Northumberland and North Tyneside Sexual Health Promotion team worked over two weeks on their WAD campaign

They raised awareness, encouraged testing, educated around treatment/medication (U=U) but also how to prevent through condom use, PrEP and PEP. All messages will help end new HIV cases by 2030. stalls, talks and testing in the lead up to (and including) WAD at

• Ashington Leisure Centre (H/P Stall)
• Blyth Leisure Centre and CVA (H/P Stalls)
• Bedlington Sixth Form (talk)
• YMCA North Shields (H/P Stall)
• YMCA Housing North Shields (talk & testing)

Local Authority Awareness Raising

Northumberland County Council: Raised awareness through a press release on 24 November 2025, highlighting HIV prevention and hosted a health promotion stall in Cramlington.

Gateshead Council: Awareness was raised via its Sexual Health Service website Marked World AIDS Day by announcing the Millennium Bridge would be illuminated red on 1 December to show solidarity and promote HIV awareness.

South Tyneside Council: Awareness was raised via its Sexual Health Service website, which announced the Town Hall lighting and promoted HIV testing and home screening services.

Durham County Council & Durham Pride: Featured in local news for organizing remembrance events, with Durham Pride hosting an alternative ceremony to challenge stigma and honour those affected.

Middlesbrough (Public Health South Tees): Released a press statement emphasizing early HIV testing, reporting rising diagnoses among women, and urging stigma-free services.

Darlington Borough Council: Contributed to regional messaging through Public Health South Tees and NHS Trust statements, promoting testing and aiming to end HIV transmission by 2030.

Healthcare Trusts

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust: Issued a statement promoting HIV education, testing, and PrEP services, supporting the UK’s aim to end HIV transmission by 2030.

South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust: Featured consultant comments on stigma reduction and the U=U campaign; public health leads called for increased testing and awareness during World AIDS Day.

There was a community arts showcase with the theme of protest art challenging HIV stigma at the Staiths Café for a week surrounding World AIDS Day, starting from Wednesday 26 November to Wednesday 3 December.

The art on display was created during a series of workshops organised by Teams and Dunston Alive, run by local artist Chris Folwell, supported by Blue Sky Trust. These workshops were hosted by Blue Sky Trust, The Drop-In – Dunston & Teams Youth Project, and Tyne Derwent Way, so the art produced includes the voices of local people living with HIV and local young people, among others.

Blue Sky Trust also put together a podcast with the BBC, which was aired on BBC Radio Cumbria and is now available on BBC Sounds. The podcast featured a Blue Sky Trust staff member and three Blue Sky Trust volunteers sharing their stories of what it is like living with HIV in 2025, and covered a range of topics within that brief. This podcast was called I Have HIV: Fighting The Stigma, and is available here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0mk4kjt?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile – a special thank you to the producers, Ed Hanson & Jonathan Morrell.

There was also an article written on the BBC News website featuring one of Blue Sky Trust’s staff members and a volunteer, who our volunteers were also interviewed on various radio stations around the region as well.

Blue Sky Trust’s internal World AIDS Day event was well attended, and focussed on a mixture of celebrating the progress that has been made, as well as the difference our members have made, and also remembering and commemorating the past and the voices who were lost along the way.

Blue Sky Trust also provided support to Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals’ WAD fireside chat, with a Lived Experience speaker discussing the importance of tackling stigma within healthcare settings.