Newsletter for Submission 6th birthday party Six years of submission, the club for adults Includes ticket, admission membership details, information about activities taking place, general news about Submission and advertisements Thursday 30th Nov 1995, held at Bagley's Warehouse, King's Cross, N1.

Sussex AIDS Centre “We held the first Brighton and Hove public meeting on AIDS in 1984 at offices in Lansdowne Place, Hove. Graham Wilkinson and I split the small cost of hiring the room and invited someone from the recently formed THT to come along and explain what they were doing in London. Both Graham and I had joined THTs small Social Work group which met at their original tiny offices in London – at that time only consisting of a couple of rooms. So, it was at this first public meeting that a handful of us volunteered to set up the Sussex AIDS Helpline.    We knew the person who at the time managed the Well-Women Clinic above a shop on the corner of Western Road and Waterloo Street in Hove. They very kindly agreed to let us use their offices in the evening when they were closed and allowed us to use a telephone line for free.    Graham and I both worked together as Social Workers in the Hanover Team based opposite St Peters Church, and we managed to get permission to use our offices in the evening for training and support groups. As professional social workers we were able to put together a training programme for the early volunteers to help handle phone calls. Graham or I would either take the calls ourselves, or be there as support for the other volunteers.    For the first 2 years Sussex AIDS Helpline got no official funding. We managed to get by with volunteer time and effort, meeting in each other’s homes, raising awareness in pubs and clubs, and by borrowing facilities and resources from the Well Women's Clinic and Social Services Hanover Team. A couple of years later we became the Sussex AIDS Centre and Helpline.” Clive Stevens

Leaflet containing information about how to access HIV peer support, including how access mentorship, becoming a mentor and general information about The Sussex Beacon

Sussex branch of GLF commemorating LGBTIQ+ people who died for their country. The campaign is documented in minutes kept at the Keep

A flyer for the Sussex Club. Members Drinking Club 25+ Free pool table, dart board, board games. 5 Regency Square, Brighton opposite West Pier. Telephone 208564. Call Shirley For Membership

Sussex Lancers Open Door appeal 1990. Father Marcus Rigg’s partner Keith Simmans was a member of the Sussex Lancers, a gay men’s motorcycle club. The appeal is dated 1990. The photograph of 35 Camelford Street , the former location of Open Door, was taken by Harry Hillery in 2021.

A collection of poetry and prose relating to HIV/AIDS. Written by the Xpress Yourself Group, a creative writing project that was based at the Open Door service in 35 Camelford Street, Kemptown, Brighton.

This top was released by Topshop and Topman in collaboration with Calm (Campaign Against Living Miserably) for World Mental Health Day 2019. The front of the T-shirt crosses out the word 'Collected' and writes above it 'Connected'. On the back of the t-shirt, it has instructions on 'how to handle with care', in the format of typical washing instructions. The instructions include information about how to access the CALM helpline. This t-shirt has been a great conversation starter over the years and led to some really important conversations within the community about mental health and access.

Blair Imani Ali is writer, mental health advocate and historian living at the intersections of Black, Queer and Muslim. She sold this t-shirt in 2021 based on a the post she made on Instagram in August 2020. I have been a long-time follower of Blair Imani Ali, as someone who is a LGBTQ+ British Indian who was brought up Catholic

Wednesday Holmes is a Non-binary, Lesbian Illustrator and Author living in Brighton. They designed this top in 2024 to raise funds for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Due to the first fundraiser gaining so much interest, Wednesday has done multiple fundraisers with the same design since. I bought this t-shirt during the 2nd fundraiser.

