Fear, joy, solidarity: exhibition explores 40 years of HIV activism in Manchester

T-shirts made by the George House Trust, one from each decade of the charity's existence, in a display case in the library's reading room. Photograph: Joel Goodman/The Guardian

Paul Fairweather was in his late 20s when he volunteered to take calls from terrified members of the public for Manchester AIDSline, an organisation he set up with five friends in response to the impact of HIV across the city.

Though it was four decades ago now, he still remembers some of the conversations. “Some of the calls had a really big impact on you,” he says.