Life in my Shoes

The campaign has its roots in youth led research working in partnership with the Office of Public Management. Young people aged 12-18 across London contributed to the research findings. A key finding was that even when young people had the knowledge around transmission, this did not correspond to how they then behaved towards young people living with HIV.

An example of this was although 69% of young people knew you cannot get HIV from kissing; only 24% said they would kiss someone who they knew to be HIV positive.

Central to the Life in my Shoes campaign is a dramatic film. Based on real life experiences, it gives the audience the unique opportunity to see what life is like in the shoes of someone who is HIV positive, experiencing the challenges they face.

A website was launched with the celebrity support of the Misfits and Inbetweeners, and a booklet sent to over 1500 schools and youth clubs. Over 2000 young people registered for the scripts.

This was accompanied by Facebook, Twitter and media activity, including a piece on ITV news reaching over 8m viewers.

A shortlist of 30 young people from all over the UK was invited to come to Body & Soul to meet the casting panel. Each young person got the opportunity to audition with well known actors such as Emily Head, Blake Harrison and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and in front of film industry experts, executive producer; Finola Dwyer and Casting Director; Gary Davy.

After much deliberation, a star was selected: Pearl Mahaga was cast in the leading female role, saying:

"I'm honoured to be a part of something like this. This campaign is seriously needed to confront fear of HIV and promote educating young people about the virus. I feel privileged to be a part of the team behind this campaign and have a role in changing attitudes for the better."

Find out more about Life in my Shoes.