Welcome to the website of The Cara Trust
We are the UK’s leading charity focusing on the spiritual and pastoral support needs of people living with or affected by HIV. 2008 marks our 20th year of providing essential social welfare and spiritual support services for people living with HIV across London and beyond.
We were founded by Fr. David Randall in 1988 as a community of friendship of people living with HIV. The word ‘Cara’ is derived from the Gaelic word for ‘friend’. We believe that our focus on ‘community’ and ‘friendship’ still holds true today. These are key aspects that continue to make Cara unique as an HIV charity.
During 2007 we increased the number of people supported by Cara by 69% to 220. Based on current trends, 2008 looks likely to see a further increase of up to 40%, to over 300 people. Thanks to all our supporters for helping make this possible.
What's New?
World AIDS Day 2008: Please join us to commemorate World AIDS Day 2008. We have 2 events scheduled; Saturday 29 November: Uplifting choral concert with our friends from London Gay Men's Chorus, Venue: St Pancras Church (Euston), Time: 12:45pm - 1:15pm.
Monday 1 December: Evensong service at Westminster Abbey, Time: 5pm (sharp), reception after in one of the historic Abbey apartments.
Please call us on 020 7243 6147 to confirm attendance. Flyer for these events is available to download at News & Events.
November 2008 - Our Annual Report and Accounts are now available in the download section under News & Events (above).
Dominic Fenton's fantastic sermon on Cara & HIV, delivered at Westminster Abbey in August, is now available in our download section.
October 2008 - Thanks to St John Southworth Fund (Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster) for supporting Cara's kids project for 2009, and for the work that we do with residents of Hackney, Haringey, Tower Hamlets, and Islington.
August 2008 - Thanks to Church Urban Fund (Church of England) for supporting our project helping financially disadvantaged service users obtain grants for essential household items such as fridges, washing machines, and cookers. The project is on course to raise over £25,000 this year.
Thanks to BBC Children in Need for supporting our Kids project for 2009.
July 2008 - Every year we survey our service user to ask them about their needs and their opinions on the services we provide. This helps ensure that our services remain both relevant and good quality. We're pleased to report that the results have been fantastic, and a confirmation that our approach remains well suited to meeting needs. This year's response rate was 34%, a marked improvement on last year's 21%:
94% rated us as an efficient charity,
98% felt that Cara helps them feel less isolated,
100% stated that our Senior Service older people's group had improved their sense of well-being
100% were happy with our Spiritual & Pastoral care, whilst 41% had concerns about their relationship with a local Church or Faith Community.
The full results can be viewed or printed by clicking on the News link above and then clicking on the Download page.
Bass Line 2008 – African Health and Sex Survey
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