Simon and Des at AIDS Memorial Unveiling

Labour's Simon Burgess and Des Turner MP joined hundreds of local people in Steine Gardens in October to watch the unveiling of the UKs first AIDS Memorial. After 3 years hard work the city has an AIDS memorial to be proud of. Cllr Paul Elgood came up with the idea of a memorial, and along with James Ledward, editor of Gscene, and Simon Burgess he has been involved in the project ever since.

Simon (left) and Des (to the right behind the memorial). David Furnish is third from right Photo from the Argus.

Simon said: "It has taken a long time to make Pauls vision a reality but the effort has been well worth it. It has been a pleasure to work with Paul, James and the sculpture Romany Mark Bruce gaining cross party and community support on the way. The many donors and fundraisers have been amazing and Romany has sacrificed a lot to give so freely of so much of his time.

"Friday was an incredible day and though it rained heavily it didn't dampen spirits at the unveiling by David Furnish, the fundraising three gay choruses concert or the moving reading of the names ceremony. Forty of us read out names in front of a candlelit vigil with many of the readers having lost friends or lovers to AIDS. I had submitted the name of a close friend, Jim, and it was emotional but positive to hear his name read out just before I read my batch of names. It was an experience I will not forget and it was an honour to be a part of something so important to so many."