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Date updated: 23/02/2023

We are delighted to announce that on Thursday 23 February the largest collection of filmed interviews with people whose lives have been touched by the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the 1980s and 1990s in the UK became available for public access.

Over 100 interviews were created by The National HIV Story Trust (NHST) in 2015-17 and deposited with London Metropolitan Archives in 2019. They were meticulously catalogued and digitally edited through the Wellcome-funded Positive History project over the past 18 months, and are now available to view in the Mediatheque at LMA.

The interviews record the personal stories of people who lived through the HIV/AIDS epidemic: primarily members of the LGBTQ+ community, but also heterosexual people, haemophiliacs infected with contaminated blood, as well as doctors, nurses, other healthcare professionals and activists who cared and advocated for them. The interviews chronicle individuals’ lives and experiences in the crisis conditions up to the advent of a treatment in 1996 and beyond

In total, the 150 hours of collated filmed testimony – by turns, harrowing, shocking, and insightful – is the result of six years’ work by National HIV Story Trust (NHST) and LMA archivists for the benefit of healthcare professionals, social historians, researchers, educators, and the general public.

Chair and Co-founder of National HIV Story Trust, Paul Coleman, said:

“Today is an extremely exciting - and significant - day for us and most importantly our 100+ interviewees. By making these interviews available to the public we are ensuring future generations can understand from first-hand accounts what it meant to be diagnosed with HIV in the 1980 and 1990s, the heartbreak so many experienced but also the truly incredible stories of love and compassion."

“The history of HIV and AIDS now spans four decades and yet, without recorded personal testimony, this was in danger of being forgotten, so we hope that the archive will prove invaluable to anyone wishing to understand the story of HIV and AIDS from a 360-degree perspective."

“The extraordinary personal experiences of all those touched by the HIV and AIDS pandemic that go to make this archive are now both preserved for future generations, and to inform the present."

“The NHST, working alongside LMA, is proud to have ensured that this amazing generation of people can never be forgotten."

"I want to thank LMA for making these testimonies accessible to the public through their Mediatheque suite and look forward to even more of our interviews becoming available throughout the year."

“But above all we want to pay tribute to the bravery and honesty of the people who shared their stories with us. For many this was the first time they had revisited that period of their life and we are honoured they wanted to contribute to this project in this way - men, women, trans, gay, straight, all races… the archive captures the breadth of HIV.”

Logo of the National HIV Story Trust - one of the partners in the Positive History Project
Logo of the National HIV Story Trust - one of the partners in the Positive History Project

Chair of the City of London Corporation’s Culture, Heritage and Libraries Committee, Wendy Hyde, said:

“This remarkable archive of deeply personal testimony will be invaluable to anyone wanting to know more about the dreadful and far-reaching impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and we owe a considerable debt of gratitude to everyone involved in this major project."

“So many people deserve our thanks, in particular, the interviewees who relived their hugely painful memories; the National HIV Story Trust, which entrusted this oral history to us; and our archivists at London Metropolitan Archives for their hard work and dedication to make this happen.”