Terrence Higgins Trust is launching a new service on February 1 which offers sexual health information to chat room users on Gaydar - www.gaydar.co.uk.  The service, called ‘Netreach’, means THT’s trained outreach workers, who normally work in bars, clubs or cruising grounds, will offer information and support on HIV and sexual health online.

A specific chatroom ‘THT Health Info’ will be set up and outreach workers will also be in other gaydar chatrooms.   They will be easily recognisable by their usernames: firstname.tht

Users can chat to them publicly or can double click on their username for a private chat.  The service is completely confidential and no information that could identify the user will be collected.

Rod Watson, Deputy Head of Health Promotion at THT said “We jumped at the chance to work in the Gaydar chatrooms.  Users will be able to ask our team any questions they have about HIV or sexual health in confidence.  Chatrooms are totally informal and people often feel more comfortable talking about these issues online rather than face to face or over the phone.“

Trevor Martin, Marketing Director of Qsoft Consulting Ltd, owners of the Gaydar brand said “We’re extremely pleased to be working with the Terrence Higgins Trust.  The Netreach online service will provide an invaluable, discrete and confidential sexual health information channel for Gaydar’s 3 million plus members.”

Netreach will be available on Gaydar on the following days and times:
Mondays  18.00 to 21.00
Wednesdays 15.00 to 18.00
Thursdays  19.00 to 22.00
Saturdays  13.00 to 16.00
Sundays  17.00 to 20.00

If gay men would like information and support on sexual health matters via another method, they can call THT Direct on 0845 12 21 200, email info@tht.org.uk or visit our website at www.tht.org.uk.

Ends

Notes to editors

• Terrence Higgins Trust is the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity, providing a wide range of services for over 60,000 people a year.  The charity also campaigns and lobbies for greater political and public understanding of the personal, social and medical impact of HIV and sexual health.
• Gaydar is the ultimate gay personals website, with the largest selection of gay personals on the web.  Gaydar is at www.gaydar.co.uk