Co-founder of HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust dies

The founder of a leading HIV and Aids charity has died following a sudden illness.

Martyn Butler, 71, co-founded the Terrence Higgins Trust in 1982 after the death of his friend Terry, the first person to die of Aids in the UK.

Along with Mr Higgins’ boyfriend, Rupert Whitaker, Mr Butler established the charity to support people living with Aids and share information about preventing the transmission of HIV.

The charity started with humble beginnings, with Mr Butler using his own home phone number for the first Aids helpline.

He supported the charity for five decades and was made an OBE for services to charity and public health.

Mr Butler was born in Newport, Wales, and moved to London in the 1970s, where he worked in advertising, cinema and entertainment. He met Higgins and the pair worked together at Heaven nightclub.

Martyn’s brother, Guy Hewett, said: ‘We are heartbroken to lose him so suddenly but full of pride for all he achieved.

‘He saw it as a duty to inform the country, and in particular the gay community, of what little information there was on HIV and Aids in the early 1980s.

‘He took great joy in seeing what Terrence Higgins Trust has become and stayed involved to the very end. Grief is the terrible price of love, but we know his legacy lives on.’

Health Secretary Wes Streeting also paid tribute to Butler, calling him a ‘tenacious campaigner’ for those living with HIV and Aids.

‘He had both the foresight to set up Terrence Higgins Trust and the insight to name it after his friend to humanise the Aids epidemic, which has shaped the UK’s response to HIV,’ he said.

‘We are all forever in his debt, and his legacy lives on.’

Richard Angell, Terrence Higgins Trust chief executive, said the announcement had come as a shock.

‘Terrence Higgins Trust literally wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Martyn,’ he said.

‘When it came to the organisation and people living with HIV, nothing was too much trouble for him. From our first fundraiser, speaking engagement, and leaflet to marching at Cardiff Pride, unveiling Terry Higgins’ blue plaque in Haverfordwest and talking to the media, Martyn has walked with us every step of the way.

‘He was determined, spirited and never took no for an answer. Kind to a fault, he was also brave – giving his home phone number as the first Aids helpline in 1983 – and caring, and an inspiration to other deaf people everywhere.’

He is survived by his mother Diane, younger brothers Guy, Andrew and sister Jacqueline. 

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