Actress Claire opens centre close to her heart

Feb 23 2008 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

THE leading HIV and Aids charity in the UK has opened its first centre in the North West, in Wirral.

Actress Claire Sweeney joined local dignitaries including Mayor of Wirral Phil Gilchrist at the opening of the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) offices in Bridge Street near Hamilton Square.

The centre will serve the whole borough, funded by Wirral Primary Care Trust.

North West regional manager of THT Ewan Jenkins, said: “It’s great to be in Wirral, this is the first THT centre in the North West, and we’ll be focusing on health and prevention issues in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and with young people.

“Traditionally those sections of society prefer to access services away from hospitals, which is why we provide a screening service.

“A lot of our work is about reaching out and making contact with people in pubs and clubs so we are extending our reach.”

The new office will provide a range of services such as health promotion outreach work focused on preventing HIV from being passed on, and support groups and health advice for people affected by HIV and sexual ill health.

It will also offer one-to-one support and general information on sexually transmitted infections, condoms and safer sex.

Sweeney, who lost a friend to Aids, said: “I’m really supportive of anything that raises awareness, the new centre is really accessible and it’s great to see so many young people involved and pro-moting sexual health.”