Actionplus, under the leadership of Rev Fred Osei Annin are a charity actively working to support people living with HIV/AID, to aid them to playing a central role in improving their own lives leading to permanent and lasting solutions.
In Ghana and in the UK, they lead in HIV education including support and empowerment programmes. Actionplus partners with several organisations to change the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS, operating in the heart of communities and leading outreaches.
In 2015, the charity launched a robust HIV campaign at the Kwahu Mountains in the Eastern region of Ghana to create awareness of the HIV infection and to offer a free voluntary counselling and testing. In 2016, the charity also opened the first national HIV campus educational programme in Boso, Eastern region which has the highest HIV prevalence in the country.
The work of Actionplus has not gone unnoticed and GUBA interviews to find out more about their work.
Congratulations on your nomination for the Charity of the Year Award! How do you feel about it?
We are happy and feel honoured that the excellent work we have done for the past twenty years in the UK and Ghana has once again been recognised and appreciated by GUBA Awards.
Tell us a little about yourself and what you do.
Actionplus Foundation is a community based registered NGO operating in the UK and Ghana. The UK branch of our charity was opened in London in 1997 and in 2007, we opened the Africa branch which is based in Ghana. Our vision is a world where people affected by HIV do not experience poverty, ill health and prejudice. We support people living with HIV/AIDS so they can play a significant role in improving their own lives leading to permanent and lasting solutions to any challenge they might face. In Ghana and in the UK, we lead in HIV education including support and empowerment programmes. We work with our partner organisations to change the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS. We operate in the heart of our community, reaching out in churches, schools, colleges, clubs, markets, nail bars and barber shops.
Why would you say you deserve to win?
We deserve to win this award because of the impact our charity has created in the HIV intervention and prevention activities both in Ghana and the UK. We are the pioneers of the model “Take Action Now” which has been adopted and replicated by many HIV campaigning organisations worldwide because it targets the very core of the HIV infected areas including the faith based communities in the African Community where HIV’s prevalence is always high. We have a very good track record of our achievements and have received many local, national and international awards. Through our intervention, we have managed to save thousands from HIV infection and supported many who are living with the infection here in the UK and in Ghana.
What motivates you and your work?
HIV infection since the early 80’s is one of the deadliest diseases that has killed millions of people worldwide and has left behind widows, orphans and people who are stigmatised and abused because of their HIV infection. The church which was supposed to support and show love to those who have been diagnosed positive of HIV were thrown out of their congregations because many Pastors believed that people who are HIV positive are those who lead promiscuous life styles and are therefore cursed by God. Our CEO the Apostle Fred Osei Annin who is the founder of Actionplus Foundation was called of God to lead the campaign to correct this ignorance in the church and has done so single handed for the past 20 years with just a little support. He has won the heart of many because of his brave stand to this calling.
What are your thoughts on the GUBA Awards?
GUBA Awards is one of the most respectable award organisations today and being shortlisted as a nominee is an honour and a great blessing to us. It is also a reward to our efforts in pursuing good health and better life for all. It has come at a rightful time this year when we are celebrating our 20th anniversary in the UK and the 10th anniversary in Ghana.
Is your organisation involved in any other projects?
Yes. The chief and elders of Odumse in the Greater Accra region of Ghana has offered us a free 6 acres plot of land for the development of our HIV empowerment centre. In this centre, we will build an HIV clinic to offer free medical support to people living with HIV in the country. Other project in the centre will include free training to empower women and girls especially sex workers with skills to enable them to start their own businesses to prevent them from the sex trade which makes them prone to HIV infection and so reduce the spread of the virus. We are hoping and praying that we will get funding to start with the project this year.
Actionplus has been nominated for the Charity of the Year Award. To cast your vote, visit http://gubaawards.co.uk/voting/charity/