If you’re under 26, have grown up with HIV and live in the UK or Ireland, there are many ways to get support from us or get involved in our activities.
We offer one-on-one support in HIV clinics, organise group days out, weekends away, and other projects to bring together young people like you. These are designed to help you live better with HIV, build your knowledge and confidence, support your ambitions for the future, and meet others in your age group who also live with HIV.
Local groups and support
We work in regions around the UK to help children and young adults with the wider impacts of living with HIV. Our regional staff also organise meet-ups in different parts of the country to bring together local young people living with HIV.
Freedom 2 Be Camp
We run a week-long summer camp for 11–17 year-olds living with HIV, with opportunities to volunteer for those 18 and over. The programme includes educational and creative workshops, adventure sports, and time to spend with new and old friends in a safe space.
Art is Key
Work alongside professional artists to explore your experiences of HIV, using music, drama, spoken word, visual arts, and more. Open to ages 17-25.
The Blueprint
Support for young adults on subjects like careers, finance, self-esteem and mental health. Online sessions and in-person meet-ups. Open to ages 18-25.
Positively Spoken
A collaboration with the British Library to record the stories of young people who grew up with HIV. Over 30 have been collected for the oral history archive.
Youth Leaders
Young people’s voices are central to our work at Chiva. We want to involve children and young adults who live with HIV in everything we do. Find out how to join the Chiva Youth Committee or have your say in campaigns and sector research.
Mentorship and Counselling
Young adults aged over 18 can access two programmes run in partnership with Terrence Higgins Trust (THT):
- Work and Skills is a mentoring programme supporting young adults who are unemployed, in insecure or temporary employment, or would like to consider future qualifications or training. A mentor will talk through career opportunities and support people to improve CVs, look for work and prepare for interviews.
- The Youth Counselling Service is a youth-friendly, easily accessible and flexible online counselling service which can offer an initial six sessions with a trained counsellor.
What’s it like to take part?
As part of all of our activities, we aim to make you feel welcomed, valued and included. We want you to take part at your own pace and be yourself. We want to create a safe space where HIV can be talked about without stigma or fear. And we want you to have fun.
You’ll be able to meet other young people who may share some of your experiences. They might be at different stages in their journey of living with HIV, so you can learn from each other. You’ll also be supported by volunteers who are living with HIV and staff with many years of experience.
We always cover travel costs, provide food, and give further support to access the activities to those who need it.
Camp opened my eyes: Hope’s story
‘My name’s Hope. I was told I had HIV when I was 12 and a half years old. To be honest I never knew what HIV was so I wasn’t fussed at first, until I got curious and started looking it all up; what HIV was, how it affected you, and how you could get it. It came up with death, AIDS and that if you cut yourself your HIV would spread. Reading this kind of hit me bad, I started thinking I would die and that I was this infectious thing that had something wrong with me that wasn’t curable.
“That was until I met Abi at the hospital a few weeks later at my appointment. She spoke to me about meeting some other girls my age who also had HIV, and she explained what it was and how HIV actually worked. So I went to a meeting with these new people who were going through the same thing as me – it made me see that HIV isn’t what everyone said it was, and that it’s not as infectious as I thought.
“Then I got introduced to camp – meeting even more people with HIV. Camp really did open my eyes – telling me the truth about HIV and how you can’t die from it if you take your medication. Going through all this made me into a better person that wants to make a difference and make sure other children, teens and adults never go through the same thing as I did.“
What can I take part in right now?
To talk through how you might get support from Chiva or join our activities, reach out to Abi. Email: abi.carter@chiva.org.uk
Text or call: 07807705062
Privacy Policy
Please take a moment to read our privacy policy which explains how we will use your personal data to help us organise activities for children, young people and their families and keep you informed about those activities.
