Leicestershire’s Trade Sexual Health charity has won a national award for their efforts to Champion Change, with sexual health screenings in gay men’s saunas, as well as setting up the country’s first South Asian LGBTQ support group.

Despite being quite a small charity, they have made significant headway in influencing LGBT services and policy across the country, which has been recognised with the Lloyds Bank Foundation award.

Using a grant from the Lloyds Bank Foundation, they created the first LGBT South Asian support service in the country, and were also the first agency to work in partnership with NHS sexual health services to deliver full screening clinics in gay men’s saunas. This has enabled them to tackle undiagnosed HIV infection and reduce health inequalities caused by late diagnosis.

Since 2000, Trade has presented regularly at the national CHAPS conference, leading to their sauna clinic collaborations being replicated across the country. Using the sauna work as a template, they have collaborated with GU services to provide the first full sexual health screening clinic, at a Pride event in 2010.

They have also been instrumental in the inclusion of LGBT needs to the local Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, ensuring community voices are heard.