIV legislations in the world.
Sweden forces positive people to register their addresses, reveal past sexual contacts and declare their status to new partners. Failure to comply with the law can lead to internment for ’surveillance and re-education’. The Yellow Villa is a bleak house where HIV “troublemakers” are detained. It is interesting that a high percentage of recorded HIV infections are non-Swedes. The Swedish Federation of Lesbian and Gay Organisations is attempting to have the law reformed. They argue that people are not testing for HIV because of the fear of being jailed. Perhaps Mr Straw ought to take note of this piece of information. The George House Trust Manchester is one of the few groups in the country which have strongly advocated against the Criminalisation of HIV. and I, for one, give them my full support.
Chicago Conference
I intended to devote my page to an overview of the Ottawa Conference but as the conference I meant was held in Chicago it is perhaps as well that I didn’t. Most of the information should have reached your ears by now and in any case Simon Collins does it far better than I could in the space available. See pages 36-41 in the April edition of “Positive Nation” or you could checkout Michael Carter’s coverage in pages 38-40 March edition of Axiom.
 
To end on an upbeat, the afternoon for the new drop-in to replace Thursday evening is to be Thursday afternoon.
The task group will be convened shortly to announce what will be available at this drop-in hopefully additional therapies.
Finally, funds have been allocated for improvements to the drop-in areas including the replacement of the much criticised backroom sofa. I was going to say something about Viagra the drug which can improve your sexual drive, but that’s no more space so, until the next : Lots of love. Maurice

 

Ingredients

8oz Stoned dates roughly chopped

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 pint semi-skimmed milk

10oz self-raising wholemeal flour

40z butter of unsaturated margarine

3oz chopped hazelnuts

2 ripe medium bananas

1 egg (beaten)

2 tablespoons of clear honey

Method

Grease and base line a 2lb loaf tin

Put the dates,milk and bicarb into a saucepan and bring slowly to the boil whilst stirring. Remove from heat and leave to go cold

Put the flour into a large bowl and rub in the butter or marg with your fingertips. Stir in the hazelnuts reserving 2 tablespoons for decoration.

Peel and mash the bananas and add to the mixture along with the dates and egg. Beat well to mix.

Spoon the mixture into the loaf tin and bake at 350F (Gas Mark 4) for 1-11/4 hours.Test by poking with a dry skewer - if the skewer comes out clean it’s done!)

Leave to cool for 5 mins in the tin then turn onto a wire rack.

Brush the top of the loaf with warmed honey and sprinkle with nuts

(note: This cake contains no sugar because of the high proportion of natural sugar in dates)

 

Ingredients:

3 oz Plain Wholemeal Flour

3oz Rolled (porridge) oats

30z Demerara sugar

4oz Butter or margarine

4oz Dried apricots (soaked overnight)

 
Method

1. Lightly grease a shallow tray

2. mix together the flour, oats and sugar

3. blend in the butter or marge with your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs

4. spread half the mixture over the tray and press down evenly

5. Drain and chop the apricots and spread over the mixture

6. sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture and press down well.

7. Bake at 350f (Mark4) for about 25 minutes until golden brown.

8 . Leave in the tin for about 1 hour until cold and cut into bars and serve.

These will keep for 3-4 days if wrapped in foil and kept put in an air-tight container
 

That’s all for this time, I’ll be back next time with some more mouth watering recipes

Good cooking..

Is your workplace about to upgrade its computers??

We are currently trying to help some of our members to gain computer skills by providing training packages at the

Hanley Drop-in Centre. However, presently we only have one machine, which is heavily used for Internet Access and for producing the Newsletter.

 If you, or your organisation, are currently upgrading your computers and are discarding any “out of date” machines, we would greatly appreciate them. We are not asking for “state of the art” stuff, as many people simply want to learn basic keyboard/word processing skills, so “old” 386/486 machines would be more than adequate. Obviously we will arrange collection and acknowledge your generous donation in a future Positive Lives issue.

If you think you may have anything that we can use,

Please call and ask for Maurice or Bob on (01782) 201251

AS A FINAL FLING!! BEFORE SHE LEAVES US, MAZ IS DOING A SPONSORED PARACHUTE JUMP ON SATURDAY 9TH MAY The jump is at Whitchurch Tilstock Airfield between 5pm -9pm weather permitting.  SPONSORSHIP FORMS FROM THE OFFICE : CALL MAZ  All calls to (01782) 201251

news@staffordshirebuddies.co.uk

http://www.staffordshirebuddies.co.uk

(Please Note: The editor of this edition was originally intended to be Bob Lishman, as is stated on the hard-copy version.
However, due to other commitments, he was unable to complete this duty and this edition's editor was actually Maurice Greenham. The hard-copy version is therefore incorrect and we apologise for any confusion caused)

Views expressed in this newsletter are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of Body Positive Staffordshire nor Staffordshire Buddies . Copyright of the articles remains with the author and items may not be reproduced in any form or medium without their permission. Any mention of treatment or therapy does not constitute an endorsement by either of the aforementioned organisations.

The mention, contribution or likeness of any person or organisation appearing in this publication is not to be taken as any indication of the sexual, social, political orientation nor of the HIV status of such persons or organisations.

Staffordshire Buddies is a registered charity (No. 1047375) governed by a committee of trustees. This executive committee currently comprises 12 people, including the 2 service user representatives recently co-opted onto it. Charities are public bodies therefore anyone can attend committee meetings to observe the organisations business. Any service user, client, volunteer or member who wishes to sit in on meetings should contact the office for details.

We are a bi-monthly publication. Feedback on content, policy, format or whatever is encouraged and submission of articles and letters are always welcome from anyone regardless of their HIV status.