Manchester-based HIV charity George House Trust has won a GSK Impact Award – one of the nation’s top healthcare charity awards.
The group has become one of this year’s ten winners despite record numbers of applicants, giving them access to £40,000 in funding and a place on public health think-tank The King’s Fund’s leadership development programme.
The awards – organised by The King’s Fund alongside pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline – are designed to recognise excellence among small to medium-sized healthcare charities.
Darren Knight, Chief Executive of George House Trust, said: “I’m absolutely delighted that in our 40th year, we’re one of the GSK Impact Award winners.
“This recognition is fantastic, and the investment in our activity means that we will continue to evolve, develop, and expand to better meet the needs of people living with HIV.”
Amongst other services – destitution payments, formula milk donations, support groups – George House Trust has also played a vital role in reaching out to the fastest-growing, yet often underrepresented, demographic of people living with HIV – over 50s.
Naomi Sloyan, 58, a user of George House Trust who now works at the group, said: “I went through a year of being desperately ill, often hospitalised.
“It was quite a traumatic experience, really, because it wasn’t picked up early.”
But Sloyan believes her story, as well as George House Trust’s Ageing Well programme, is breaking down the stereotypical image of someone living with HIV, meaning faster treatment and support for people in whom the disease may previously have gone undiagnosed.
Through the Passionate About Sexual Health partnership – alongside fellow Manchester charity BHA for Equality – George House Trust also plays in important role in the government’s HIV Action Plan, which aims to end new HIV transmissions by 2030.
The programme has since expanded to Liverpool, due to its success in Manchester.
This community partnership building aspect of George House Trust was highlighted by The King’s Fund as particularly impressive, emphasising also its collaborations with the NHS.
Lisa Weaks, senior associate at The King’s Fund, said: “George House Trust is a well-established and valued charity in its community.
“Working together with NHS organisations and other charities, the charity also plays an incredible role in breaking down barriers around HIV stigma.”
The GSK Impact Award will further raise George House Trust’s profile, helping to achieve its aims of normalising, de-stigmatising, and combatting HIV throughout the Northwest.
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