In this final episode we close our first season of Positively Past, Positively Present hearing from two individuals who grew up in Positively Women warm embrace/in PW’s atmosphere//grew up alongside PW: Malika Cholway and Chiesa Musonda. Malika, better known as Hamzaa, and Chiesa share with us their experiences growing up around the phenomenal women at Postively Women, with specific shout outs to their extraordinary mothers: Angelina Namiba and Rebecca Mbewe. Listen out for Hamzaa’s new EP ‘Rush...
Sep 19, 2024•34 min
Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan is a Consultant in HIV Medicine at Barts Health NHS Trust, and is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. Rageshri is Chair of the Steering Group of the 4M Network. Dr Shema Tariq is a Clinical Academic at UCL's Institute for Global Health and Honorary Consultant HIV Physician at Mortimer Market Centre. She is Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees at Positively UK and Trustee of Tommy's, the UK's leading charity funding research into pregn...
Sep 12, 2024•33 min
Professor Jane Anderson is a Consultant Physician in HIV Medicine at Homerton University Hospital in Hackney, East London. Jane established and is the director of the Centre for the Study of Sexual Health and HIV at Homerton. In this episode, Jane discusses the history of HIV treatment in terms of how it effected and affected women at the start of the pandemic, the importance of considering mother’s wellness alongside their child’s health, and makes a case for the vitality of including women liv...
Sep 05, 2024•37 min
Sue O’Sullivan is a prolific writer, editor and publisher and champion of women’s rights, particularly their health rights. In this episode we explore feminist publishing and the genesis of the edited book, Positively Women: Living with AIDS (1992). Sue has previously worked with Red Rag, ICW News (International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS), Spare Rib , before moving to Sheba Feminist Publishing. Today Sue is part of the HOWL (History of Women’s Liberation) project, a website that co...
Aug 29, 2024•45 min
In this episode, we are joined by Daisy Puller and Harun Tulunay t o discuss the impact of awareness of HIV in the LGBTQIA+ community. Harun is the Training and Volunteering Manager at Positively UK, an NHS Patient and Public Voice Partner, and a member of the UK-CAB Steering Committee. Daisy is a volunteer peer-mentor for Positively UK and a Fast Track Cities ‘HIV Confident’ Ambassador. By day Dan is a fashion product developer, and by night she is Daisy Puller - a fabulous drag queen with big ...
Aug 22, 2024•45 min
Chris O’Hanlon is Positively UK’s Gay Men’s Project Coordinator and Caseworker. This episode examines how Positively UK evolved to provide services for Gay men, the development of the Gay Men’s Group which is a support group for gay and bisexual men or those who have yet to decide, living with HIV, and the ongoing work Chris and his colleagues offer. Alongside his background in HIV campaigning and activism, Chris is also a qualified Coach, Clinical Hypnotherapist and Sports Injury Therapist. You...
Aug 16, 2024•36 min•Season 2Ep. 12
This podcast series is part of the archival research project Positively Past, Positively Present. In this episode, Positively UK’s CEO, Silvia Petretti, and Women Project Co-ordinator, Neo Moepi with Co-Researcher and Project Manager, Maryam Shaharuddin discuss why the project is taking place and our ways of working.
Feb 29, 2024•36 min
Janine McGregor Read currently works at Homerton Hospital in the multiple disciplinary team with pregnant women and is also a peer navigator and the East London coordinator at Positively UK. In this podcast, Janine shares her experience of being pregnant as well as becoming a mother living with HIV.
Feb 23, 2024•24 min
Alice is the founding director of the Salamander Trust and works as an activist, researcher and participatory trainer in the field of HIV. In this episode, Alice discusses the role that gender plays in women's health outcomes, with specific references to HIV. Here are links to some of the studies Alice mentions: Violence against women , What will it take to achieve the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women living with HIV? , Enhancing Social Norms Programs: An Invitation to Reth...
Feb 16, 2024•35 min
In this episode, Garry Brough, a pioneer in our sector, shares insights on representation, peer support, and identity. Eli Fidgerald shares his inspiring journey from Bristol to Youth Project Coordinator at Positively UK. Together, Garry and Eli also discuss the importance of peer support, relieving the burden of openness about HIV, and diversifying representation. Hear about visibility, hyper-visibility, and power representation.
Jul 28, 2023•27 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Silvia joined Positively UK in 1999 as a volunteer and was appointed Positively UK’s CEO in February 2019. In this episode, Silvia speaks about female leadership and mentorship. She has represented people with HIV on the British HIV Association (BHIVA) Board, chaired the UK-CAB and represented the Global Network of People Living with HIV at the United Nation. She currently sits on the World Health Organisation advisory board on women and HIV.
Jun 23, 2023•33 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Beatrice Osoro firstly started working with Positively Women as a volunteer. Now, she is our Clinical Outreach and Statutory Contract Lead. In this episode, Beatrice shares her experience of servcies for African women in the HIV sector and how she found a safe space at Positively Women.
