Day Service
Our Day Service offers a safe, confidential space for individuals living with HIV to connect and receive support. Designed for residents of Brighton and Hove, this weekly group helps you navigate your health and social needs.
What We Provide
- Specialist Casework Support: Our dedicated caseworker provides you with tailored support, ensuring you can access additional services as needed.
- Long-term Health Management: We offer guidance to help you manage your health effectively and navigate healthcare systems with confidence.
- Peer Support: Connect with trained volunteers who also live with HIV for one-on-one or group support.
- Social and Emotional Assistance: We address various issues, including housing, finances, immigration, employment, and mental health.
- Communication Guidance: Get help with discussing health topics within your family, workplace, or with healthcare professionals.
- Crisis Support: We assist with domestic violence concerns and coordinate referrals to additional resources.
The Day Service is available for short-term placements, with referrals through health or social care professionals
Women & Families support
We provide services for women living with HIV, affected family members and fathers living with HIV in Sussex. This includes offering casework, group work and peer support to women living with HIV and their families.
Our women’s group
We hold a monthly group for women only, who are living with HIV in the Sussex area. The group is a facilitated, safe and confidential space to explore issues related to living with HIV. Guest speakers regularly present and explore different topics centered around the struggles of living with HIV. The group has been running for 9 years and offers a free healthy lunch and crèche facility.
After supporting women in the community for the last 9 years we have seen an increase in well-being, improved confidence, better understanding of HIV and less women feeling isolated or lonely.
For more information about our services for women and families, please contact us, on 01273 694 222, or email her at cst@sussexbeacon.org.uk
The Lawson Unit
We work closely with other HIV clinics and community teams, as well as with the Lawson Unit Sunflower Clinic for women, which is a specialist clinic dedicated to providing a confidential and supportive clinic for Women Living with HIV. It allows you access to a Doctor, Nurse, Health adviser and a Women’s Case Worker from the Sussex Beacon, all at one appointment.
Contact the Sussex Beacon or the Lawson Unit for further information or to book an appointment.
Peer Mentoring
Our Peer Mentoring services are here for everyone living with HIV.
We connect individuals with similar experiences to foster a supportive community. The British HIV Association emphasises the importance of self-management for those living with HIV, covering physical, mental, social, and economic health.
All our peer mentors are trained and either have lived experience of HIV or are receiving ongoing support. They’re dedicated to reducing stigma and fighting feelings of isolation.
At The Sussex Beacon, we offer one-on-one and group support both here and in the community. We tailor our services to your needs and match you with the right peer mentor who can provide practical and emotional support.
After offering this service for many years we have seen the invaluable impact it has had on people’s lives. It has allowed the people living with HIV to share their experiences with each other, access emotional and practical support, build confidence, and most importantly empower them to take control of their health and well-being.
For information and how to apply, please contact Lucy Hutchinson on 01273 694 222, or email her at cst@sussexbeacon.org.uk
Positive fitness class
We offer a weekly Positive Fitness class, for people living with HIV across Sussex. The Positive Fitness Class is a physiotherapy supervised group based on individualised exercises and educational support with HIV, general health and physical activity.
The classes are weekly for 1.5 hours at the Sussex Beacon, where we transform our Day Room into a fitness studio! The session includes an individualised exercise programme as well health talks and peer support.
The purpose of these classes and support sessions is to help address the physical, mental and social health related challenges associated with HIV, medication side effects, complex health needs and ageing.
Upon receipt of a referral, you will be offered a physio assessment to help determine the exercise you can do in the class and establish some practical goals. Ensure you have checked with the relevant medical professional that you’re fit to take part.
For more information please contact Alan Spink, Community Services Team Manager on 01273 694222 or email him at cst@sussexbeacon.org.uk.
Casework support
We provide specialist casework support for people living with HIV.
We can offer you one to one advice on matters that may be affecting you right now or you may be concerned about in the future. As someone living with HIV, you can talk to a caseworker on any issue and they will advise, signpost or advocate on your behalf.
The Casework Support we offer is flexible, regularly reviewed and tailored for individual needs. We can provide home visits where possible in Sussex, otherwise this service is facilitated at The Sussex Beacon.
Our casework support provides a safe space to talk and address issues such as: support with emotional & mental health needs, long term management support to live well with HIV, support with social issues and concerns within the home, advice on communicating health issues with families, the workplace or health professionals, peer support with trained volunteers, support with referrals and providing information on HIV.
To make a referral for Casework Support, please fill in a referral form.
Peer action
Peer Action is a volunteer led group providing social and therapeutic events run by and for everyone affected by HIV. Since 2023, Peer Action merged with The Sussex Beacon and volunteers are supported by The Sussex Beacon team.
Keep an eye on The Sussex Beacon Facebook and The Sussex Beacon Instagram for updated events and new opportunities for 2025.
As a volunteer led group we’d love to hear from you. You can get in touch to ask how to join a group, how to set up a group, subscribe to the newsletter or simply get involved. Please complete the form below and we will be in touch within 5 working days.