About the Community:

Positive Parenting and Children (PPC) is the UK's longest-running organisation working with children and families living with HIV. They provide a unique wraparound service complimenting medical care and working with people infected with, as well as affected by, HIV.

PPC offers a range of services including family support, social work intervention, father's work and youth groups as well as providing a peer mentor/befriending service. The youth groups enable young people to share in a safe confidential space where they meet peers, supported by experienced and qualified youth workers. This is a vital part of PPC's work to enable young people to survive and thrive despite their HIV status.

PPC's family work and work with children helps build a sense of belonging to a community. The additional issues experienced by people living with HIV include immigration, poor housing, poverty, racism and isolation. Due to experiences, families can find life difficult on a day-to-day basis and struggle approaching statutory bodies for help. Families need support within their homes as well as communities, from people who understand the affects of HIV and AIDS. A major concern for people infected and affected by HIV is living with discrimination against such a stigmatised condition. Many myths surround HIV which increases general misunderstanding of the condition. The fear of prejudice has a massive impact on the quality of life for people affected by HIV and impacts people's ability to actively engage with peers and communities resulting in social isolation and a lack of opportunities in all areas of a young person's life - social, educational and employment.

What they plan to do with Media Trust's support:

They have produced case studies of four young people who are affected by HIV - living with a parent/sibling who is HIV positive. With the help of a Media Trust youth mentor, the PPC youth club will adapt these case studies into an animated short film that will help to illustrate their stories whilst allowing them to remain anonymous.

What they hope to achieve with the project:

They hope to challenge stigma and inform people about what it is like to live with HIV as they fear it is a very misunderstood condition. They also hope to reach out to other young people in similar situations to decrease their feelings of isolation and encourage them to seek and access support. The finished films will be used as educational resources both in schools and for health professionals.