Manchester HIV Activists continue the fight to eradicate AIDS by 2030
Right here in Manchester, a community-led outreach program called ‘In Equal Parts’ is taking on HIV - aiming to eradicate the disease within ten years whilst ending the shame and stigma surrounding it.
Community Exhibition on HIV presented alongside the original production of ‘First Time’
As scientists across the world have spent 2020 scrambling to find a vaccine for the virus putting life on pause – another group much closer to home have been fighting a battle against a very different beast.
Right here in Manchester, a community-led outreach program called ‘In Equal Parts’ is taking on HIV – aiming to eradicate the disease within ten years whilst ending the shame and stigma surrounding it.
This incredible project also has an incredible origins story. It all began with a play.
First Time was a performance written by the Mancunian creator of the project Nathaniel Hall (who describes himself as an ‘accidental activist’). Premiering in 2018 and appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, it documents the protagonist’s difficult journey with HIV, whilst also keeping the audience laughing.
After two successful sold out tours of First Time, the 2020 Autumn tour was cancelled due to coronavirus, which spurned Nathaniel to create and curate In Equal Parts instead.
Nathaniel Hall at Edinburgh Fringe Festival
The goal of this project is to help with the global aim to end all new transmissions of AIDS worldwide by 2030, but also to open up a dialogue on a smaller scale about an issue that affects over 38million people.
According to Worldaidsday.org: “Each year in the UK over 4,450 people are diagnosed with HIV, people do not know the facts about how to protect themselves and others, and stigma and discrimination remain a reality for many people living with the condition.”
‘In Equal Parts’ combines artists and non-artists, people with HIV and people without, and educates them on modern healthcare and prevention, destigmatize the virus and empower people to understand their role in ending all new transmissions by 2030.
In preparation for World Aids Day on the December 1, Nathaniel Hall will be leading the project alongside Yvonne Richards, Paul Fairweather and Mark Holder. All four have different relationships with the virus, and all are determined in their plight to bring awareness to the disease.
Nathaniel said: “To date, In Equal Parts has engaged over 5.5k people in creative workshops, talks, exhibitions, rapid HIV testing and fundraising parties – over 18k people have been engaged online.”
Education and Outreach Workshops, In Equal Parts
The project is working in partnership with George House Trust, Positive Steps North West, Contact and Waterside Arts.
At 8pm on World Aids Day, a digital event hosted by Contact in association with George House Trust and Superbia will join Nathaniel and Jordan Roberts in a creative discussion panel about HIV stigma and shame, with Positive Speakers from George House Trust.
The panel will be open to all questions surrounding the disease, and the event will be closed by the premier of Jordan Roberts’ brand new film: HIV + Me.
Free condoms are provided at theatre venues
Coming soon, HIV+Me will also showcase the lives of three people in Greater Manchester currently living with AIDS, through three short films.
The project has also created ACTUP+Live, a free virtual learning resource for local schools and community groups that will help to raise awareness of HIV in the younger generation, and explores how everyday creativity can inspire radical change.
The activities continue into 2021, with events such as ‘a conversation with Russel T. Davies’, artist development workshops with Nathaniel Hall, and increased promotion of sortHIVorg.uk, which encourages access to HIV testing and PrEP.
Community Exhibition on HIV displayed alongside the ‘First Time’ production
Tickets for the first In Equal Parts digital event can be found here.
More information on the In Equal Parts outreach program can be found online.
News
Manchester Christmas Markets 2025 opening date announced – including Albert Square return
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Christmas Markets are merely months away, and the opening date and important details for 2025’s return have been announced.
It’s official… holidays are coming, and the countdown is on.
Just as we do every year, the Greater Manchester public has been eagerly awaiting news of when the city’s iconic Christmas Markets would be making a comeback for the 2025 festive season.
But now, Manchester City Council has announced that the famous wooden huts will be lining Manchester‘s streets once again from the first week in November, and for the first time in six years, Markets will also be returning to Albert Square.
The Manchester Christmas Markets 2025 return date has officially been confirmed / Credit: The Manc Group | Flickr
Now in their 27th year, Manchester Christmas Markets are known and loved for bring thousands of people into the city centre each year to fill up on the fantastic festive treats and to soak up all the Christmas atmosphere.
While restoration work has been carried out on the city’s Grade I-listed Town Hall building, markets have been spread all across the city centre in recent years, instead of the central hub being in Albert Square – but this year, some of the festivities will return to where they belong.
More than 200 stalls will also be spread across nine other sites throughout the city centre.
Markets will take over 10 major locations across the city centre / Credit: Manchester City Council
Promising to be plenty on offer for seasonal shoppers of all ages, 2025 will see the iconic wooden ski chalet market stalls take over King Street, St Ann’s Square, Exchange Street, New Cathedral Street, Exchange Square, Corn Exchange, and Cathedral Gardens, as well as Market Street and Piccadilly Gardens as usual.
