Lauryn's half marathon for the Terrence Higgins Trust 2023
Lauryn R is raising money for Terrence Higgins Trust
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Hello, thanks for checking out my page!
I will be running the Cardiff half marathon in support of Terrence Higgins Trust. I am very passionate about the work THT do, it started for me when I watched It's a Sin and found out that my Nan was one of the first people in our hometown to look after someone with AIDS. I started to research into the AIDS/HIV epidemic that began in the eighties. So many people suffered back then without the help and medication there is now, HIV is no longer a "death sentence" and people can go on to live normal, healthy lives with the support of charities like THT.
Terrence Higgins Trust is the UK's leading HIV and sexual health charity. They support people living with HIV. Their current strategy includes:
• working to end new transmissions of HIV in the UK by 2030
• supporting people to live well with HIV
• challenging the stigma associated with HIV and with poor sexual health
• delivering high quality services.
Below are some more examples of how your donations can help support us in their mission
• £10.74 could cover the cost of one HIV self-test kit. The sooner people know their status, the quicker they can get access to medication and support to live full and healthy lives.
• £50 could pay for just over a month’s training for five THT Direct volunteers to provide emotional support and essential information about HIV and sexual health. THT Direct is an invaluable lifeline that helps nearly 20,000 vulnerable people each year.
• £150 could support the training and development of a Positive Voices speaker a community project where people living with HIV share their personal stories to raise awareness and stop stigma.
• £500 could pay for 21 one-hour online counselling sessions to support people living with or affected by HIV.
• £1,000 could pay for just under a whole year’s costs to maintain the My Community Forum peer support network, which has been a safe space for sharing and asking questions for many people living with HIV during the coronavirus pandemic.
Ending HIV transmission in the UK means overcoming entrenched prejudices, false beliefs and racial inequalities. The virus, sometimes wrongly labelled a 'gay disease', now infects a greater proportion of people through heterosexual contact, than it does homosexual contact. This places straight people at risk of contracting a virus they mistakenly believe themselves immune to, due to misinformation. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it's the dangers of health-related misinformation. Furthermore, a disproportionate number of new transmissions affect black British people. This inequality must be stopped, and THT are the charity to do just that.
Please sponsor me to run the Cardiff half marathon and support this amazing charity. Together we can stop the stigma surrounding HIV once and for all.
You can check out the fabulous work they do here - https://www.tht.org.uk/our-work/about-our-charity
L x