All posts by Richard Carson

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World AIDS Day 2015


NO FEE 14 International AIDS Day

ACET staff member Lynn Caldwell joined with the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar TD, for the launch of the campaign at governement buildings.

 

 

 

 

This Tuesday, 1st December, is World AIDS Day.  ACET has joined with a broad range of agencies, including the HSE, to be part of the first National World AIDS Day campaign.

With 203 new HIV diagnoses for the first half of 2015, 1 in 4 people living with HIV unaware of their status having not tested and HIV stigma still a major challenge, this campaign is timely and important.

This Tuesday, wear a red ribbon, share the posters, learn more about HIV, challenge stigma and get tested.

Check out all the latest on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Details of your nearest testing centre are available at the newly launched HIV Services Ireland website: www.hivservices.ie

 

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World AIDS Day

 

 

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Stories of Belief with LGBT Christians – NEW DATE

We are delighted to annouce a new date for our Stories of Belief event.

On Saturday 25th July (10am-4pm) at the Lucan Centre we will gather leaders of evangelical churches and LGBT Christians. This is the second such event after a fully-booked event in March.

Stories of Belief – Faith and dialogue in a post-referendum Ireland.
We will be speaking with each other in the wake of the referendum on marriage equality, reflecting on the dynamics and tensions of faith, dialogue and sharing. We will also be hearing from first person narratives, learning from experiences of inclusion, and experiences of being misunderstood.
This seminar doesn’t seek to bring all participants to a place of agreement with each other. The seminar rests on the idea that in order for meaningful disagreement to occur, real understanding has to be in place.
People of faith together, LGBT people, supporters of marriage equality, those who are concerned at the outcome – we will seek to embody gospel values as we create a community of discussion and understanding with each other as we explore how we can live well together in a post-referendum Ireland.

Facilitators include: 

Poet, theologian and group worker, Pádraig Ó Tuama is the team leader at the Corrymeela Community. His book of prose and poetry, In the Shelter, is published by Hachette Ireland and is available in all good bookshops.

Richard Carson is the Chief Executive of ACET Ireland and has 15 years experience training on the interactions of faith, sexual health and sexuality around Ireland and in 13 other countries around the world. 

To book a place for the event, which is supported by the Community Foundation for Ireland, please contact Richard Carson at richard(dot)c(at)acet(dot)ie

 

 

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Healthy Church Training completes Year 1

On 23rd May we completed the final Healthy Church training day of the academic year.  These training days, led by highly experienced facilitators, seek to equip church leaders to more effectively address HIV and other health issues within their congregations.

In the last year we have trained over 50 leaders who engage with tens of thousands  of congregants across the country.  Their churches are generally migrant-led and originate in a range of Sub-Saharan African countries. We have also trained the leaders of some multiethnic churches – those in which the leadership team as well as the congregation is multiethnic.

Through the year our team have learnt an enormous amount about training in an intercultural context in which the themes of health, faith and integration interact. We will be spending the next few months completing evaluations and writing up and collating our training materials in preparation for 2015-16.

To read more about how the first half of our academic year went check out our Annual Report.

A big thank you to the Lucan Centre for hosting us over the past year.  We have also worked with groups of leaders in smaller geographical areas such as the North East Inner City of Dublin where we work in partnership with Acts of Compassion Project.

Keep an eye out for announcements of our next round of training in August.

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New dates for Healthy Church training

****UPDATE****

25th April is now fully booked. Places are available for 23rd May but will fill up fast.

We are delighted to announce new dates for our Healthy Church training. These training days, led by highly experienced facilitators, seek to equip church leaders to more effectively address HIV and other health issues within their congregations.

On Saturday 25th April and Saturday 23rd May (both 10:00am-4:30pm) we will host two identical training days. Both will take place at the Lucan Centre, Dublin.

For more details and to register please contact Richard Carson richard(dot)c(at)acet(dot)ie

 

 

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Stories of Belief from LGBT Christians

As part of our fedgling Project Emmaus, we are delighted to announce this upcoming symposium for church leaders:

Stories of belief from LGBT Christians 

 Saturday 7th March, 10am-3pm, Trinity College Dublin Chaplaincy. Lunch will be provided.

 The contemporary discussion about LGBT lives and stories in Ireland is often centred: 

a) on the upcoming referendum 
b) on whether or not LGBT people are a threat to marriage, the family and children. 
 
However, this upcoming event will explore some of the underlying themes, beliefs and stories in our current debate, the human cost of discussions about the causation and cure of being gay, as well the other side of contemporary discussions on the consequences of legitimising LGBT people in all aspects of society, inclusion and leadership. 
 