Dominating a twinkling seasonal skyline on Albert Square will be an enormous 50-metre-high ferris wheel, as well as an enchanting vintage carousel for children, and other Christmas fairground-style attractions.
The new ‘A Taste of Christmas’ event will be open on Albert Square until Sunday 4 January 2026, bringing the space back into the heart of the city’s countdown to Christmas festivities and staying open throughout the festive season for families to enjoy into the new year.
Councillors are going all out to make Manchester the world’s number one Christmas city / Credit: Manchester City Council
“We’re going all out this year to make sure that Manchester is the number one city for Christmas – not just in the UK, but in the world,” commented Councillor Pat Karney, who is the Christmas spokesperson for Manchester City Council.
Cllr Karney also teased that there are a few other ‘Santa surprises’ to come that we can expect to be announced in the coming weeks.
He concluded: “In the meantime, dust off your baubles, un-twirl your tinsel, and get ready – Albert’s back.”
Manchester Christmas Markets 2025 will officially open across the city on Friday 7 November and close on Monday 22 December.
That is except for A Taste of Christmas on Albert Square, and the stalls at Cathedral Gardens – which will remain open throughout the Christmas period until 4 January 2026.
Featured Image – Flickr
News
Feel Good Club becomes Manchester’s latest independent cafe to announce ‘heartbreaking’ closure
Emily Sergeant
Manchester mental health cafe Feel Good Club is the latest independent to sadly announce it’ll be closing its doors for good.
You may know the Feel Good Club from the success of its wellbeing-focused cafe which opened in the heart of the Northern Quarter in October 2020, where it has since been brewing up quality coffee, serving all-day brunch full of all your favourite comfort foods, and hosting regular events to bring the Manchester community together.
The Feel Good Club movement actually started humblyas an Instagram page filled with uplifting messages and top tips, however, by founders Kiera and Aimie Lawlor-Skillen.
The carefully-curated social media page aimed at normalising the stigma around mental health and has since flourished into a successful platform of 530,000+ followers, and has led the pair to being able to release their own book, clothing lines, start a podcast, and so much more.
But the upcoming closure of its Northern Quarter cafe next month is one that will hit Manchester hard, amid a growing number of independent businesses struggling to stay afloat.
Feel Good Club has announced the closure of its Manchester cafe / Credit: The Manc Group
Taking to Instagram yesterday to announce the closure, Feel Good Club wrote: “We’re absolutely gutted to have to deliver this message but, just weeks before our fifth birthday, our venue in Northern Quarter will be closing on the 23 September.
“We’ve spent the past 12+ months seeing some of our favourite venues in the city closing around us, and whilst we’ve been trying to do everything in our power not to, it’s felt like an inevitability that we’ve been unable to escape, and we’ll sadly be joining the list of some incredible places that have been lost to the current hospitality crisis.
“Holding on any longer would mean risking letting down our team and suppliers, and they come first here.
The Northern Quarter cafe opened its doors in October 2020 / Credit: The Manc Group
“We’ve poured every part of ourselves, our lives. and energy into the physical venue of Feel Good Club.
“We’ve loved, we’ve lost, and we’ve had some of the best moments of our lives in that space, joined by friends, family, and the chosen family we have met along the way. From the cabarets and dancing on tables, to the weddings, the markets, the protests, the music, the memorials, and the real, raw, and important conversations.
“We’d like to thank everyone who has brought their visions to life in the club.”
Founders Kiera and Aimie then went on to thank every single visitor who’s ever come through the doors of their cafe, as well as all the staff who have worked there over the years, and ultimately, everyone who has supported them on their journey.
They also made sure to add that ‘this is not the end for Feel Good Club’ and that they are actively looking for pop-up opportunities to keep the community alive.
“We will continue to be exactly what it always has been – a safe corner of the internet for everyone and anyone that needs it,” their statement concluded.
Feel Good Club will close its doors in the Northern Quarter on Tuesday 23 September 2025, so make sure you go and show them some love before then.
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If you or anyone you know is struggling right now, please know that you are never alone and there are many different places you can reach out to for support right here in Greater Manchester.
Suffering in silence never need be the way.
Manchester Mind – An organisation that has supported people in Manchester for over 30 years. Most services are now available over the phone, by email or video call. The number is 0161 769 5732 and the opening hours are Mon to Fri, 10am-2pm.
The GM Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust– The local NHS helpline is open 24/7 which you can call any time, day or night, if you feel your mental health is beginning to suffer: 0800 953 0285.
Andy’s Man Club – A group dedicated to starting conversations about mental health, assuring people that it’s ok to talk. You can contact them by email on: [email protected].
CALM – The Campaign Against Living Miserably supports people via phone and webchat. You can call 0800 58 58 58 or speak to a support worker online. Open 5pm to midnight.
Samaritans – The Manchester & Salford Samaritans offer emotional support by telephone and email. The phone lines and email support are available 24/7. Call 116 123 or visit the website.
Gemma Bradley -
30th November 2020 
