Wednesday, 27th January 2021
Trade are delighted to again be a part of National HIV Testing Week, running from 1- 7 February with an aim to promote regular testing among the most-affected population groups in England at risk of HIV. Regular testing helps to reduce the number of people living with undiagnosed HIV and those diagnosed late.
Channel 4’s recent series ‘It’s a Sin’ really put to light how stigma and shame can be to the detriment of our sexual health. As shown in the series, even members of our community who are well informed can still allow their shame to dictate the risks they may take when having sex.
The issues brought up in the show lay close to our ethos and messaging around someone’s sexual health and the risk they may take. Taking a holistic approach helps us to discover why many social and mental factors may affect someone’s sexual health and sexual activities.
Pre-COVID, this campaign would involve you seeing you out in the community or coming into our offices or our other partner locations across the city throughout the week, but as we have all experienced, this last year has been like no other, and many organisations like ourselves have had to be creative in how we operate our services and national campaigns such as National HIV Testing Week.
Despite there being no in-person face-to-face services, we are still determined make this campaign a success!
We are urging people to order your free testing kit online - its quick, simple and you can take your samples from the comfort of your own home.
We are aware that taking your own blood samples isn’t always straight forward. In response to this, we will be running a selection of online services publicly over social media platforms or on one-to-one basis.
Blood sampling demonstration video
A video of the Trade team demonstrating the contents of the home test kits and how to successfully take blood samples.
When
- Monday 1st February 2021
Location
- Instagram (IGTV)
- YouTube
Assisted blood sampling sessions
Trade will be hosting one-to-one sessions through Zoom where you can book a slot for a Trade worker to assist you in taking your blood samples from the comfort of your own home. This will also give you a chance to talk to us about any other sexual health queries you may have.
When
- Monday 1st February – 1:00-3:00pm
- Wednesday 3rd February – 5:00-7:00pm
- Friday 5th February – 1:00-3:00pm
Location
Facebook Live
We will be on Facebook Live throughout various times during the week creating an interactive space enabling you to get social with us. We will be discussing the campaign, how to order your home test kits and giving you some top tips on how to distribute blood into the test tubes. This will also give us a chance to answer any other questions around sexual health.
Get involved and join many others who’ll be participating and taking control of their sexual health.
Order your free home test kit here or visit bit.ly/NHTW20TSH
