Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) is officially launching Harambee, an outreach project that aims to raise awareness of HIV and sexual health among African men in Lambeth and Southwark. The event will take place on Saturday 3rd June, at InSpire – The Crypt at St. Peter’s Church, Liverpool Grove, London SE17 2HH from 1pm to 4pm.

Harambee, which means 'pulling together' in Swahili, began in February 2005 and is funded by the Big Lottery Fund. The project team has already recruited and trained eight volunteer community mobilisers, who will work with THT's African outreach team and will offer one to one advice and support on sexual health.  The team plan to continue to recruit more volunteers over the next year to increase the reach of the project.

The Harambee project team will also give advice on where to go for a free sexual health check-up, including referring people to THT's Fastest services which offer free testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections within an hour.

According to the Health Protection Agency, in 2004 there were 1,224 new diagnoses of HIV among African communities in London, and more than 7,700 Africans under the care of a London HIV specialist. The true number of Africans living with HIV in the UK will be higher than this because of new diagnoses since 2004 and because a third of people living with HIV do not know they have the infection.

Richard Lanek, African Health Promotion Manager at Terrence Higgins Trust said:

"We are very keen for more volunteers from African communities to take part in the project. The response so far has been great, but we still need people from all walks of life to get involved and start talking about the issue of sexual health, which is so crucial for our community."

If you would like to get involved please contact harambeeproject@tht.org.uk or call Richard Lanek on 020 7812 1794. If you would like advice or support on HIV or sexual health please call the Terrence Higgins Trust helpline, THT Direct: 0845 12 21 200.

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Notes to Editors

Terrence Higgins Trust is the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity, providing a wide range of services to over 50,000 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.