May 26, 2023•30 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Jo Manchester was a co-founder of the International Community of Women living with HIV (ICW). You may remember Rebecca Mbewe from Episode 2, she is one of the directors for 4M Mentor Mothers Network and also works on the GROWS project at Positively UK which looks at issues that affect women and ageing. In today’s episode, in honour of International Women’s Day, Jo and Rebecca speak about their experience with Gender and HIV as women. You can find out more information about the ICW's 12 Statement...
Mar 10, 2023•33 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Carolyn Williams was the first peer volunteer at Positively Women and Fiona Pettitt is currently a peer volunteer at Positively UK and is a former Trustee at the ICW. They talk about how they felt supported and held at a time where it had been difficult to access groups specific to women living with HIV.
Mar 03, 2023•35 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Cinzia Milesi was one of the first Prison Workers at Positively Women and an instrumental advocate for women in prison and women who use drugs. Sophie Strachan is the CEO of the Sophia Forum and currently sits on the BASHH special interest group for prisons developing quality standards for sexual health in prisons. In this episode, they both share their personal experiences with HIV and Prison and discuss the support they received and still advocate for....
Feb 24, 2023•42 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Julie Reynolds was one of the founders and former editors of Positively Women’s magazine. She currently works in Family Support Management but still is a Peer Mentor with Positively UK and also works with the Bearded&Flushed project. Here, she talks about the reasons why she started the magazine and what it was like for women living with HIV in the early 1990’s.
Jan 27, 2023•22 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Rebecca Mbewe is a peer mentor, speaker and trainer with long standing experience of working within the HIV sector with various organisations. Angelina Namiba has over 24 years’ experience of working in the HIV sector. Among many things, they are co-directors of the 4M Mentor Mothers which is a peer-led programme that trains women living with HIV across the UK as Mentor Mothers . Together, they share their experiences navigating through their careers and raising their children whilst living with...
Dec 16, 2022•28 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Caroline Guinness and Kate Thomson were both present at the start of Positively Women and are prominent contributors in founding, leading and establishing the group which gave support specifically to women at the time where support was massively lacking. Together, they share their past and present experiences as women living with HIV.
Nov 25, 2022•39 min•Season 2Ep. 1
In this weeks podcast we discuss accessing HIV services during the pandemic and thereafter. Following on from our online discussion, we brought your questions to the panel to find out more on the issues that affect people living with HIV. As services adapted to the Covid-19 pandemic, many services changed to telephone and online appointments. You can find a full list of resources and support organisations in our show notes below. We hope you enjoy the show. Dr Stuart Flanagan i...
Apr 26, 2021•58 min•Season 1Ep. 6
In this weeks episode we discuss Managing Isolation & Wellbeing Strategies. The Covid Pandemic and Lockdown has been a difficult time for everyone. Managing our mental health and wellbeing has been a challenge that many have had to adapt to, especially for those who struggle with anxiety and depression. Joining our podcast today is Clinical Psychologist Dr. Felicity Saunders, Prepster’s and The Love Tank Strategic Lead Phil Samba and Wellbeing Coach Mina Kakaiya, who are at the forefro...
Apr 19, 2021•56 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Hello everyone! In this weeks episode we discuss issues around welfare and finance. Following on from our recent Discussion on Welfare & Finance earlier in March, we sat down with Terrence Higgins Trust LivingWell Services Manager Ruth Burns, The Food Chain’s Volunteer & Services Manager Anna Brewster and Positively UK’s Welfare Rights Advisor Rosa Midheksa-Kenea. We put your questions to the panel The Food Chain - Volunteer & Food Service Manager - Anna Brewster As Services & Vo...
Apr 12, 2021•47 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Is HIV a risk factor for severe COVID-19? Do we need to disclose our HIV status when receiving our Covid-19 vaccine? In this episode our host Chris O’Hanlon talks to the Chair of the British HIV Association Dr Laura Waters about Covid-19 related concerns of people living with HIV. Dr Waters is a GU/HIV consultant and HIV lead at The Mortimer Market Centre, London. She is Chair of the British HIV Association (BHIVA) and the BHIVA treatment guidelines, and sits on the Board of the British Ass...
Mar 29, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 3
In our second episode we talk about the lockdown effect on people using Chems. Our host Chris O'Hanlon poses questions raised by our service participants to HIV Consultant Dr Mark Pakianathan and Richard Lisle, Lead for the 'Change Grow Live' Fast Tack Cities HIV/Drugs project. We hope this episode will improve your understanding on interactions between HIV treatment and recreational drugs, and the physiological and psychological effects associated with Chemsex. As the topic in this episode may ...
Mar 22, 2021•47 min•Season 1Ep. 2
In our first episode, we talk about what it means to age with HIV. Following on from our recent group discussion on ageing and HIV, our host Chris O'Hanlon discusses what it means to grow older with HIV. Joining him in the discussion is HIV Consultant Dr Tristan Barber and Peer Mentor Coordinator Rob Hammond. Dr Tristan Barber is a Consultant Physician in HIV Medicine at the Royal Free Hospital. He a British HIV Association (BHIVA) Trustee and Executive Committee member, as well as...
Mar 15, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 2
