Au Revoir from Paul Sanderson

They say time flies when you’re having fun and it certainly doesn’t feel like five years since I joined Staffordshire Buddies as MESMEN Project Leader.

Over that time MESMEN has earned the respect it deserves from outside agencies and funders alike. Perhaps the one thing that makes the project so successful is the team of dedicated staff committed to HIV prevention. This has not always been easy in South Staffs – god knows the gay community is not always one that is easy to target in such a rural district. It is perhaps these difficulties that pose the greatest challenge to MESMEN even today. These difficulties also make the work ultimately worthwhile; we know when we’ve made a difference to someone.

MESMEN also owes a debt of gratitude to the support it has received over the years from Staffordshire Buddies. Buddies has always felt like a supportive environment from which to work. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank members of the exec (past & present), along with Andrew Colclough, Janine Hunt and especially Sarah for their unwavering support of all things MESMEN.

So it is with some degree of sadness that I leave the project and Staffordshire Buddies especially at this exciting time for the organisation. But the time is right and the move, I am determined, will be a positive one both for myself and MESMEN. Remember this is not goodbye – just au revoir!

Paul Sanderson