Our time together will include:
  • Hearing stories
  • Theological exploration
  • Group Discussion
  • Learning how to hear each other well. 
  • Practising the art of listening. 

Facilitators include:

Poet, theologian and group worker, Pádraig Ó Tuama is the team leader at the Corrymeela Community. His book of prose and poetry, In the Shelter, is published by Hachette Ireland and is available in all good bookshops.

Richard Carson is the Chief Executive of ACET Ireland and has 15 years experience training on the interactions of faith, sexual health and sexuality around Ireland and in 13 other countries around the world, including through an award-winning Masters degree in Trinity College Dublin. 

 This event is part of a fledgling project of ACET Ireland which explores the interface of LGBT and faith issues and is funded by the LGBT Communities Fund of the Community Foundation of Ireland. It is being held in partnership with the Corrymeela Community and the TCD Methodist Chaplaincy.

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World AIDS Day – Close the Gap

Check out this guest blog post by Richard Carson for VOX magazine on the occasion of World AIDS Day 2014:

Planning events for the last few World AIDS Days has generated an interesting dilemma for those of us working in the sector. The quandary is that, on the one hand, the brand of “World AIDS Day” remains popular with the general public. While, on the other hand, the good news emerging is that the annual day’s title is increasingly becoming an inaccurate description…..Continue reading.

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Testing, Testing, Testing!

On World AIDS Day (1st December) Dr. Fiona Lyons of the GUIDE Clinic, St. James Hospital reminded her audience in the Mansion House Dublin of the importance of HIV testing.

We now have wonderful medicines to treat HIV. But up to 1 in 3 people living with the virus in Ireland do not know their status as they have not yet tested.

Testing is free, confidential and available at a range of venues around Ireland. To find the nearest venue to you

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Everyone has a status – do you know yours?

 

 

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Advent Hope Service

We warmly invite you to join us for the Advent Hope service in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin with Christian Aid and ACET.

Dr Rowan Williams

We are delighted to have Dr. Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury and Chair of Christian Aid UK, as special guest preacher for the service.

The service of worship, prayer, thanksgiving and reflection will be in the context of Choral Evensong led by the world famous Cathedral Choir.

Sunday 30 November 2014, 3:15pm

St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin

(By kind permission of the Dean and Chapter of St Patrick’s Cathedral)

 November 30 is the first Sunday in Advent, and the day before World AIDS Day, December 1 2014, which is marked around the world.

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New Healthy Church Training Dates Announced

We are delighted to announce new dates for our Healthy Church Training. On Thursday 4th December (4pm-8pm) and Friday 5th December (9am-9pm), in the Lucan Centre, church leaders from a range of backgrounds will join the ACET team of facilitators to explore health issues within our faith communities with a particular focus on the challenges that migrants to Ireland face in relation to overcoming barriers to health.

In line with ACET’s ethos, the approach of the training is to explore the possibilities of raising a culture of listening in our faith communities rather than just passing on information or skills.  By focussing on areas such as HIV and mental health we seek to equip the leaders with all they need to bring about such change. In our last post-event evaluation 100% of participants agreed that the members of their church would benefit from their leaders’ attendance at the event.

We are grateful to a range of funders including MAC AIDS Fund, the Community Foundation for Ireland, PA Foundation and Dublin City Council for their support.

This training is part of a broader Project Hope which seeks to both train leaders of migrant-led and multi-cultural faith communities in Ireland and support those most marginalised by HIV within those communities.

Here’s what some of the participants had to say after our last training event:

“The emphasis on building a culture of empathetic listening was the best part. I really benefitted from the listening skills.”

“You are doing a great work. Please don’t relent in your efforts.”

“Brilliant!”

There are only 15 places available and we expect these to fill quickly. To register your place click below to Download the Healthy Church Flyer and Booking Form.

Download Form

Healthy Church FLYER + BOOKING

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Mourning those lost on Flight MH17

Please join us in praying for the families, friends and colleagues of all of those who died on flight MH17 in Ukraine. About a third of the passengers were delegates heading to the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia. Among the dead are those who had contributed to Quality Action, an initiative seeking to improve the quality of HIV prevention in Europe.  Earlier this year ACET Ireland CEO, Richard Carson, attended the first European level training workshop of Quality Action in Dublin Castle.

Those of us working in the area of HIV & AIDS are all too familiar with loss and bereavement but there is something particularly devastating when so many individuals who have dedicated themselves to ending the pandemic have been taken so suddenly. They will be sorely missed as will their wisdom, commitment and expertise.

 

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