Beacon of Hope

The Beacon of Hope is a tall decorated steel column at the Canal Street edge of Sackville Gardens, beside Manchester's Gay Village. Unveiled in 2000, it's often described as the UK's only permanent memorial to people lost to HIV and AIDS, and it also stands for people living with HIV today. Plaques set into the path around it give a timeline of the epidemic. The Alan Turing Memorial is a few steps away in the same small park. Manchester's World AIDS Day candlelight vigil gathers at the Beacon every 1 December. It's free and always accessible.