Events 2013-14
Global Fund Announcement:
After the announcement of £1 billion to the global fund we sent a thank you letter to
Justine Greening and DFID to thank them for listening to us.
National Gathering:
Three of us attended the national gathering in Edinburgh and shared some great
ideas to raise awareness and plan fun future events. We came back feeling more
informed, inspired and creative.
End of AIDS Meeting: 
We had our End of AIDS open
meeting where we played the
TRIPS game that we learned in
Edinburgh (with delicious chocolate
treats) and recruited a few
more members. It was a fun
meeting and a good introduction
for the new members.
World AIDS Day:
In the week leading up to World AIDS Day we had a pub quiz raising money for
GHT. It was a full house and we raised £100 for them. We also ran a stall in the
Student Union giving out condoms and leaflets. We are in contact with BHA and
a couple of people from there joined us to help out at our stall. We gave out about
2000 condoms.
On the day we stood near the library with a banner, our hoodies on and fingers
painted red. We handed out leaflets informing people about the Student
STOPAIDS campaign and answering questions they had. Additionally, we began
making a video addressing the misconceptions surrounding AIDS and HIV. The
video still needs work as it was more time-consuming than we expected but we
aim to have it finished either over the summer or early in the next academic year.
Speaker Tour:
We were all really pleased with the turn out of this and I feel that if we raise publicity
a little earlier in advance next year we can improve it further. It was an incredibly
touching experience for all of us, and we gained new members as a result.
The Unity Project:
Titled ‘the not-so fashionable show’, this event was an anual series of performances
from various charities, including MSF and Amnesty. Our performance portrayed
the positive discovery of a new drug by scientists, which were then restricted due
to patenting and the greed of these businesses. It resulted in those with HIV in first
world countries being treated whilst in developing countries they were left to suffer.
This was the underlying message, however the execution of it though carrying a serious
message was light-hearted and enjoyable to watch, with the crowd joining in
‘booing’ the CEOs of big pharma companies. We also handed out chocolate coins,
which always goes down a treat.
The project was enjoyable for all of us involved, with most members of the campaign
participating and we raised about £100 for ourselves. The whole night was a
success but points for improvement include perhaps working with the organisers to
reduce ticket price from £5 to £4 as it once was, as many of us felt that it did make
people reluctant to commit to purchasing a ticket in advance. As with other events,
publicity needs to be improved to get the word out.
Day of Action:
This was a great success and as with the
national gathering, events like this bring
more passion and determination to the 
group. A highlight was the chance to go
to parliament, as for many of us this was
our first time meeting with an MP and
now that initial nervousness has been
ovecome I feel that we can become more
productive in that area and continue to
get the word out to those who can bring
about the change we’re all looking for.
Almost all the MPs we spoke to heard us
out and were on board with our ideas and
agreed to message Vince Cable.
It’s always wonderful to reunite with
friends and meet new ones, it gives us
a great chance to bounce ideas off one
another and encourage us further.
Next Year:
We have grown as a society from 3 members to 12 regular members this year and we have a 5 person committee in place for next year with two more members who will still definitely be involved. Hopefully having a better structure and job allocation in place will improve the general organisation and outreach of the campaign in Manchester, and we aim to further collaboration with other organisations near the area.