ON December 1, Colchester Castle and the Town Hall will be illuminated blood red.

A World Aids Day flag will fly above the Colchester Council building while a candlelit vigil takes place at the war memorial in High Street, featuring a 30-minute set from the Funky Voices choir.

Love and remembrance will be the theme as the evening continues on to Outhouse East’s office at East Hill, for a post-vigil get-together from 7pm until 10pm.

The #SeeRed event is a manifestation of Peter Greening’s desire to give others with HIV a voice - to keep HIV and Aids visible and help shatter the stigma and discrimination surrounding them.

He said: “I was saddened and disappointed when I moved back to Colchester just over a year ago that there was no local event to speak of.

“Then World Aids Day came around and it was almost as if nobody knew it was a special day. I felt quite alone.

“I had a vision there and then the next year would be different.

“I’m out, and I believe the only way forward is education which is why since I became infected, I’ve worked as a volunteer with HIV agencies.

“In 2003, I became the founding writer of what’s now the Positive Page and am part of a global network, which is great.

“Back then I was also sponsored by the Brighton and Hove Primary Care Trust to write a monthly column sharing my experience and knowledge.

“It was quite a cathartic experience and culminated at the end of that year with a performance piece I’d written, which I’m reworking and will perform at the Colchester event.”

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Prince Harry during his visit to the Terrence Higgins Trust's HIV testing pop-up shop in Hackney, London, this week. Picture: Matt Dunham/PA Wire

World Aids Day was founded in 1988, as the first ever global health day.

It is an opportunity to show solidarity with the millions of people living with HIV worldwide - by wearing a red ribbon - but also to remember those who have died of an Aids-related illness.

Despite the remarkable advances in medicine, this global call-to-action stresses the importance of continuing to raise money for research, fight debilitating prejudice and improve education.

Peter, 49, was diagnosed 25 years ago at Essex County Hospital.

“It changed my life dramatically,” he said. “I was told to expect seven years, no more, but the huge advances in medication means I’m now living a future I hadn’t planned for.

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“There was very little knowledge back then. HIV was only ten years old and health professionals were still finding their way through and making changes, so it was a shock.

“I was told to prepare for the worst and to make my will. I certainly saw a lot of people going that way.

“I’d lost friends locally and in London - it was a difficult time.”

Leading up to World Aids Day is National HIV Testing Week, beginning tomorrow.

HIV Prevention England explains its ultimate goal is to increase regular HIV testing in the most affected groups - men who have sex with men and black African men and women.

But Peter believes the responsibility for HIV prevention should not be restricted to any particular groups as sexual health is all of our priority.

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Everyone is encouraged to wear a red ribbon or an item of red 

He said: “People who are medicated, stick to their regime and become what is now termed ‘undetectable’, can’t pass it on.

“And I believe we’re now at a point in treatment options where we’re in a real position to stamp this out within a generation or a generation-and-a-half.

“It just takes people to be brave and get tested, especially if you think you’ve been at risk.

“HIV Aids is no longer the death sentence it was.

“It’s a life sentence but if you take your medication and are responsible, there’s no reason you can’t live a normal life.”

Keen to back this message is deputy leader of Colchester Council, Tim Young, who has offered to demonstrate a DIY finger prick test.

Clinical nurse specialists and individuals from the Terrence Higgins Trust will also be promoting self-testing.

He said: “What we’re seeing now isn’t young gay men coming through the doors.

“ There are a lot of women of my age who had no idea their husbands might have been playing away somewhere, for example, and this is what we’re facing.

“I can empathise with how daunting it must be for these people who never in a million years thought this would affect them.

“I can understand because of the stigma and discrimination which still exists around it that people don’t want to be an open book like I am. I get that.”

Colchester MP Will Quince will open the memorial, starting at 6pm. Later, Phoenix, which runs gay club nights, will host an after-party from 11pm at Waikiki, in Crouch Street.

Peter, who has big plans for next year, has been “bowled over” by the support given from participating organisations Outhouse East, Metro Charity, the Terrence Higgins Trust, Essex Sexual Health Service and Phoenix Waikiki.

For advice visit, metrocentreonline.org/services/hiv or call Justin Barley, Metro Essex HIV peer support coordinator on 07904 219489.