We spent around a third of our money on helping prevent HIV transmission and helping people with HIV to be diagnosed.

During 2010/2011 around 3,000 people chose to have an HIV test from one of our Fastest services. 1.8% of these people were diagnosed HIV positive. This figure compares favourably with other services offering HIV testing.

We were then able to put them into contact with specialist HIV clinical services more quickly and at an earlier stage than had they not been diagnosed. This helped their health as well as contributed to our efforts to reduce ongoing transmission of HIV.

During the year THT ran numerous health promotion campaigns to try to reduce and change the risk behaviours in those communities at greatest risk of HIV, especially gay men and African people. These campaigns were developed with the active involvement of these communities.

In April 2010 we invited gay men to talk freely and openly about sex and the kind of information they need in our We Listen campaign. Funded by the Department of Health through CHAPS, a partnership of community organisations, the resulting insights helped inform our future health promotion work.

Gay men were encouraged to share their HIV testing stories in our I Did It campaign in January 2011, which challenged fears and told people how and where to get tested. By the end of the financial year more than 150 men had contributed their stories to the I Did It website.

During the year more than 235,280 gay men visited our targeted websites. This was in addition to the 331,250 visitors to our main website, www.tht.org.uk.

We also ran a series of health promotion campaigns in gay magazines, on dating websites and in gay bars, saunas and NHS sexual health clinics, funded by the Pan London HIV Prevention Programme.

These campaigns encouraged men to test for HIV, with one highlighting the importance of condom use and HIV testing for men in relationships, whilst another highlighted the fact that one in seven gay men in London is living with HIV. In October we encouraged people to take the 20-minute finger prick HIV test, emphasising how testing is now quick and convenient.

In March 2011 we organised and hosted the annual CHAPS conference, held in Manchester. Over 300 delegates attended to listen to presentations, join debates and share their research, experience and expertise to strengthen our united HIV and sexual health work. It also launched Making It Count, the planning framework for gay men’s HIV prevention.

During the year THT continued its work as the largest provider of HIV Prevention information to African people in the UK. This work included delivering high quality safer sex information as well as information to encourage African people to test regularly for HIV. WE also provided face to face support for Africans as well as support to African community organisations to help them continue their work with individual African communities.

We also pursued new and innovative approaches to HIV Prevention work with Africans. For example, THT spent summer 2010 on the football field for the Play It Safe tournament, in which African men played three rounds of football in London while competing for prize money and receiving sexual health information.

We worked on a one-to-one basis with more than 21,000 people at risk of HIV through our HIV prevention outreach services. This involves trained staff going out into the communities we serve to give information about safer sex and sexual health. We go into bars, clubs, gay venues, clinics, saunas and online chat rooms – anywhere where people may need sexual health information, free condoms or advice on how to get further help.