. This section is a purely personal and subjective account of my experiences whilst at the Terrence Higgins Trust. The Trust was set up and run in these early days by gay men in response to friends dying from AIDS and largely because of the failure of the statutory health and social services to meet our needs and those of our friends and families. I joined the Terrence Higgins Trust in October of 1983 and I took the first call on the official THT Aids helpline on February 14th 1984.

. A public meeting had been held in the upstairs room of the gay pub The London Apprentice over by Liverpool Street station. I took the first call on the official THT Aids helpline on February 14th 1984. The phone line was open between 8 and 10pm at first & then extended. We were housed in a pokey room in a converted warehouse just off the Gray's Inn Road in Central London. This is the 2nd information leaflet produced in 1985

. As I look back at these events I am struck by how many people in the voluntary sector have had similar experiences. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that as a volunteer the commitment to an issue arises from a personal conviction rather than a desire simply to make a living. It is this commitment that on the one hand generates the energy that drives the sector but on the other hand can make one deny the needs of others or the effect one actions have on others.

St Mary's Hospital, 1987. . During 1986 I began to realise that I more work was need to be done on the AIDS crisis and that the place to be to make the greatest change would be in the NHS. David Panter had just been appointed to Islington Health Authority - as it then was - as their AIDS Coordinator, the first NHS AIDS appointment. I was successful in applying for a job at Paddington and North Kensington Health Authority. This later became Parkside Health Authority.

St Mary's Hospital. 1987 . It was at this time that Rt. Hon. Normal Fowler MP was the Secretary of State for Health. I had prepared a display of prevention messages that can just be seen in the background. The visit around the hospital culminated in a round table discussion on future plans. The Chair of the Health Authority is on the left of the picture with Normal Fowler, just Mr. then, to his left. Next is seated Prof. Anthony Pinching, Dr. William Harris then Mr. Clive Bath and then me.

. I developed a number of health promotion cards for World AIDS Day. These cards were circulated around both Kingston and Richmond.

. This section is a purely personal and subjective account of my experiences whilst at the Terrence Higgins Trust. The Trust was set up and run in these early days by gay men in response to friends dying from AIDS and largely because of the failure of the statutory health and social services to meet our needs and those of our friends and families. I joined the Terrence Higgins Trust in October of 1983 and I took the first call on the official THT Aids helpline on February 14th 1984.

. A public meeting had been held in the upstairs room of the gay pub The London Apprentice over by Liverpool Street station. I took the first call on the official THT Aids helpline on February 14th 1984. The phone line was open between 8 and 10pm at first & then extended. We were housed in a pokey room in a converted warehouse just off the Gray's Inn Road in Central London. This is the 2nd information leaflet produced in 1985

. As I look back at these events I am struck by how many people in the voluntary sector have had similar experiences. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that as a volunteer the commitment to an issue arises from a personal conviction rather than a desire simply to make a living. It is this commitment that on the one hand generates the energy that drives the sector but on the other hand can make one deny the needs of others or the effect one actions have on others.