AIDS MEMORY UK

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About Us

Our Vision

To commemorate those who lost their lives in the HIV/AIDS epidemic, to give comfort to those who grieve their loss and highlight the impact of HIV/AIDS on the lives of the communities most affected.

Our current primary activity is the creation of the AIDS memorial in London.

Our Mission

To create The AIDS Memorial in London, linking the constellation of local memorials across the UK. We do this through:

Inclusion

The AIDS Memorial will have meaning and resonate with all those affected by HIV, then, now and in the future

Art

We remember through art as it gives space for each individual to complete their own memories, individually and collectively beautiful

Remembrance

We believe that remembering truths is important for us as individuals and for society

Common humanity

The AIDS Memorial offers fundraising and awareness-raising opportunities for HIV and AIDS causes

Campaigning

We fight on towards ending AIDS by reaching zero new infections. We remain alert to the ongoing stigma of HIV and AIDS and the people and communities now affected

Solidarity

We remember as those affected, in solidarity not sympathy

Our Story

In 2016, playwright, film maker & HIV campaigner Ash Kotak began the work to create a lasting memorial to those lost to HIV-related illness, one that would act as a reminder that the fight to end AIDS, and the stigma of HIV and AIDS continues.

The sculpture will be located just off Tottenham Court Road in Fitzrovia, close to the former Middlesex Hospital. This is where the UK’s first AIDS unit was opened by Princess Diana in April 1987. In front of the world’s media, she shook the hand of a man with AIDS. At a time when people were afraid to touch, she wore no gloves and told the world that HIV/AIDS was not passed from person to person by touch, but that kindness and humanity are.

In the 1980s and 90s, HIV and AIDS disproportionally affected four marginalised groups in the UK: gay / bisexual men; African communities; people with haemophilia and people who inject drugs.

Our consultation​

Since 2016 AIDS Memory UK (AMUK) have engaged with and presented our goals to a wide range of affected community groups. AMUK enjoys active public support from leading figures in the arts, politics, business, finance, charitable and voluntary sectors.

As represented in our four-ripple logo, we’ve focused much of our engagement with the LGBTQ community, the Bleeding Disorder Community, Black African communities and injecting drug users. Creating working groups which we now refer to as our Affected Communities Advisory Board (ACAB). As well as many individuals affected by and infected with HIV, since 2016, AMUK has also regularly consulted with the CEOs of the major HIV charities. Our Founder, Ash Kotak, has represented the vision for an AIDS memorial in London through multiple public speaking events across the UK, including special curated events from panel discussions to cabaret.

On World AIDS Day 2018 AMUK re-established London’s AIDS Vigil, a free space for those affected by HIV to share personal memories, as well as to describe what they want and need from the AIDS Memorial in London. Throughout this journey, we have made inclusive and open dialogue fundamental to the process of creating a fitting AIDS memorial in London.

Survivors Voices

Hear the stories from the people that the AIDS pandemic affected the most

HIV/AIDS has been in part, the forgotten pandemic. Within that, minority communities remain largely marginalised and unrecognised. A memorial in the UK would go some way to recognise the enormity of the HIV /AIDS pandemic and the activism of people living with HIV from all walks of life, whose resilience needs to be celebrated.
Winnie Ssanyu Sseruma
Winnie Ssanyu SserumaHIV Activist (Advisory Board Member)
AIDS and HIV has taken great chunks out of often marginalised communities, chunks of emotional labour, sadness, and lives, countless lives of men, women and children. Whilst fighting the disease people also had to fight the stigma, day in day out, fighting hatred and discrimination. Has there ever been such bravery, in the face of hatred and ignorance? This group of people - I am a long term survivor, symbolise the best of us. They, especially the ones whose lives were cut tragically short, deserve our remembrance, and deserve a site of remembrance. Gone but never forgotten, I see their faces, their unloved lives everyday.
Juno Roche
Juno Roche
I’m able to live a normal life due to the advances in HIV treatment but if I was born to a different generation I wouldn’t be so lucky. While we celebrate every advance we should never forget those we have lost. A memorial would give a focal point for the families and the friends who have lost loved ones and always stand as a reminder of the loss so many have suffered. Although we have memorials in Brighton and other parts of the country, a national memorial in London, which suffered so greatly in the AIDS crisis if well overdue.
Lloyd Russell-Moyle
Lloyd Russell-MoyleMP
I support AIDS Memory UK because I truly believe that it is incredibly important for us to remember those who have gone before us; to appreciate those earlier advocates who fought to get us to where we are now; to acknowledge the progress made in terms of science and the development of highly effective medication that now enables people to live well with HIV; and to celebrate the enormous strides made and continue to be made, in order to ensure we reach a point where we have access to treatment and services for all, and zero stigma against HIV. We are not there yet, and a lot more needs to be done. However, a memorial will act as a reminder of where we were, where we are and where we still need to get to.
Angelina Namibia
Angelina Namibia
I fully support ending transmission by 2030 but this requires a huge amount of support from all political parties & the Government to put resources in to support this goal: we have the means We have a National Health Service we have effective Medication and we now have PrEP but people need to be encouraged to Test so that knowing one’s Status means people can get the treatment they need & by talking about HIV we can diminish Stigma HIV can affect anyone : it’s a virus like Covid-19 but there is no vaccine. I would also like the issue of a memorial to be created to the memory of those who have died from HIV. We need somewhere here in London as there is in Brighton
Jonathan Blake
Jonathan Blake
The people we lost to AIDS, the people who live on with HIV, and all those who helped and supported us then and now, deserve a special place where we can remember and pay our heartfelt respects.
Tony Whitehead
Tony Whitehead

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The AIDS Memorial in London

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