22/11/2020
We have been reminded by great projects such As Outstories Bristol that a milestone was reached this month. On November 5th it was exactly 35 years since the first AIDS and HIV service organization opened in the city. The Aled Richards Trust was established in the memory of Aled Richards, a legend of the early 1980’s Bristol gay bar scene, who was the first recognized Bristolian to pass on from an AIDS related condition. Richards died on 29th January 1985, at a time when fear of this strange new illness was confounding the gay community and scientists alike, and causing scare stories and wild speculation about transmission routes. The early weeks of the organization were conducted under the name of Gay Men’s Health Network in Avon, but in 1986, the Aled Richards name was taken. The initial location of the Trust was in Mark Lane, then from 1989 on Colston Street, before in 1992 moving to its most iconic location, Queen Ann House, an old coaching inn on West Street, Old Market. The presence of the Trust at Old Market helped that area in its development as a recognizable gay “village” along the lines of Manchester and Birmingham’s LGBTQ districts. In 2000, The ART merged with Terrence Higgins Trust London to form THT West. But the name Aled Richards was kept alive by the naming of the building as the Aled Richards Centre. Today, the landscape of living with HIV is very different, but THT continue to offer services from London, including their helpline, and locally the Brigstowe Project continues to keep HIV and AIDS alive in the public eye. As we head towards World AIDS Day on 1st December, we salute all the team that have worked with ART, THT and Brigstowe over the years.