News: 03/2022 | George House Trust
News: 03/2022
07 Mar

Meet Our New Chair, Andrew Sloan

By Ingrid Turner 0 Comments

 

Meet Our New Chair, Andrew Sloan 

 

 

We're delighted to announce that Andrew Sloan has been appointed as the Chair of the Board of Trustees. Following a rigorous selection process, Andrew will take up the role with effect from 1st April 2022.

 

Andrew said, “I’ve served as a Trustee since February 2019 so I’ve seen George House Trust’s amazing work providing services and support, and it’s excellent record in tackling stigma and influencing change first-hand. It’s an honour and privilege to now serve as Chair of George House Trust and I look forward to building on the work of the last few years we’ve done as a Board of Trustees. The staff, members and volunteers here at George House Trust are passionate, skilled and dedicated and I look forward to supporting their work inspiring people to live confidently and healthily with HIV.”

 

Andrew is an experienced HR professional and has worked across Europe for brands such as Money Supermarket, Trinity Mirror, Hilton Hotel Group, Eurostar, Spire Healthcare and Disneyland Paris. He holds a Master’s degree in HR from the Manchester Business School and is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

 

Andrew speaks seven languages and is a qualified level 1 and 2 practitioner of Psychometric Testing with the British Psychological Society. Andrew splits his time between Manchester and Glasgow, with his husband, Geoff who is a consultant anaesthetist and their Westie dog Freyja. In his spare time, Andrew loves cooking, gardening, travel, and sport.

 

Vanessa Jackson, Deputy Chair who led the recruitment on behalf of George House Trust’s board and membership said, “Having undertaken a particularly robust recruitment process and receiving a high volume of excellent calibre candidates for the Chair of The Board of Trustees, we were thrilled and delighted to appoint Andrew in post, and have no doubt to the strategic value and leadership he will bring to the role.”

 

24th March 2022

Monday, 7 March, 2022
07 Mar

Breaking The Bias For International Women's Day

By Ingrid Turner 0 Comments

I’m thrilled to be asked to reflect on what breaking the bias means to me for International Women’s Day 2022. 

 

Recognising women’s contributions is so important. At the time of my HIV diagnosis, I knew of no other woman who was positive. Sadly, many women can live for years - sometimes decades - without discussing, disclosing or sharing their experiences with someone outside of their specialist team.

 

Isolated and alone, many women do not get the opportunity to share and come to terms with diagnosis. They can carry the burden of social and self-stigma, often leading to poor mental health as the body-shaming is internal and external.

 

Sadly, although women account for more than half the number of people living with HIV globally; our existence and experiences remain largely invisible.

 

Women including trans women are still fighting to be included in HIV history.

 

Our story isn’t clearly told. We have to break this bias. 

 

This matters, because without visibility we can be seen as passive recipients who are not empowered to take control of our bodies, or influence the medicines and policies that control how we live, and the quality of our lives and choices. Without the greater general awareness that women can acquire HIV, they cannot make informed choices about their sexual health and potentially it can be missed from a diagnosis.    

 

In my research, I was humbled to find so many women active in HIV history and today.

 

Not just women living with and affected by HIV, but women influencing the science of HIV; women as national and international activists; women being mother and caregivers. Women giving visibility to other women and challenging stereotypes.

 

I realised we were always here. 

 

Knowing this history has made me stronger and has acted as an antidote, in some ways, to the invisibility, shame and stigma that I felt.  Along with better information, support and mentoring, I see myself differently. 

 

I hope people living with HIV will be able to see these ladies and have role models to aspire to and even beyond. 

 

I hope that, as you read about my HIV heroines, you’ll be as moved and inspired as I was.

 

Yvonne Richards, HIV acitivist and volunteer at George House Trust. 

7th March 2022

Monday, 7 March, 2022
04 Mar

Chantelle's Reflections On Women's History Month

By Ingrid Turner 0 Comments

I'm Chantelle and I work for BHA For Equality, a charity which seeks to address health and social care inequalities amongst non-white British communities.

 

BHA is part of the PaSH partnership, and part of my work is HIV prevention. I work in sexual health within the community and across Greater Manchester.

 

It's International Women's month, and the theme is Providing Healing and Promoting Hope.

 

My work is about supplying people with knowledge and awareness so people can make informed choices and decisions when it does come to their sexual health. The behaviour change I see is really rewarding, professionally and personally.

 

When I work with women, I feel that the knowledge I am empowering them with is healing.

 

People often speak about how non-white British communities are hard to reach, but I find women are actually quite receptive when I am out in the community doing my work. By going out into the community - where people are going about their everyday lives - that's where I'm able to have those interactions.

 

Women have come to BHA For Equality because they’ve heard from a friend that we offer testing and prevention services. It’s good to see the ripple effect of our work in the community, and I think it’s testament to the work we do and how we interact with the women in the community.

 

It’s amazing when women in the community know that HIV and other sexual health testing is here for them. They know that we can coach people through the process, we can do the test and let you know the result right away. We can tell you about other options if you don't want to do it right away. My work helps women make choices. 

 

Women can see ourselves as strong figures, who hold things together whilst doing lots of things for other people and managing a lot of stuff at once.

 

I think it's important that women know that keeping on top of your sexual health is an important part of self-care too.

 

Sexual health is so important. Your physical, emotional, spiritual needs all need to be met to live a happy, fulfilled life, and sexual health is one of these needs. Sometimes we don't talk about it much in the open as there is some stigma and taboos. We've got to keep this conversation going though because it will become better and easier if we do. Women and men need to break that silence with our children in the next generation.

 

The healing I hope my work provides also goes both ways.

 

I learn things from the women I work with. I sometimes have conversations that come out of a sexual health chat which make me sit and reflect on. This can be healing for me because these women inspire me and make me want to adapt some of their qualities into my personal and professional life. 

 

Chantelle, Sexual Health Advisor & Inclusion Lead at BHA For Equality. 

March 5th 2022

Friday, 4 March, 2022

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