On November 4 at 10pm Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) staff and volunteers will be donning their combats and launching a GI Jonny mission to hand out condoms and safer sex advice to clubbers at the Wild Fruit club night in Tru.

GI Jonny is a BBC Learning campaign developed with sexual health charity THT to tackle high levels of complacency about HIV among 16-34 year olds.  GI Jonny aims to ‘inform and protect’ and Jonny’s foot soldiers will be giving out condom packs, sweets and postcards with safer sex information to people at Tru. Clubbers will also be invited to have their ‘G.I Jonny Military Mug Shot’ taken with a polaroid camera whilst holding a G.I Jonny Recruit sign. They will then be given the photograph along with their goodie bag.

Elizabeth McKay, Project Executive at BBC Learning said, “Levels of ignorance about HIV are at an all time high among the age group most likely to catch a sexually transmitted infection.  Young people told us they needed practical information about HIV that they could share with mates.  GI Jonny’s fun, always prepared for action, and fully armed with the facts about HIV.”

Sue Peters, Regional Manager of THT in the South said “There’ll be plenty of people out that night and if they’re thinking about having sex, we want them to know the facts and do so as safely as possible. Our aim is to have fun, let people know about the GI Jonny campaign and get them armed with some condoms, their safer sex ammo.”

A recent BBC survey showed that 59% of 16-34 year olds believe you can get HIV from kissing, and 30% think it can be passed on from toilet seats. GI Jonny has a website www.GIJonny.co.uk which will help people learn the real facts about HIV and how to use condoms while customising their own GI character.  They can also build an elite force by sending the message on to their friends through the campaign website or on Facebook. 

For further information on the GI Jonny event in Brighton, please contact THTs Brighton office on 01273 764 200.

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Notes to editors

• The BBC GI Jonny campaign aims to raise awareness about HIV and was launched at the start of October by Stephen Fry in the documentary series, HIV and Me. In addition to the campaign headquarters at www.gijonny.co.uk , there is programming across Radio 1, Radio 2, 1Xtra, 6 Music, Asian Network, BBC Nations and Regions, and ends with a special episode of Casualty on BBC One.  The campaign runs through World Aids Day on December 1.

• Terrence Higgins Trust is the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity, providing a wide range of services across England, Wales and Scotland.  The charity also campaigns and lobbies for greater political and public understanding of the personal, social and medical impact of HIV and sexual ill health.