Positively UK Podcast

In this final episode we close our first season of Positively Past, Positively Present hearing from two individuals who grew up in Positively Women warm embrace/in PW’s atmosphere//grew up alongside PW: Malika Cholway and Chiesa Musonda. Malika, better known as Hamzaa, and Chiesa share with us their experiences growing up around the phenomenal women at Postively Women, with specific shout outs to their extraordinary mothers: Angelina Namiba and Rebecca Mbewe. Listen out for Hamzaa’s new EP ‘Rush’ on Apple Music or Spotify. 

Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan is a Consultant in HIV Medicine at Barts Health NHS Trust, and is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. Rageshri is Chair of the Steering Group of the 4M Network. Dr Shema Tariq is a Clinical Academic at UCL's Institute for Global Health and Honorary Consultant HIV Physician at Mortimer Market Centre. She is Vice-Chair of the Board of  Trustees at Positively UK and Trustee of Tommy's, the UK's leading charity funding research into pregnancy loss and preterm birth. In this episode, we speak with Shema and Rageshri about HIV medicine and health inequalities in sexual and reproductive health care and support.

Professor Jane Anderson is a Consultant Physician in HIV Medicine at Homerton University Hospital in Hackney, East London. Jane established and is the director of the Centre for the Study of Sexual Health and HIV at Homerton. In this episode, Jane discusses the history of HIV treatment in terms of how it effected and affected women at the start of the pandemic, the importance of considering mother’s wellness alongside their child’s health, and makes a case for the vitality of including women living with HIV in HIV research.

Sue O’Sullivan is a prolific writer, editor and publisher and champion of women’s rights, particularly their health rights. In this episode we explore feminist publishing and the genesis of the edited book, Positively Women: Living with AIDS (1992). Sue has previously worked with Red Rag,  ICW News (International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS), Spare Rib, before moving to Sheba Feminist Publishing. Today Sue is part of the HOWL (History of Women’s Liberation) project, a website that collects the memories and stories of feminists involved in any of the many layers of the UK Women’s Liberation Movement.

In this episode, we are joined by Daisy Puller and Harun Tulunay to discuss the impact of awareness of HIV in the LGBTQIA+ community. Harun is the Training and Volunteering Manager at Positively UK, an NHS Patient and Public Voice Partner, and a member of the UK-CAB Steering Committee. Daisy is a volunteer peer-mentor for Positively UK and a Fast Track Cities ‘HIV Confident’ Ambassador. By day Dan is a fashion product developer, and by night she is Daisy Puller - a fabulous drag queen with big blonde hair and even bigger heels. You can find out more about both these wonderful souls here:
Harun: Twitter Instagram

Daisy: Instagram

Chris O’Hanlon is Positively UK’s Gay Men’s Project Coordinator and Caseworker. 

This episode examines how Positively UK evolved to provide services for Gay men, the development of the Gay Men’s Group which is a support group for gay and bisexual men or those who have yet to decide, living with HIV, and the ongoing work Chris and his colleagues offer. Alongside his background in HIV campaigning and activism, Chris is also a qualified Coach, Clinical Hypnotherapist and Sports Injury Therapist. You can find out more about Chris via his website: https://chrisohanlon.com/ and how to listen to his gorgeous podcast ‘And Then There Were Humans’.  

This podcast series is part of the archival research project Positively Past, Positively Present. In this episode, Positively UK’s CEO, Silvia Petretti, and Women Project Co-ordinator, Neo Moepi with Co-Researcher and Project Manager, Maryam Shaharuddin discuss why the project is taking place and our ways of working.

Janine McGregor Read currently works at Homerton Hospital in the multiple disciplinary team with pregnant women and is also a peer navigator and the East London coordinator at Positively UK. In this podcast, Janine shares her experience of being pregnant as well as becoming a mother living with HIV.

Alice is the founding director of the Salamander Trust and works as an activist, researcher and participatory trainer in the field of HIV. In this episode, Alice discusses the role that gender plays in women's health outcomes, with specific references to HIV. Here are links to some of the studies Alice mentions:

In this episode, Garry Brough, a pioneer in our sector, shares insights on representation, peer support, and identity. Eli Fidgerald shares his inspiring journey from Bristol to Youth Project Coordinator at Positively UK.

Together, Garry and Eli also discuss the importance of peer support, relieving the burden of openness about HIV, and diversifying representation. Hear about visibility, hyper-visibility, and power representation.