The AIDS Memorial in London
Campaigning for a London AIDS Memorial
Our Vision
To honour and commemorate the memory of those we have lost and the profound impact of HIV & AIDS on the diversity of individuals and British society.
AIDS Memory UK will be establishing a permanent memorial, accessible to all wanting to share their respects to those who have been affected by HIV & AIDS.
Our location
The AIDS Memorial will be located on South Crescent, Store St, Fitzrovia, London – Find us.
This area has been significant to the HIV & AIDS movement.
The location is close to:
- Former Middlesex Hospital, which was the UK’s first AIDS ward.
- James Pringle House, a sexual health clinic that saw some of the first patients in the UK with HIV & AIDS.
- The Bloomsbury Clinic, the busiest HIV clinic in the UK.
The Memorial
The AIDS Memorial in London will include:
- Acknowledgment, of lessons learned from an increasingly forgotten period in British history
- A challenge to the intersecting stigma and discrimination still faced by groups most impacted by HIV
- Bridging community and generational gaps, by considering the histories and narratives of AIDS in the 20th Century, our progress towards 21st Century viral suppression and HIV undetectability (U=U)
- Renew awareness of HIV and AIDS, aim to perform a preventative function and encourage testing by challenging the ongoing stigmatisation of more than 104,000 people living with HIV in the UK and 37 million worldwide [ADD SOURCE]
- Recognition of the critical role of those living with HIV, affected communities, government, civil society and other actors in the global HIV response from the start of the epidemic to now
- Remembrance which pays tribute to more than 21,000 people who died in the UK and the 35 million who have died worldwide [ADD SOURCE]
- A linear historical path between the past, the present and the future for the UK communities who bore the brunt of the pandemic
- A reminder to the UK that AIDS is not over and that worldwide, too many people living with HIV cannot access life-saving medication. In an era where death is preventable, too many still die.
Why London?
London is the chosen city as it was hit hardest in the UK; many people sought support in the capital from all over the UK and the world.