The Mercury Phoenix Trust awarded a grant to Avert in 2020 which enabled the expansion of the Young Voices project. Young Voices is an interactive package of animations and information materials on sex and relationships. The animations were developed in English, and further funding from The Mercury Phoenix Trust meant we could translate them into Swahili to reach more young people in East Africa.

Since then, The Mercury Phoenix Trust has continued to fund Avert to work together with young people in Southern Africa to co-create materials for Avert’s Be in the KNOW brand, including a social media campaign promoting awareness, interest, support and demand for Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and a range of new content providing information and tools to support young people when they talk to their healthcare providers and their sexual partners about important sexual health topics, including HIV testing and treatment.

Current funding from The Mercury Phoenix Trust is focused on expanding Avert’s range of youth-focused content and making the content more accessible via social media by empowering young people as social media champions and content creators.

The Mercury Phoenix Trust focuses on funding Education and Awareness projects, believing that knowledge and prevention are key to tackling HIV.