Voting has opened for the local Golden Handbags Awards 2013.

The awards are a celebration of the contributions of  Brighton & Hove LGBT & HIV voluntary sector groups, charities and businesses.

Lunch Positive features in the Voluntary Sector & HIV Organisation section.

Lunch Positive is a weekly lunch club for people with HIV, which is provided entirely by volunteers.

During the last year our volunteer team of 27 people has given over 5,000 hours of time to support           
140 people who use the service.           

We get together every Friday to provide a safe and inclusive space for people to meet and support
one another, share a healthy meal, and to find advice and information. We’re just about to celebrate our fourth birthday in June, and serve our 10,000th meal!

Please support our work, the impact it has for our community, and the contributions of our volunteers.

Please give us your vote! 

You can vote by clicking here which will take you to G Scene magazine online. 
At the top of the G Scene home page is a ‘ Vote Here’ button which will take you to a quick and easy voting form. We’re in the Voluntary Sector & HIV Organisation Section.

Thanks from all of us!

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve been awarded £1,985 to help stage the annual World AIDS Day Candlelight Vigil & Reading Of Names. The event which is held on World AIDS Day December 1^st  is a public remembrance of people who have been lost to AIDS locally, and  an expression of hope and solidarity for those who live with HIV/AIDS.

Funding has been awarded by the Community Development Fund through the Communities First Queen’s Park Ward Programme and will be spent on providing equipment to stage the vigil, improving wheelchair access and promoting the event.

Lunch Positive supports World AIDS Day events as a member of the Brighton & Hove World AIDS Day Partnership  which is formed from a wide range of local charities and organisations which include the Sussex Ecumenical HIV Chaplaincy, Sussex Beacon, THT South, CDO Sussex and Brighton & Hove City Council Community Safety Team. If you would like to see more about the Vigil and Reading of Names or leave a name to be read at the vigil, please visit the Facebook page www.facebook.com/worldAIDSdayBH/info

During February, March and April we will be working with Tim Procter from THT South to provide welfare support workshops  for people with HIV.
These will be held at Lunch Positive, Dorset Gardens Methodist Church, Dorset Gardens, Brighton.
 
Workshops will run from 2.00 – 4.30 pm on
Friday 22nd February – PIP (Personal Independence Payment) & Universal Credit
Friday 15th March &  Friday 22nd March ( running over 2 weeks)  - DLA (Disability Living Allowance)
Friday 5th April – Employment & Support Allowance

To book a place on any of the workshops please complete the form below, and we’ll get back to you to confirm that one has been saved for you.
If you have any questions, please include these in the contact form below, or e mail info@lunchpositive.org 
Thanks, we hope the workshops will be useful for you.

Eating as healthily as possible is important for people with HIV; it has positive benefits for physical and mental health as well as overall wellbeing. Finding easy and affordable ways to do this on a budget are especially important right now in the challenging financial climate. The Appetite for Life! project is our way of helping to support you to eat well whatever your circumstances.

We have arranged a series of one-off workshops throughout October and November which cover a range of topics including healthy eating, practical food preparation and cookery skills and eating well on a budget.

We’ve also launched our project website www.appetite-4-life.org which is a resource for you to share idaes and knowledge, to keep up to date with what’s happening in the project; and to find details of forthcoming workshops and events.

Please take a look, and pass on news of the project to others with HIV who might like to take part.

Thank you to everyone who supported us at this year’s Pride at Preston Park. Our community cafe raised £1,80o, and we’d like to thank you for visiting us there, helping us fundraise; and for your encouraging comments on the day.

During 2011-12 we were involved in a Community Service Project, led by People Can.
The aim of the project was to monitor, evaluate and report our work and the benefits and impact for people.
In May this was presented to a wide audience, including stakeholders, community workers, health professionals and other helping groups.
The full report, with wider data, evaluation results, case studies, testimonials and plans for the future can be viewed here -
LUNCH POSITIVE SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY – FULL REPORT

Thank you to everyone who supports our work and our group.