Terry Higgins lost his life 30 years ago. His death inspired our fight for better sexual health for everyone.
Thirty years ago a young man was dying. His doctors didn’t know what was wrong with him, and his family – who never approved of his ‘lifestyle’ – didn’t want to know. His partner, 19-years-old and terrified, had the hospital curtains shut in his face. He wasn’t considered next of kin.
When Terry Higgins died with AIDS, on 4 July 1982, his friends and partner took the love they had for him and the anger they felt at what he had gone through, and decided to make a change. They founded Terrence Higgins Trust in Terry’s name, so that others wouldn’t have to suffer the way he had suffered.
From just a handful of people in a flat in East London, our charity has grown to become the UK’s leading voice on HIV and sexual health. We have manned phonelines, stuck up posters, and visited schools. We have launched clinics and counselling services, youth groups and websites, and we have held the Government to account. For a time we helped people to die with dignity, and – for the last 15 years – we have helped those with HIV to live their lives to the fullest.
Over the last three decades, thousands of people across the country – of all ages and from all walks of life – have had their lives changed for the better, and it’s all thanks to Terry.
Terry Higgins inspired his friends to do something positive, and now – to preserve that legacy for the future – we need our friends to do the same.
Today in the UK, 20 people were taken into a room to hear a doctor say the words: “You have HIV.” There are 100,000 people living with the infection in this country, a quarter of whom don’t even know that they have it. That’s thousands of people, going about their business right now, oblivious to the damage the virus is causing to their bodies. And each year, 600 more of them die from a preventable, treatable condition, usually because they thought HIV didn’t affect people like them.
Together we can stop HIV in its tracks
A gift of £30 today can pay for someone living with HIV to visit a local school or college and open young people’s eyes to the risks of unsafe sex. There's still no cure for HIV, but with your help we can stop it in its tracks.
Please give now