World AIDS Day reflection

Martin Fenerty at Liverpool Pride 2016

ON SUNDAY 27th November in our morning service we commemorated World AIDS Day - the global health awareness campaign to combat HIV, support people living with the virus and honour people who have died.

Our church was decorated with red candles and ribbons for the occasion, and we heard a moving personal reflection from Martin Fenerty, manager of the Armistead Centre, a specialist sexual health service in Liverpool, on the theme of this year's campaign: 'HIV stigma: Not Retro, Just Wrong'.

You can listen to Martin's reflection here (10 minutes):

And see photos of the church decorated for the service here:

Community HIV testing clinic

On Thursday 24th November, during National HIV Testing Week, we were please to once again host a confidential community testing clinic in partnership with Liverpool Community Health and Liverpool HIV charity Sahir House. Some people came who might otherwise not attend a clinic in a more typical healthcare setting. The clinic took place alongside the busy Hope+ Foodbank in the church, so it was also an opportunity to raise awareness among people seeking support there.