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Like many in the HIV sector and beyond, we were devastated to hear the news that after almost 42 years of service, METRO Charity closed and ceased operations on 31st March.
METRO has been a crucial part of HIV support in London for over 4 decades. Largely focussed on the south of London, METRO's programmes have spanned sexual health, HIV support, youth services, mental health provision and advocacy. LGBTQ+ health and community support has always been at the heart of their services, and they have championed innovative new programmes to ensure our communities are listened to, heard, and answered. Their work in HIV has long been at the forefront of the UK's HIV response - from testing and counselling to peer support groups for gay and bisexual migrants.
The difficult decision was made by METRO's Board of Trustees after more than eighteen months of work to stabilise the charity’s financial position and explore all viable options to secure its future. Despite these efforts, it became clear that the organisation could no longer continue operating.
For our staff team, this feels like losing a member of our family. We have worked closely with METRO for years, mutually supporting some of the most vulnerable people living with HIV in London. This is a stark and sobering reminder of the challenges that are facing so many organisations in these difficult financial times, and a reminder of how keenly these challenges are felt in our sector. Cuts to public health budgets and sexual health funding have been devastating to HIV support services over the years, creating a climate of austerity that has demanded more and more energy to tackle.
Couple this with the exponentially increasing need we are facing within our community and we have a fight on two fronts. The 2022 Positive Voices survey reminds us that people living with HIV are disproportionately affected by structural, emotional and socioeconomic barriers. 1 in 5 report living with depression and/or anxiety. 39% had an unmet health/lifestyle need and 35% an unmet social welfare need. A late HIV diagnosis comes with a risk of death within 1 year 10 times that for an earlier diagnosis. For our Service Users, those who have slipped through every conceivable gap in the net, these are not just statistics. They are lived experiences, day after day, and the places they can go to for support are disappearing.
We have lost three Service Users since January. One was just 40 years old. Starting the year with so much loss makes us fear for the future, for what's around the corner for us and for our community. The world is a hard place to be, and battles we need to fight to keep going can feel so big that it's sometimes difficult to feel hopeful.
But the big battles aren't the only ones to fight. Yes, maybe we can't function forever without winning them, but we must also remind ourselves that no matter what happens, right now we can make a difference. We can fill an empty belly. We can feed a hungry baby. We can give a lonely person a hug, a smile, introduce them to a new friend. We can remind people through our actions that they have value in this world, that they are worth trying for, they deserve trying for, they have the right to it. What's happening shouldn’t be happening, even though it is. But while it is, we’ll weather it together. Shoulder to shoulder.
There's fight in us yet.
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