VOLUNTEERS will be out in the town centre on Saturday to encourage people to get checked for HIV.

Barnsley charity +Me (also known as PlusMe) has been helping people affected by the virus since 2008.

Project manager Karl Cooper said there is a tendency for people in the street to try and ‘avoid’ him and his charity colleagues because of a perceived stigma attached to HIV.

But he feels people are starting to move on from that and hopes to speak to as many people as possible tomorrow.

Karl said roughly one in four people who have HIV don’t know they’ve got it, and that the important thing is they find out and begin treatment.

Read more in this weeks Barnsley Chronicle