SPORTS: Liverpool FC Kick Off Week Long Campaign To Mark World AIDS Day

<p>London/Liverpool, 1st December 2013 – The Reds kick-off a week-long campaign today to raise awareness for World AIDS Day 2013 (Sunday 1st December) and Living with HIV, Standard Chartered’s global HIV and AIDS education programme.</p> <p></p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.thegayuk.com/communities/8/004/009/928/388/images/4602685085.jpg" width="461" height="216" alt="Liverpool Football Club" title="Liverpool Football Club"/></p> <p> </p><p>Thirty-five million people worldwide are currently living with HIV, including 100,000 in the UK. To highlight this global issue the Club has released footage of its star players supporting the cause by creating a World AIDS Day ribbon on a goal net.</p><p> </p><p>The campaign will come to life through a number of activities over the next seven days, including a projection of a red ribbon on the stadium and players warming up in special t-shirts at the Liverpool v Norwich game. Standard Chartered Bank will also be using all of their match-day rights at Liverpool’s home games against Norwich on 4th December and West Ham on 7th December to direct people to the specially produced eBooklet, which is the one-stop resource for information on Living with HIV.</p><p> </p><p>“Liverpool FC continues to be a great supporter in raising awareness of this global issue,” said Annemarie Durbin, Group Executive Sponsor for Living with HIV. “We are proud to be working with the Club to raise awareness by directing people to the ‘You, Me, & HIV’ eBooklet. This dispels common myths and misconceptions about HIV by sharing transmission and prevention stories from around the world. HIV can affect anyone, which is why we want everyone to have access to this education tool.”</p><p> </p><p>Ian Ayre, Managing Director, Liverpool FC, added: “Every day, another 6,000 people worldwide are infected with HIV. Standard Chartered’s Living with HIV programme draws attention to an important cause, and one which the Club is proud to support. This week we hope to reach as many people as possible with the message of learning more about HIV and AIDS.”</p><p> </p><p>Last year to support World AIDS Day, a 49 metre long ribbon was rolled out across the pitch by staff from Standard Chartered and the HIV/AIDS charity AVERT. This was the first time that the AIDS awareness ribbon, recognised as the largest in the world by Guinness World Records, had been displayed in the UK.</p><p> </p>