Acclaimed actor and national treasure Rupert Everett describes the excitement of his youth when he first encountered the gay scene in London.  Rupert Everett's full story can be found in the NHST archive, but in this story he reveals his deepest fears as he became aware of a stalking "vampire" haunting the gay bars and clubs in the US and UK, and tells how AIDS was a 'time-bomb waiting to explode'. This podcast series features stories taken from our first book, a collection of essays, reflections, and testimonies also entitled ‘Love, Loss & Life’ which you can buy here. An audiobook ..read more

Blackliners grew out of a realisation that there were no organisations dealing with HIV that catered specifically for the black community, with the result that many HIV+ black people in the UK felt side-lined. Arnold describes the role the charity played in raising awareness and supporting the black community in various ways. This podcast series features stories taken from our first book, a collection of essays, reflections, and testimonies also entitled ‘Love, Loss & Life’ which you can buy here. An audiobook is also available here. Visit the National HIV Story Trust website ..read more

As Minister of Health in the mid-1980s, Lord Fowler found himself at odds with Margaret Thatcher and other members of the Cabinet over how much attention should be paid to the AIDS pandemic. Some neat political manoeuvring enabled him to run a memorable public health campaign which made the nation aware that HIV and AIDS could affect anyone. This podcast series features stories taken from our first book, a collection of essays, reflections, and testimonies also entitled ‘Love, Loss & Life’ which you can buy here. An audiobook is also available here. Visit the National HIV Story Trust webs ..read more

Barbara von Barsewisch trained as a nurse in London in the early 1990s and worked on Broderip Ward, the HIV ward at the Middlesex Hospital, for ten years. She went on to work at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in the Kobler Day Care Unit, where she developed an expertise in caring for patients with AIDS-related cancers, especially lymphomas. Caring for patients with AIDS in the 1990s was a nursing experience unlike any other. It was a time when the rule book went out of the window and some extraordinary and moving interactions between nursing staff and patients helped to ease the passing ..read more

Actor Jonathan Blake describes the excitement of his youth when he first encountererd the gay scene in London and San Francisco. His story is both delicious and dangerous and life was joyful. He tells how he had to rally against ‘a terrifying disease’ and the world stopped. Jonathan reveals how the impact changed his behaviours, but his humour and exuberant love of life continues. This podcast series features stories taken from our first book, a collection of essays, reflections, and testimonies also entitled ‘Love, Loss & Life’ which you can buy here. An audiobook is also available here ..read more

As a young woman, Winnie only gradually became aware of the word Slim, as AIDS was called in Africa, which was devastating communities in Uganda in the 1980s. When she was diagnosed HIV positive, she believed she was under a death sentence until she came to the UK and found both support and effective treatment. Her mission ever since has been to convince others that HIV need not be a barrier to living a full and fulfilling life. This podcast is a short extract taken from the audiobook 'Love, Loss & Life': Real Stories from the AIDS Pandemic published by the National HIV Story Trust. It is ..read more

Jane Bruton began her nursing career in Leicester and first encountered HIV patients when she became Ward Sister in the infectious diseases unit there. After a short spell as a health advisor in the Sexual Health Clinic at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, in 1989 she became Sister on Broderip Ward, the dedicated HIV ward at the Middlesex Hospital.  Jane returned to the Chelsea and Westminster in 1999 for a further 14 years in various Senior Nurse roles in HIV.  She has also worked with HIV patients in rural Uganda, and she is now the Clinical Research Manager in the Patient Expe ..read more

“It was profoundly moving that a bunch of people, pilloried by society and told that AIDS was their own fault, were utterly non-judgmental themselves.” When Kelly Hunter’s close friends in the theatre began dying of AIDS related illness, she put her career on hold for two years to volunteer with the Terrence Higgins Trust. She used her theatrical contacts to raise money for AIDS charities and was the driving force behind some of the most memorable fundraising initiatives of the late 1980s. This podcast is a short extract taken from the audiobook 'Love, Loss & Life': Real Stories from the A ..read more

This podcast represents just one example of many stories from the full form Audiobook "Love, Loss & Life" published by the National HIV Story Trust.  Alan Burgess was diagnosed as a child in 1967 with a moderate form of haemophilia. A painter and decorator by trade, he was married with children in the 1980s when he was given NHS contaminated blood products and became infected with HIV, eventually losing his business and much else besides. He joined the Birchgrove Support Group, a campaigning group set up by haemophiliacs with HIV, and has given evidence to the Infected Blood Inquiry ..read more

This podcast represents just one example of many stories from the full form Audiobook "Love, Loss & Life" published by the National HIV Story Trust.  Although her partner died of AIDS-related illness in 1998, Adrienne was not diagnosed herself until four years later, by which time she had a viral load of over 2 million. She found being a woman with HIV a lonely experience at first, and hid her status from her son for many years.  This podcast is a short extract taken from the audiobook 'Love, Loss & Life': Real Stories from the AIDS Pandemic published by the National HIV Sto ..read more