The Royal Free Charity exists to support patients, staff and researchers across the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. By providing vital support services, and funding wellbeing programmes, medical equipment and groundbreaking research, the Royal Free Charity is able to make a profound and immediate difference to patients’ experiences of care.

The Ian Charleson Day Centre at the Royal Free Hospital has been providing excellent care for people living with HIV and AIDS since 1989 with our first full year of opening in 1990. Since then management of HIV has come a long way. People living with HIV can now expect a normal life expectancy thanks to effective antiretroviral medication. However HIV remains a highly stigmatised condition and many people have been living with HIV a long-time and late diagnosis continues to occur. These factors can impact on peoples physical, emotional and mental health.

Over 3,000 people regularly attend our HIV service. Our patients come from diverse cultures and heritage; over a quarter of our patients are women and more than half are gay men aged 17-87. As HIV treatments and management become more successful, our patients are living longer.

Recently we established the SAGE service - a multidisciplinary assessment clinic for people who are ageing with HIV and may have other chronic conditions predisposing them to become frail at an earlier age. SAGE aims to help better support people in this situation to navigate their complex care needs and to avoid becoming more frail.

In addition to SAGE we are now looking to develop an integrated wellbeing programme for all our service users, to support healthy living and wellbeing, as well as self-management, lifestyle modifications, physical activity, and reducing loneliness and depression, with an overall aim of increasing quality of life for all our patients - enhancing, boosting, and strengthening their physical and mental approach to their future. This programme is called the Ageing Better Class (ABC).

Although we are now able to effectively treat HIV, we know that many people living with HIV - especially as they grow older - have complex health and social needs, including isolation, loneliness, other long term health conditions and physical mobility problems. We are expanding our clinical service and research portfolio to better understand how to care for and improve the quality of life for people living with HIV as they age. By supporting us you will be contributing to better quality of life and wellbeing, so that all our patients can live well with HIV.

Gift Aid supports the Royal Free Charity's full range of services for staff and patients across the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, as well as supporting research and innovation.