Aids quilt display marks 40 years of HIV support

Part of the UK Aids memorial quilt has gone on show to mark the 40th anniversary of an HIV support group.

As part of the anniversary events for Thames Valley Positive Support (TVPS), six panels are being displayed at the University of Reading Students' Union.

The quilt - made up of 42 panels of fabric - commemorates the lives of 384 people who died from Aids-related illnesses.

Jessica Harding of TVPS said the panels were "full of so much emotion and so much love".

The quilt was originally unveiled in London's Hyde Park in 1994.

The massive artwork is seen as a unique document of social history and was recently brought out of storage for an exhibition at the Tate Modern in London, attracting 70,000 visitors.

It is made up of a patchwork of handmade tributes to those who died after the HIV virus arrived without warning in the early 1980s.

Many of those infected were shamed and shunned, and faced an isolated decline and death.

Among those commemorated on the quilt panels in Reading are notable figures such as rock star Freddie Mercury, figure skater John Curry and US actor Anthony Perkins.

While the epidemic sparked fear and stigma, contributing to a culture of extreme homophobia and ignorance in the 1980s, educational messages about safe sex were promoted for the first time.

Reading was one of the first councils to employ an HIV support officer.

Fiona Lambond, a trustee of Windsor and Eton Pride, said the quilt was "a really important part of social history".

"What it's made me feel is sad, honestly, and joyous, because it's a real representation of all the love for these people that were unfortunately lost," she said.

"But people want to remember them, and they're memorialised in these beautiful panels."

HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, weakens the immune system and increases the risk of serious illness, according to the NHS.

It is spread by infected body fluids getting into the bloodstream.

Antiviral medication developed in the 1990s meant patients were able to live long and healthy lives.

Aids (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), or late-stage HIV, is the name for a collection of serious illnesses caused by HIV, and there is currently no cure.

The panels being on display in Reading coincides with National HIV Testing Week.

Harding said there was still more to do in tackling attitudes to the disease.

"We might have moved on hugely in terms of medication and scientifically," she said.

"Stigma hasn't kept pace, education hasn't kept pace. We really need people to be HIV educated and to understand HIV and the advancements we've made to stop stigma."

The quilt panels are on display on Friday from 13:00 GMT.

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