Tall Ken Swaddling

Title: Tall Ken Swaddling
Date: 1990s
Contributor: Avee Isofa Holmes
Format: jpg.
Type: jpg.
Creator: Harry Hillery
Language: English
Rights: Attribution - Non Commercial - Share Alike 4.0 International License
Temporal Coverage: 1990s

Description: Ken was a good friend who I called the gentle giant. He was very gifted and loved gardening. He made a small water fountain for his balcony and created a flower garden around the summer house at The Sussex Beacon when it first opened. He also unveiled the first AIDS Memorial in 1996 which can still be seen at the base of a silver birch tree adjacent to the entrance doors of the Brighthelm Centre.

His hands were deformed by the Arthritis he'd had for many years. When he requested an operation to straighten them, he was shockingly told that it wasn't worthwhile because of his AIDS diagnosis which hurt him deeply. A few years later he contributed an article about himself titled ‘I’m Still Here’ which was on the front page of the Sussex Beacon newsletter. He was always very out about his status even in those days when so much stigma was around, and he created his own support.

One late afternoon I was ‘kidnapped’ by Ken and six others when buying a tin of Whiskas. Open Door had been given eight tickets for an Elton John concert at Earls Court. The boyz picked me up and carried me to a waiting Bedford minibus and off we went. I arrived bursting for the loo, but WOW, what a night it was. We had fantastic seats with wheelchair access.

I still miss Ken because we had so many good times together. I was completely gutted when he crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

Subject: HIV; Remembrance; AIDS Memorial; The Sussex Beacon; Open Door; Elton John; Terry Morgan; Tall Ken; Ken Swaddling

Ken (centre) with Terry Morgan (right) & James (left) on the Waverley

Waverley postcard

Balmoral postcard

Elton John ticket

Ken on a minibus on the way to Pride in London

Ken surrounded by friends at Pride in London

Tall Ken Swaddling

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