- National AIDS Trust
-
NAT (National AIDS Trust) is a UK charity that campaigns on a range of issues related to HIV, primarily in a domestic context. The charity's key strategic goals are:
- Effective prevention of HIV transmission
- For testing to be easily accessible and ethical, to allow early diagnosis of HIV
- Access to treatment, care and support for people living with HIV
- To challenge HIV-related stigma and discrimination[1]
NAT was founded October 1987 as a non-government organisation (NGO) by the Department of Health, in order to deal with the escalating concern with HIV and AIDS nationally. Whilst most of NAT's funding comes from public donations, corporate supporters, grant-making trusts and foundations and their own fundraising work a small amount of funding is still received from the UK government. NAT is a policy based charity, working to improve the national response to HIV through policy development, expert advice[2][3] and the provision of practical resources rather than through offering direct support services to people living with HIV.
NAT is an independent charity with a Board of Trustees, who are responsible for the governance and direction which the charity takes. The chair of the Board is currently Dame Denise Platt DBE. The Board has two subcommittees - the Finances and General Purposes committee, and the Recruitment and Succession Planning Committee. Each of these committees meets at least twice a year, whilst the full Board of Trustees usually meets four times a year.
Diana, Princess of Wales made a significant contribution to NAT in her role as patron from 1991 to 1997. NAT was one of only six charities that she formally supported at the time of her death.[4] On 1 July 2007, Princes William and Harry held the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Diana with an event to celebrate her life. More than half the proceeds from the concert went to charities supported by the late Princess including NAT.
NAT is a small charity with one office found on Old Street in London, and maintains a permanent staff of less than 20 and a large pool of volunteers. The current chief executive is Deborah Jack.[5] Collaborations between NAT and other charities within the sexual health sector do occur.[6]
An important recurring role of NAT is the annual hosting of the World AIDS Day website. NAT develops resources each year to enable other HIV organisations to maximise the impact of World AIDS Day in the UK, which is December 1.
Trustees
The trustees of the National AIDS Trust are [7]:
- Dame Denise Platt DBE
- Howard Charman
- Dr Valerie Delpech
- Martin Green
- Judy Hague
- David Johnson
- Pat Knowles
- Robert MacKay
- John Nicholls
- Dr Barry Peters
- Winnie Ssanyu-Sseruma
- Gary Watson
- Dr Neil Wooding
References
- ^ http://www.nat.org.uk/About-us/Who-we-are.aspx
- ^ http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2009/08/11/112324/national-aids-trust-issues-warning-over-future-of-hiv-services.html
- ^ http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2008/04/21/107918/national-aids-trust-make-hiv-treatment-free-for-failed-claimants.html
- ^ http://www.concertfordiana.com/charities/
- ^ http://www.nat.org.uk/About-us/Team/Staff.aspx
- ^ http://www.tht.org.uk/mediacentre/pressreleases/2009/july/july2.htm
- ^ http://www.nat.org.uk/About-us/Team/Trustees.aspx
External links
Categories:- Health charities in the United Kingdom
- HIV/AIDS organizations
- HIV/AIDS in the United Kingdom
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