Patricia Brewerton is the Church Secretary of Regent Square@Lumen United Reformed Church. The church is currently in the process of registering our building for the celebration of same-sex marriages.
Martin Pendergast has been an HIV activist since 1983, involved in national and international Catholic efforts to halt the spread of HIV & AIDS. He is a member of the LGBT Catholics Westminster Pastoral Council based at Farm Street Jesuit Church, London. He chairs the UK-based international charity, NAM aidsmap, promoting prevention and treatment information on HIV, Hepatitis, and related conditions
Hannah Musa is 38 year old mother of two from Essex. She was diagnosed just over a decade ago and has been working in the HIV charitable sector for almost six years in a variety of roles. After the initial shock she went on to use her youth work experience to speak to pupils in schools about the reality of living with HIV. Young people are mostly struck by how Hannah is just like them and that HIV can happen to anyone. Hannah's key message is that life with HIV can be just as good as anyone else's and that seemingly terrible experiences can be turned into something good.
Lazarus Mungure comes from Zimbabwe and is a trustee of CAPS, the charity that supports Positive Catholics and South West London Fellowship. He has been on treatment for HIV since 2002. Lazarus has a passion for supporting the newly diagnosed and educating the public about HIV. He hopes to influence and change attitudes within the Catholic Church to reduce stigma associated with HIV. He is 65 years old and still working full time; and hopes the Lord will bless him with good health in order to fulfil his ambition.
Diagnosed HIV positive for over 2 decades, Angelina Namiba has many years' experience of working in the HIV sector. And has worked on initiatives ranging from providing one to one support (to people living with HIV), to managing service provision. She's passionate about building the capacity of Women Living with HIV to complement clinical care & enable them to form and inform local, national and global policy. Angelina currently works as an associate Project Manager for the www.salamandertrust.net
Reverend Canon Gideon Byamugisha is an Anglican priest in Uganda and the first practicing religious leader in Africa to break the silence among religious leaders by declaring publically his HIV status. He is a founder member of INERELA+ is an international network of religious leaders, living with, or personally affected, by HIV. http://inerela.org/
Fr Timothy Radcliffe is a member of the community at Blackfriars, Oxford, and was Master of the Order of Preachers from 1992 to 2001. He is the author of a number of very popular books drawn from his experiences.
John Sherrington is a priest and former provincial of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ, St. Josephs' Province. John is a Trustee of Catholics for AIDS Prevention and Support and has been actively involved with ministry alongside people living with HIV since the 1980s.
Abigail Chakanyuka was born in Zimbabwe 55 years ago. She lives in Surrey. She was diagnosed with HIV in 2002. Since then she made up her mind to remain positive about being positive. Her passion is to support people living with HIV to realise their potential and to get the best out of themselves while they move on with their lives. Getting an HIV diagnosis is not the end of one's dreams.
Margaret Nyawere is a support worker, and also volunteers to counsel and help people, most of whom are newly diagnosed with HIV. Now 49 years old, she was told of her HIV diagnosis during routine pregnancy tests. She went on to have two HIV negative children, now teenagers, who still provide her with hope and a sense of future. Margaret has decided to be open about her diagnosis in order to encourage people to test for HIV by showing that life goes on; and to empower those who fear or experience rejection from others by being open about HIV.
Revd Ijeoma Ajibade is a Church of England priest. She is Mission to Seafarer's Regional Director for Europe and she also ministers at St Philips Earl's Court and at Southwark Cathedral. Ijeoma she has worked in the U.K. public sector for more than twenty five years. Twelve of those years were spent working for the first two Mayors of London. Ijeoma is inspired by justice and compassion and works at community level supporting LGBT Africans and PLWHIV.
Cate Jacobs is a poet and a writer, a mother of 3, and grandmother of 5. She is 54 years old and has been living with HIV for 22 years. Cate is a member of St Bride's Church Community, Liverpool.
Revd Mark Waters is an Anglican parish priest working in the St Luke in the City Team Ministry in central Liverpool which hosts an LGBTQIA congregation at St Bride's Church. He has a range of experience of working in projects with disadvantaged communities across the UK.
Mercy Ngulube has used her personal experiences of stigma and discrimination to drive her commitment and pursuit of equality for young people living with HIV. Previously anonymous, Mercy, like many other children living with HIV in the UK, had felt unable to share her status publicly. However, her journey through advocacy had taught her that it is okay to be unapologetic about your status. http://bit.ly/2vuUJcx
Vanessa is 17 years old. She loves to write;she thinks that words are a beautiful thing and the best way to express any emotion. Her HIV journey has been a struggle; Vanessa has learnt to accept her own HIV and be confident in herself and those around her. She encourages others living with HIV to be yourself - self love - especially for her generation of young people, who struggle with their appearance, and accepting who they are. Vanessa intends to start writing a book next year in which she may reveal her HIV status and her identity (currently protected by her family to keep her safe from stigma), talking about what HIV is and how she lives with HIV as part of her life.
Graeme is a 64-yr-old gay Christian, retired civil engineer, lover of ballet, and avid traveller. He has now lived with HIV for 32 years since his diagnosis aged 32, in a very scary 1985.
Horcelie Sinda Wa Mbongo is an artist. She was born in Congo and has been living in the UK since the age of 9. She was told she was born HIV positive when she was 11 years old. 10 years later she decided to make the decision to be open about her status after volunteering with International Citizen Service. She has been volunteering with various organisations to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, as well as the Congolese Community.
The Revd Philippa Boardman MBE has served in parishes in the London boroughs of Waltham Forest, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and now in Wandsworth. She was among the first women to be ordained as priests in the Church of England in 1994. Before her current post, she was Canon Treasurer at St Pauls Cathedral where the HIV/AIDS Memorial Quilt was on display on the eve of World Aids Day 2016. She has visited and maintains close links with the Anglican church in Uganda and Mozambique
Vincent Manning is the Chair of Catholics for AIDS Prevention and Support (CAPS) and Executive Producer for Positive Faith.
Victoria Morris is the Project Manager / Producer for Positive Faith (CAPS). Whilst working in her previous posts at Terrence Higgins Trust, and Positive Parenting and Children, she saw the benefits of faith based peer support (provided by CAPS) for the families and individuals living with HIV, and the need for professionals in the HIV sector to have skills and knowledge to confidently navigate faith matters.
Kip Loades is a documentary film maker and photographer, all the videos on this resource are made and directed by him. http://chrisloades.webs.com/
Vida Boateng was born and raised in East London. After graduating from university with a degree in psychology, Vida has spent the past years working and volunteering nationally and internationally in countries such as Brazil and South Africa, supporting issues around HIV, refugees and youth
John Thornhill is a Trustee for Catholics for Aids Prevention and Support and has been involved with the Positive Catholics Network since 2009. John works for the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ and holds degrees in Theology from Union Theological Seminary in New York and Cambridge University.
Jim McManus is the Director of Public Health for Hertfordshire and Honorary Secretary of the UK Association of Directors of Public Health. He is President of the Guild of Health and St Raphael which brings together health and faith sectors. Jim has been proactive partner for this project since he agreed to be its Local Authority sponsor as part of the grant award from Public Health England. He blogs at https://jimmcmanus.wordpress.com/
David Powell is a videographer and editor who makes corporate, educational and promotional films for a number of clients. I frequently collaborate with documentary film maker Kip Loades.