Towards the end of the 1980s, in the wake of the HIV epidemic, it became clear that existing sexual health services in the West of Scotland were not being accessed by gay men. A radical alternative was required and soon the idea for a gay-specific service was born.
It was Steve Retson who first proposed the idea of a health initiative that would address HIV prevention by catering for the wide range of health needs of gay men. Steve wrote a report in 1993 based on the work done by Eric Kay for Scottish AIDS Monitor. Greater Glasgow Health Board accepted all the recommendations of that report. The project would not just be a clinic for sexual health, but would encompass a holistic approach with community involvement, addressing the needs of gay men.
A working party was established to implement the recommendations from Steve's report. The working party consisted of gay men from the local community and those working in HIV and sexual health fields. It became increasingly clear that the first step would be to set up the service within the existing GU Medicine department outside of their normal working hours. The concept of a 'project' as opposed to a 'clinic' was fundamental to its identity; the contribution of workers who helped gay men make the most of their social and personal resources was recognised to be as important as medical and nursing services. Its other core values included a very positive stance on the promotion of sexual health and a strong central role of gay men themselves in modelling the project.
On the 6th of September 1994 the project opened its doors and was the first project of its kind anywhere in the United Kingdom. From its first session, it was hectic. Although, initially, it was still used by gay men primarily as a resource for their physical health (requests for consultations with medical staff greatly outnumbered those for nurses or counsellors and definitely exceeded the available staff resources), this gradually changed. The staff team learned to be more flexible around their individual roles and clients began to view the project as something different from a traditional clinic.
A measure of the Steve Retson Project's success is that many men who have been seen over the years, many brought for the first time by word of mouth, often return time and again for further well men's sexual health check-ups. The Steve Retson Project is now 10 years old and has grown and flourished, whilst still retaining the spirit of its original founding values. This success should continue for many years to come.