<H1><b>SYDNEY CANDLELIGHT MEMORIAL - SUNDAY 20 MAY 2012</b></H1>

A news item in the Star Observer of 27 April 2012 states that the annual Sydney Candlelight Memorial for people who have died from AIDS will take place on Sudnay 20 May 2012 to coincide with International Candlelight Memorial Day.

The announcement goes on to state that the memorial will be held at Slide bar, 41 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst.

What is so extraordinary about this announcement is that there is in existence a ready made venue for such events to take place. The venue is called the Sydney Park AIDS Memorial Groves (SPAIDS) and is an ideal area for holding such commemorative events.

In past years SPAIDS has contacted the organisers of such events and suggested they hold the event at Sydney Park, but we have never even had the courtesy of a response.

The same story applies to the World AIDS Day Events held around 1 December each year. One event is a fund raiser and people are invited to do walks in the Sydney Botanical Gardens. Sydney Park is a fantastic venue for such events, but SPAIDS has been met by stony silences from the organisers.

It is interesting to know that people who come to SPAIDS on tree planting days, once a year on National Tree Day at the end of July each year are people who would attend some of these other events at these other venues.

SPAIDS realised a long time ago that the Sydney AIDS organisations are not interested in dealing with activists who aren't in the AIDS political mainstream, but it is their loss, and we are pleased to know that some groups, such as IDAHO and the Sydney Beat Project have felt that SPAIDS is a wonderful venue to hold events and also has the attribute of being conveniently situated in inner Sydney and easily accessible by all forms of transport. Sydney Park AIDS Memorial Groves (SPAIDS)