THE only charity in Barnsley which supports people living with HIV and other blood disease will close in July.
Barnsley Council confirmed yesterday that it will not to renew its contract with Plus Me Positive About Change which was set up in 2008 and is based at The Core on County Way, in the town centre.
The group supports 300 people across Yorkshire, of which about 50 live in Barnsley. It offers screening, counselling, a drop-in and educational work, but the all service will end on July 31 when the council contract ends.
The closure comes following a council review into the £44,000 annual funding the charity had received.
It comes just a month after the charity received two national awards, one from the Duke of York’s Community Initiative.
A council spokesman said the latest data from Public Health England showed there had been no significant change in Barnsley’s rate of new HIV diagnoses in people aged over 15 between 2011 and 2016. He said the main aim of Plus Me was to identify new cases of HIV in Barnsley early to prevent late diagnosis which leads to ongoing transmission and poorer health for the patient.
In 2017, there were 77 HIV tests done by Plus Me and of those, no new cases of HIV were identified.
As the prevalence of HIV is deemed low in Barnsley and alternative HIV testing is available, it was felt there was no longer a need for the testing and prevention element of this additional service.
The spokesman said while individuals living with HIV were benefiting from the social support provided, this was limited to the same service users who are able to access support from other local sources.
She added people who use the service will be signposted to other services and given information on where they can access support in the community, whether it be counselling, a different support group, access to food banks, advice around benefits or medical advice.
Julia Burrows, director of public health at Barnsley Council, said: “The nature of HIV has moved into a more chronic, long-term condition due to the advances in medical management. More people are living longer, healthier lives with HIV and there is less stigma attached to the condition.
“We will continue to raise awareness of HIV through our communications work and offer screening for the infection through Barnsley Integrated Sexual Health Service and Primary Care.
“We simply haven’t identified a need for these services any more in Barnsley evidenced by the data we gathered. This is something that’s happening nationally, with many similar services being decommissioned across England.”
Project Manager Karl Cooper said: “It is a sad day for us. I’m pleased the council feels we have come on in leaps and bounds with regard to breaking the stigma attached to living with or being affected by HIV.
“There’s still work to be done and we need to be mindful that any type of discrimination is discrimination.
“We’re still looking for funding opportunities but to be perfectly honest, while we’ve match funded the funding we have received, it is difficult to get funding for the service we provide.
“I want to thank everyone for their support. We are grateful for the support we have received from the council over the years and from organisations we work with.
“We’re leaving with our heads held high. We have supported a lot of people in Barnsley to come to terms with living with HIV and broken down some of the misconceptions.
“There is a new generation of people that we want to get across to, but we can only do that with financial assistance. Now that has been withdrawn, we have to look at what we can and can’t.
“We will be offering a service, but it will be from Sheffield and not Barnsley.
“It’s business as usual until July 31.”
