The Swedish HIV/AIDS epidemic accelerated the hybridisation of welfare, as volunteer organisations rapidly professionalised and expanded their welfare services. The media’s horror scenarios prompted a sense of urgency which, in turn, motivated politicians and state funding agencies to channel large amounts of money into Swedish volunteer organisations. These included RFSL (the National Union for Sexual Equality), RFSU (the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education) and the Noah’s Ark-Red Cross Foundation. The state also worked with the various self-help groups that emerged for HIV-positive drug users, haemophiliacs, and men who had sex with men. This article investigates how these voluntary organisations – old and new – interacted with the state, the public health sector and each other, and how they were changed by professionalisation and hybridisation.