Ron Irvine (Body Positive) Body Positive’s introduction to Wellington has been solid, even if the unrelenting quakes in the city have left the staff and some of the office furnishings a little shaken. The HIV positive people’s support and advocacy organisation has been able to open an office in the capital thanks to a large grant from MAC AIDS, the HIV philanthropy arm of MAC Cosmetics. After six years manning the front desk at Body Positive in Auckland, Ron Irvine has moved back to former home Wellington to run the new Courtenay Place office. It opened last week, just in time to be given a good unsettling by the quakes hammering Wellington. Irvine was surveying the minor damage to the new space as GayNZ.com Daily News caught up with him, saying the dishwasher was on its side and his desk had moved. “And a few things have fallen off the walls. But nothing that’s not repairable or can’t be hung up again. No breakages.” Irvine is back living in Wellington for the first time in 20 or so years, and the first quake he felt on Friday had him scrambling under his doorway. “Then after it settled down I thought ‘well that would be a waste of bloody time,’ because it’s not a building structure, it’s a partition,” he laughs. “It wouldn’t have stopped debris coming down on me.” His landlord has advised him of a safer place to stand for any future big quakes. Aside from the commotion caused by nature, Irvine says the opening period has gone well. “It’s quiet, but that’s to be expected. Having said that there’s a trickle of people coming in. We’ll have our first pot luck lunch this Friday and start the services happening as needed. We’ve already gone one guy interested in a 6 on 6 (peer support) group. It will take a little time, but we’ll get there.” Irvine says there are an estimated 350 positive people living in the Wellington area, and at the moment they have about 60 people on their books. “Now we’ve got a presence in Wellington we can get a few more coming in the door, and supporting them. Some people just tend to carry on with life, as you do, but there are others that struggle every day, and we want to identify those ones and help them where we can.” Irvine says the office location is great. “It’s a great looking place. It’s safe. It’s got its own lift entrance. It’s a great location, very central and the landlords have been fantastic.” He says the building was once used by the New Zealand AIDS Foundation, in a very different time. “Of course, back then, they moved in and all the other tenants moved out. Those were scary times back then, but we haven’t had any issues from the other tenants. They have welcomed us with open arms.” Body Positive Wellington Branch: Level 2, 55 Courtenay Place, Wellington. Tel: 04 801 5484 | Email: wellington@bodypositive.org.nz.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 22nd July 2013 - 12:23pm