An AIDS and HIV support group has been forced to close after 15 years because of a lack of funding.

Brighton Body Positive, based at Community Base, Queens Road, Brighton, was formed in 1991 as a drop-in centre designed to help people deal with physical and psychological stresses associated with living with the deadly virus.

After London, Brighton and Hove now has one of the largest populations of people with HIV and AIDS in the country and has a number of charities dealing with their needs.

Brighton Body Positive provided a range of services for up to 300 people including information, advice and support, complementary therapies, counselling and free internet access.

It was run by volunteers and two full-time staff, who have now been made redundant, who also offered a support group for those recently diagnosed and friends and family of those diagnosed, a one-to-one peer support and benefits advice.

It became a registered organisation in November 2004 but after money worries ceased trading in January on February 16 went into voluntary liquidation.

A trustee from the company said it had become increasingly difficult to balance the books over the past two years because of the changing needs of the charity's service users.

The man, who asked not to be named, said: "The nature of funding has changed and the way it is provided is changing and we are quite a small organisation - it became too difficult for us to keep up.

"It became very apparent over Christmas and New Year that the money just wasn't there and the project just wasn't viable anymore.

"The organisation has been around for 15 years and supported people through difficult times so it is terribly sad for its users and its staff, who worked so hard to keep it going.

"But on the positive side what we were providing is still going to be provided in the community by other services."

Brighton and Hove Primary Care Trust said it had commissioned many of the services provided by the group and were looking at alternative ways to continue them.

It said advice and welfare rights, the counselling service and general health promotion remained available through other HIV agencies such as Open Door, The Terrence Higgins Trust and Sussex Beacon and organisations like the Citizens Advice Bureau.

It said support for people newly diagnosed with HIV would be delivered by a Community HIV Team while a more long-term solution was worked out.

The PCT said Brighton Body Positive had also provided a range of complementary therapies which weren't funded by them. They said they believed these would continue to be provided by therapists from a different venue but did not know where.

Nick Boston, project manager at Open Door, said: "It is always sad when a service cannot be provided anymore because of financial problems. It can often be a struggle with the amount of funding we have to work with.

"But I understand that the PCT is working hard to make sure no-one is without services that they need."

Courtesy of the The Argus