This t-shirt was bought by my mum at a retail store. I came out to her a few years previously and randomly one day she gifted me this t-shirt. We never had a specific conversation about the random present. She's the type of person to see something that she thinks someone else would like and then buys it 'just because'. The first few years after coming out was quite tumultuous so it meant a lot at the time. I don't wear it because it doesn't fit me but I can't throw it away, so it stays hanging on the clothing rail

Tall Ken in his own words - 1993 “I was diagnosed by a doctor who did the test without telling me. It was about 8 or 9 years back. I’ve lost touch with exactly when. I know it was June but that’s all I can remember. I had to decide whether or not to tell my mum and dad. I felt that in the end it would be more of a shock if anything were to happen to me and they found out that way. So, I did tell them. My mum had guessed something was wrong. She said, “you’ve got it haven’t you?” and the next thing I heard was the phone smashing against the wall, and her screaming down the phone “He’s got it! He’s got it!” Ever since then I’ve had a lot of support from my family. We were told not to talk about it because of the way the press was handling it then, but I decided to be open about it and tell everyone right from the start. I wasn’t rejected by anyone, so I was lucky. I do get bouts of depression now & again, but instead of letting AIDS and HIV suffocate me, I suffocate it. Most people who were diagnosed at the same time as me are gone now. When Open Door started, there were about ten of us. I think I’m the only one of them left now. It does make you think that the list is getting shorter and that your name is getting nearer the top. When I was diagnosed all those years ago, a group of us just used to meet in someone’s room. I’ve met a lot of people that I wouldn’t have met otherwise if life had been…normal. When I had pneumonia and I was bored in hospital someone suggested I do some needlework. I thought about it and decided to embroider a cloth with people’s name on it. That was about four years ago. Now there are 120 or 130 names on it, all people who’ve passed through Open Door at some time. I was classed as a professional funeral goer because I went to nearly all of them, but it’s my way of saying goodbye to friends. I did get to the stage where I thought I couldn’t cry anymore, but then you find that some are really hard. But some have been spiritually uplifting, because nowadays not everyone’s wearing black., quite often everyone wears bright colours. At one of them I went to, we all let off coloured balloons drifting off to heaven. Sometimes I get shaky when I go to funerals, like one last year. I went to someone’s funeral who was called Ken, and it kept going through my mind that it was like my own funeral. It was a strange experience. Sometimes I’m at a funeral and I think back to other people I’ve known…perhaps I hadn’t been able to let go at their funeral so I do at someone else’s. Most of them are younger than me, and often I feel guilty; why am I still going when they have gone? I’ve been told not to think that but I still do. There were three in one day once. It seems to go in cycles. That does get you down a bit. Over the years I’ve been beaten up four times. Last night I was followed home by a group of men who were singing to the tune of Rod Stewart’s Sailing, “You are dying, you are dying, you are dying, but we don’t care.” I think I’ll write to the Argus about it.”

Ken was a good friend who I called the gentle giant. He was very gifted and loved gardening. He made a small water fountain for his balcony and created a flower garden around the summer house at The Sussex Beacon when it first opened. He also unveiled the first AIDS Memorial in 1996 which can still be seen at the base of a silver birch tree adjacent to the entrance doors of the Brighthelm Centre. His hands were deformed by the Arthritis he'd had for many years. When he requested an operation to straighten them, he was shockingly told that it wasn't worthwhile because of his AIDS diagnosis which hurt him deeply. A few years later he contributed an article about himself titled ‘I’m Still Here’ which was on the front page of the Sussex Beacon newsletter. He was always very out about his status even in those days when so much stigma was around, and he created his own support. One late afternoon I was ‘kidnapped’ by Ken and six others when buying a tin of Whiskas. Open Door had been given eight tickets for an Elton John concert at Earls Court. The boyz picked me up and carried me to a waiting Bedford minibus and off we went. I arrived bursting for the loo, but WOW, what a night it was. We had fantastic seats with wheelchair access. I still miss Ken because we had so many good times together. I was completely gutted when he crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

Tarik tells Roni and David which are the objects that would best tell his personal queer story. Tarik Elmoutawakil is an artist, producer, and co-founder of Marlborough Productions in Brighton. Tarik is also the creator of Brownton Abbey, the afro futuristic space-church themed performance party. In his interview Tarik talks about his secret diary, teenage feelings, his creative journey, and the collective power of community. Recorded on October 26, 2020, at The Spire, Brighton, as part of the My Queer Museum podcast series Interview by: Roni Guetta and David Sheppeard Editing and original music by Olive Mondegreen

Theatre programme for Brighton Cares 10th annual gala benefit for HIV/AIDS, titled 'TEN'. Contains information about performers, music performed and advertisements for local businesses.