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CORE Peer MENTOR TrainiNg

About Peer Mentoring

Developing the skills to use our lived experience of HIV to support others is profoundly enriching and transforms the way we, and others, live with HIV. 

For many of us, becoming a peer mentor has helped us to overcome internalised stigma and give back to our communities.

Our peer mentoring training supports volunteers to develop the skills and knowledge to mentor others in a safe and effective way, as detailed in the National Standards of Peer Support.

During Our Peer Mentor Training You Will Develop Key Skills:

Peer support has been my manual on how to live well with HIV.
- Peer Mentee
I know when one of my patients sees a peer support worker, magic happens.
- Peer Mentee

At Positively UK, we are accredited training providers with the Open College Network and have trained over 800 peer mentors through our national training programme, Project 100. Many of our partnering organisations across the UK have now employed people living with HIV in key service delivery roles, as a result of partnering with us and receiving training through Project 100.

Positively UK is building on the legacy of Project 100 by strengthening existing partnerships and learning opportunities with voluntary and clinical services across the UK, as well as working with HIV support organisations in other countries to support the dissemination of our training programme. We are equally committed to expanding our reach and developing new partnerships with other health and care organisations to support the development and delivery of peer support within their own services.

Our commitment to providing training and development opportunities for our own volunteers has led to the delivery of in-house training and the development of a toolkit of resources relating to group facilitation, dealing with anxiety, sleeping problems and drug and alcohol use.

At Positively UK we are able to provide individually tailored training support and resources for interested partners – contact info@positivelyuk.org for further information.

I appreciated the trainer's knowledge and the clear delivery of the training session. I really enjoyed and learnt a lot!
- Peer Mentee Training Participant
I found everything useful, The facilitator was great and very professional. I enjoyed every moment.
- Peer Mentee Training Participant
The trainer was detailed in his training, he made sure everyone participated in the class and everyone contributed.
- Peer Mentee Training Participant
I liked the overall delivery, the information and practical application and the collective commitment to the mission!
- Peer Mentee Training Participant

training and support for hiv activists

Stigma will only end when people with HIV are visible and heard. Therefore, we are committed to training HIV activists and ambassadors, in order to increase the abilities and opportunities of people with HIV to influence the decisions that directly affect their health and wellbeing.

CATWALK4POWER​

We started the Catwalk4Power project because we wanted to create ‘actions‘ to address the silence surrounding women living with HIV. Our toolkit has stategies and workshops on how to mobilise women with HIV through creativity and develop leadership skills. We call the steps to organise a Catwalk4Power ‘Struts’;  these can be adapted to the circumstances of any group of women willing to break HIV stigma and creating a platforms for women’s voices to be heard. 

As part of the Women’s R.I.S.E project, Positively UK will coordinate Catwalk4Power events around the country over the next five years, starting in October 2023 in Manchester.

Memory Catwalk for Power - PositivelyUK

Interested in Catwalk4Power?

We - as women living with HIV - exist in isolation with our secrets. Sometimes we trap ourselves with self-stigmatising behaviour. But, if supported by our peers, we are able to make a conscious effort to accept ourselves, we can evolve into new, stronger persons."
- Charity (Catwalk4Power Leader)
Change - Community HIV Activists Network to Grow Empowerment

C.H.A.N.G.E. (Community HIV Activists Network to Grow Empowerment) is a programme that aims to foster inclusivity and advance justice and equality by empowering people living with HIV.

The C.H.A.N.G.E training programme  supports the dissemination of the Manifesto of People Living with HIV, and  uses the Changing Perceptions Activists toolkit to cover key areas, such as:

  • Why we need activism
  • A step-by-step guide to getting started
  • Tips on how to burn bright but not burn out
  • Understanding HIV-related organisations and networks for information and connections.

Led by Positively UK, this programme will include partners from Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh.

‘A program aimed at empowering PLWHIV to feel more confident and involved in making their decisions in their own health and wellbeing’
Harun Tulunay - PositivelyUK
Harun Tulunay
C.H.A.N.G.E Coordinator

Addressing internalised stigma

As part of the Fast-Track Cities-funded Empowerment Programme, we recently trained three cohorts of people living with HIV registered at the Alexander Pringle Centre (North Middlesex Hospital) and Jonathan Mann Clinic (Homerton University Hospital). Participants were provided with opportunities to understand and share their own experiences, creating awareness of diverse forms of intersecting stigma and providing a space to develop mutual understanding and respect.

Want To know More?

It's helped me understand more about HIV, made me feel a bit better about the knowledge of my treatment.
- Participant at Alexander Pringle Centre (North Middlesex Hospital)
I feel like I have gained a lot from the workshops and have a lot to take from them. I loved the pace and was given time to move at my own speed without ever feeling any pressure.
- Participant at Jonathan Mann Clinic (Homerton University Hospital)
For the first time since my diagnosis, I felt comfortable with myself and enjoyed being around others who are also HIV positive. Great information gained around being undetectable and the legal obligations around disclosing my diagnosis.
- Participant at Jonathan Mann Clinic (Homerton University Hospital)

HIV Confident Charter Mark

We are partnering with National Aids Trust, National Aids Map and Fast-Track Cities to create a bespoke HIV Confident Charter Mark .

Our ambitions here are to:

  • Increase knowledge about HIV and improve attitudes towards people living with HIV,
  • tackle stigma and discrimination within organisations and cities, and
  • provide people living with HIV a way to report stigma and discrimination they experience in an organisation.

Organisations participating in the new charter mark programme will work towards an accredited status and become more inclusive, safe spaces, for people living with HIV. 

RELATED NEWS

NATIONAL PEER MENTORING EVALUATION

Abstract of Project 100 evaluation, presenting the impact of our national peer mentoring programme and its benefits for the health and wellbeing of peer mentors and mentees. Presented at the first virtual International AIDS Conference – AIDS 2020. 

Download the pdf presentation here

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