The team behind Fast Track Cities Bristol shared an opportunity to raise awareness of HIV stigma in Bristol schools. Two Bristol schools – Cotham School and Oasis Academy Brislington – took up the opportunity and Chiva (a charity supporting children and young people who are growing up living with HIV) delivered HIV awareness assemblies in November and December 2024.
Welsh National Opera (WNO) partnered on these assemblies , sharing details of their ‘Three Letters’ project. Three Letters uses music and performance to tackle societal stigma around HIV.
Following the assemblies, Oasis Academy Brislington requested a creative workshop day with Chiva and WNO and this hugely successful event was delivered on Thursday 24 April 2025. The project team included Abi Carter (Participation Manager) and a young facilitator from Chiva, alongside Michael Graham (Producer), Andrew Loretto (Writer/Director), Helen Woods (Composer) and Beca Davies (Singer) from WNO.
The day included a group of 28 year 8, 9, and 10 drama students. The day comprised: a presentation from Chiva sharing information about HIV and a Q&A session; a drama/song demonstration; composition/singing exercises; creative writing and editing activities; and a final performance made up of words and music written during the day. Below you can find some of the lyrics that were written and performed on the day.
Chiva and WNO were so impressed with what the students came up with in such a short space of time. Their creative outputs were empathetic and shared messages of allyship that would mean a lot to young people living with HIV.
100% of participants reported that their knowledge about the topic of HIV stigma improved because of the workshop. There were also many lovely feedback comments from the students about how much they enjoyed the musical/performance aspects of the day. When asked to write down their one ‘promise’ to conclude the session, several of them wrote about the importance of kindness, respect and standing up to stigma.
Overall, the feedback strongly demonstrated that approaching the topic of HIV stigma through creativity and music/song can improve engagement, knowledge, and empathy on the part of participants. It proved to bea n effective way of getting the message across.
The Drama Subject Lead at Oasis Academy Brislington said:
“I just wanted to say a huge thank you on behalf of our year 8, 9 and 10 Drama students and myself for the fantastic workshop you delivered yesterday. The students absolutely loved it and found the entire experience incredibly engaging and inspiring. It was wonderful to see them so enthusiastic and involved throughout; they really are lucky to be given this opportunity – so thank you!
“You really sparked their interest – not only in opera but in performance and storytelling more widely. It was truly amazing how you got all of that out of them to create a performance in 5 hours!”
With World AIDS Day 2025 approaching, Chiva is set to deliver further HIV awareness assemblies. See Chiva’s website for resources to help schools raise awareness of HIV. If you know a school who would like to arrange a Chiva facilitator to come in, please email: getinvolved@chiva.org.uk
Song lyrics written and performed by Oasis Academy Brislington
U = U, We = We
[Gossip and rumours]
Contagious, contagious, contagious…
You’re safe with me
I took my meds, I now feel free
There are different ways to catch it
Needles or the bed
All these silly myths inside your head
People are kind
Don’t let the lies poison your mind
Science has led to freedom
The right medication found
The facts are the truth, the truth are the facts
But stigmas are fixed in the ground
U=U, We=We
We stand together in unity
Intimacy isn’t a crime
The right medication found
U=U and you can be you
And all of the people around
U=U, We=We
We stand together in unity
HIV
I am free!
