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The Terrence Higgins Trust is now the UK’s leading HIV & AIDS charity and the largest in Europe. Throughout its history its profile has tended to be disproportionately high given its resources, income and size. It was one of the first charities to be set up in response to the HIV epidemic and has been at the forefront of the fight against HIV & AIDS ever since.

The charity was established in 1982, as The Terry Higgins Trust. Terry Higgins was one of the first people in the UK to die with AIDS. A group of his friends wanted to prevent more people having to face the same illness as Terry and named the Trust after him, hoping to personalise and humanise AIDS in a very public way.

In this Reunion, we bring together a group of early supporters and employees of the trust to reflect on the AIDS story, and the way in which the Trust has grown. These include Nick Partridge, current Chief Executive and one of the two first employees, Rupert Whitaker who was Terry Higgins’ partner when he died and helped the founders. Also joining them is administrator Janet Green who saw the anger that was directed at the Trust in the early years and Lord Norman Fowler, who as Health Minister persuaded a reluctant Margaret Thatcher that the disease should be taken seriously.

Producer: David Prest
Series Producer: David Prest
The Reunion is a Whistledown Production for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 4