AN HIV charity is holding bucket collections at a major train station ahead of World AIDS Day.

Staff and volunteers from the Brighton-based charity The Sussex Beacon will be braving the cold to cheerfully collect as much as possible to help raise much-needed funds to support their inpatient and community services.

The team at Brighton Station will also be handing out red ribbons for supporters to wear with pride and to help increase awareness about HIV within the community.

Executive director of The Sussex Beacon Bill Puddicombe said: "We're extremely grateful to the team at Brighton Station and the GTR area office for permitting The Sussex Beacon to raise funds at Brighton Station, at what is a particularly important time of the year.

"All money very kindly donated by members of the public will assist our essential work with people living with HIV across Sussex."

Volunteers for the charity will be fundraising at the station from 10am and 2pm today (November 28) and on World AIDS Day itself on December 1, between 7am and 11am.

First commemorated in 1988, World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day and offers an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, to show support for people living with the virus and to commemorate those who have died from an AIDS-related illness.

The Sussex Beacon provides specialist care and support for people living with HIV, with services and resources to promote independence and improve health and wellbeing.

The charity runs services from a centre in Brighton equipped with a ten-bed inpatient unit and therapy rooms, and aims to provide high-quality care and support in a friendly and homely environment.

Since the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, roughly 36.3 million people have died worldwide from the disease.

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