Love, Loss & Life: Real Stories From The AIDS Pandemic

A podcast series from the National HIV Story Trust, the charity telling the story of HIV and AIDS in Britain. Presenting a perspective of the crisis in the 1980s and 1990s through the lives of a diverse set of individuals, this series recognises the true tragedy of HIV and AIDS, and shares tender stories of love, unending compassion, and the unity of a disparate community in the face of a global crisis.

Introduced by Anita Dobson and voiced by actors Christopher Ashman, Elexi Walker, and Kay Eluvian, the series features stories taken from NHST’s first book, a collection of essays, reflections, and testimonies also entitled ‘Love, Loss & Life’ which was published in 2021. The book and podcast series feature in short-form just some of the moving and tragic recollections that the NHST archive of over 100 filmed interviews, currently housed at the London Metropolitan Archive, capture in expansive detail. This extensive archive provides a 360-degree thought-provoking view of the AIDS pandemic in Britain through the real-life experiences of those who were there. Since 2015, over 120 interviews have been filmed with survivors, family members, friends, advocates, and medical professionals candidly remembering their personal experiences. Through archiving these films at the LMA, and sharing the stories collected through education, media, and art projects, NHST’s mission is to preserve the story the HIV and AIDS pandemic for those who know it, and to teach it for the first time to those who do not.

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Love, Loss & Life: Real Stories From The AIDS Pandemic

Love, Loss & Life: Real Stories from the AIDS Pandemic: Alan Burgess

December 15, 2022 • National HIV Story Trust, Anita Dobson, Christopher Ashman • Season 1 • Episode 4

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This podcast represents just one example of many stories from the full form Audiobook "Love, Loss & Life" published by the National HIV Story Trust.

Alan Burgess was diagnosed as a child in 1967 with a moderate form of haemophilia. A painter and decorator by trade, he was married with children in the 1980s when he was given NHS contaminated blood products and became infected with HIV, eventually losing his business and much else besides. He joined the Birchgrove Support Group, a campaigning group set up by haemophiliacs with HIV, and has given evidence to the Infected Blood Inquiry which got underway in 2018.

This podcast series features stories taken from our first book, a collection of essays, reflections, and testimonies also entitled ‘Love, Loss & Life’ which you can buy here.

An audiobook is also available here.

Visit the National HIV Story Trust website

People on this episode