Co-founder of Terrence Higgins Trust attended local plaque unveiling honouring friend Terry Higgins

A LEADING figure in the UK’s response to the HIV/AIDS crisis has died aged 71 — just months after attending a plaque unveiling ceremony in Haverfordwest honouring his close friend Terry Higgins.

Martyn Butler, who helped establish the Terrence Higgins Trust in 1982 following Higgins’ death from an AIDS-related illness, died on Friday (Feb 21). He had remained active in awareness work for more than four decades and was widely recognised for his contribution to public health campaigning.

The Terrence Higgins Trust confirmed his death, paying tribute to his lifelong commitment to supporting people living with HIV and improving sexual health education across the UK.

Butler’s connection to Pembrokeshire was particularly strong. Terry Higgins, after whom the charity is named, grew up in Haverfordwest and attended Tasker Milward School. Higgins is widely recognised as one of the first people in the UK known to have died from AIDS-related complications in 1982.

Last year, Butler travelled to Haverfordwest to attend the unveiling of a blue plaque commemorating Higgins’ life. The ceremony marked an important moment in recognising both Higgins’ story and the wider history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which claimed thousands of lives in the UK during the 1980s and 1990s.

Friends and colleagues described Butler as a tireless advocate who helped shape the national response to the emerging AIDS crisis at a time when fear, stigma and misinformation were widespread.

In the early days of the epidemic, Butler famously used his own home telephone number as part of one of the UK’s first AIDS helplines, offering advice and support to people who had nowhere else to turn.

Over the decades that followed, the Terrence Higgins Trust grew into the country’s leading HIV and sexual health charity, providing testing services, education programmes, support networks and national campaigning.

Butler was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2022 in recognition of his services to people affected by HIV.

Tributes have been paid from across the UK health and charity sectors, with colleagues describing him as compassionate, determined and instrumental in changing public attitudes towards HIV.

His death comes at a time when medical advances mean people living with HIV can now expect near-normal life expectancy with treatment — a transformation many campaigners say would not have been possible without the groundwork laid by early activists such as Butler.

Local figures who met him during the Haverfordwest plaque unveiling said he remained passionate about ensuring the stories of those affected by HIV — including Terry Higgins — were remembered by future generations.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been publicly announced.

Image:

Martyn Butler at the Terry Higgins plaque unveiling in Haverfordwest (Pic: Martin Cavaney).

WEST Wales currently has no asylum seekers being housed in hotels, according to the latest figures published by the Home Office.

Data released up to December 31, 2025 shows that 30,657 people were being accommodated temporarily in hotels across the UK while awaiting decisions on their asylum claims. The figure represents the lowest level recorded for 18 months.

However, the statistics confirm that none of those individuals are being housed in hotels in any of the five counties that make up west Wales. Hotels across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire are all recorded as accommodating zero asylum seekers.

The use of hotels for asylum accommodation became a major national political issue in recent years, with protests taking place outside some sites across the UK.

Labour has pledged to end the use of asylum hotels by the end of the current Parliament, which would be 2029, if not sooner.

Plans previously existed to house asylum seekers in west Wales. The Home Office withdrew proposals to accommodate up to 241 people at the Stradey Park Hotel in Carmarthenshire in October 2023 after protests outside the site led to arrests. Dyfed-Powys Police issued an appeal for “calm and co-operation” following what they described as a concerning escalation in behaviour.

The hotel, which had been intended to house families awaiting asylum decisions, subsequently closed, resulting in the loss of 95 jobs, including 50 full-time and 45 part-time roles, and the cancellation of events.

West Wales has also previously hosted asylum accommodation at Penally military training camp near Tenby. The site was used between 2020 and spring 2021 to house between 240 and 250 men, mainly from countries including Iraq, Iran and Syria.

Both the Welsh Government and Pembrokeshire County Council argued the camp was unsuitable, with inspectors describing conditions as run down. The facility was later closed, residents were relocated elsewhere, and the site was returned to the Ministry of Defence.

Nationally, the number of asylum seekers in hotels peaked at 56,018 at the end of September 2023 under the Conservative government. It later fell to 29,561 by the end of June 2024, just before the general election.

The latest figures show numbers at the end of December were 15% lower than the previous quarter, when 36,273 people were recorded as staying in hotel accommodation.

Cover image: Asylum Seekers at Penally MOD Camp in 2020

THE NUMBER of LGBTQ+ households fostering children in Wales has risen significantly, according to new figures released this week.

There are currently 56 LGBTQ+ fostering households across Wales, representing an increase of around 30 per cent compared with 2024.

To mark LGBTQ+ Adoption and Fostering Week, which begins on Monday (Mar 2), Foster Wales Pembrokeshire is encouraging LGBTQ+ people to consider fostering and making enquiries about how they could help change children’s lives in 2026.

Fostering is open to both couples and single people, and organisations say LGBTQ+ carers often bring valuable personal life experience to supporting children and young people in care.

Pembrokeshire Fostering Team Manager Oliver Mathias said: “We know that children and young people thrive when they are cared for by adults who are open-minded, compassionate, and able to value who they are. At Foster Wales, we are proud to welcome carers from the LGBTQ+ community and from all cultures, faiths, family structures, and walks of life.

“We are committed to respecting and celebrating diversity, and to ensuring that everyone who comes forward to foster is treated with dignity, fairness, and respect. What matters most to us is not who you are or who you love, but your ability to provide a safe, nurturing, and accepting home where children can feel valued and belong.”

Suzanne Griffiths, Director of the National Adoption Service for Wales and Foster Wales, said foster carers play a vital role in providing stability and security for vulnerable children.

“Foster carers make an extraordinary difference to children and young people every day by offering stability, understanding and a safe place to thrive,” she said.

“With so many children currently in need of loving homes, we would strongly encourage anyone considering fostering or adoption to come forward and start a conversation with their local team today.”

More information about fostering is available at fosterwales.gov.wales, while adoption information can be found at adoptcymru.com.