Terrence Higgins Trust Launches Free Sex And Relationships Guide Book For Young People, Schools And Colleges, UK

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 21 Mar 2010 - 0:00 PDT


Young Leaders from HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) have produced a new guide for young people about relationships and sex today. 'Everything you need to know about...Relationships' will be available to order from THT's web site and the first 10,000 copies are free.

The guide talks about different kinds of relationships, gives information around sex and sexual health as well as suggestions on where young people can go to get advice and support. The guide is written by young people, as well as teens from across the UK who had the opportunity to contribute to the resource through an online questionnaire. The aim is to give young people a resource which will help them to make informed and healthy decisions around relationships, sex and sexual health.

The free guide marks the end of the Big Lottery Funding for 'Young Leaders' - an England wide project for 13-19 year olds to educate their friends and peers about relationships and sex. The charity was awarded almost £1.5 million in April 2007 by the Big Lottery Fund to establish Young Leaders. Boards of young people were set up across the country to fund and support other teenagers to create innovative education projects about relationships and sexual health. In three years, the project funded 203 groups, and has reached over 30,000 young people.

Porsha Nunes-Brown, a 17 year old Young Leader from London said: "I think this booklet is very important as young people are often given an unrealistic image of what relationships are. This booklet highlights the building blocks for a healthy relationship."

Gemma Robertson, a 19 year old Young Leader from Liverpool said: "I wanted to give something back to young people who may be confused with emotional issues. This was also a personal challenge for me as it was something I've never had a chance to do before. It's been hard work, however it's all been worth it and I hope that people will benefit from it."

Gareth Davies, Young Leaders Project Manager said: "Young people tell us it's not always easy to get the information and support they need, especially about relationships. Young Leaders is a groundbreaking project, which in the last three years, has helped thousands of young people to develop their own SRE projects based on their own needs and priorities. We hope this guide will have a lasting legacy when it comes to giving young people the information they need to make informed and healthy decisions about sex and relationships."

Big Lottery Fund is the joint operating name of the New Opportunities Fund and the National Lottery Charities Board (which made grants under the name of the Community Fund). Big Lottery Fund, launched on 1 June 2004, is distributing half of all National Lottery good cause funding across the UK.

Source
Terrence Higgins Trust

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