In the UK, there are approximately 13,000 people who are HIV positive and don’t realise it. And it is these people I want to reach, who I’d like to hear my story.

Could you be one of them?

We’re all a product of two people having unprotected sex, so surely there shouldn’t be any shame in admitting we’ve ‘done the deed’, been between the sheets, got jiggy, however you want to phrase ‘having had sex’, that actually we’re no longer a virgin. And being proactive, responsible adults it’s sensible to take a HIV test or go to a sexual health clinic and ask for a full MOT.

There are many ways you can access a HIV test, all of which involve testing a bit of your blood. You can:

• Buy an instant home HIV test, which gives you a result in just 15 minutes: www.hivselftest.co.uk
• Order a postal sampling kit, where you fill a little tube with a few drops of blood and mail it back to them: www.takeatestuk.com
• Visit a GUM clinic – to find out where to test near you visit www.startswithme.org.uk

Schedule a sexual health check-up in the diary in the same way you would an eye test or a dental check-up. Testing really shouldn’t be feared: if you get a positive result, you can still live a normal, healthy life and do everything that anyone else can do. It’s so much better to know your status and be in control.

Lizzie