Coat of Hopes Pilgrimage visits Newark’s Quaker Centre as part of tour to highlight climate emergency

A patchwork coat with over 600 patches - all with significance to their makers - landed in Newark.

The Coat of Hopes Pilgrimage sees the coat, designed to highlight peoples ‘hopes and fears’ regarding the environmental crisis, walked by likeminded people more than 1,000 miles around the UK, with a new patch added at each stop-off point.

The coat arrived at Newark’s Quaker Centre in Queens Head Court on Wednesday (September 6), and continued on its journey yesterday morning (Thursday).

Designed originally by artist, Barbara Keal, she stated her intentions were to focus people’s minds on the ‘climate and ecological emergency’, and coat has been walking since 2021.

Chris Rose of Newark Quakers said: “The whole purpose of it really is to draw people’s attention to talk about the climate crisis.

“I think what’s important as well is that when you wear the coat, many of those patches represent stories.”

Continuing, they said: “It’s griefs, hopes, prayers, remembrance. It’s that sort of connectivity between the changing of oneself.

“We’re very happy to support that.

“Everywhere we go, those willing to wear the coat become part of the story.”

Following their departure of Newark Quakers centre at 9.30 today, the coat now heads to Southwell. They plan to arrive to Southwell around 4pm, before heading to Oxton today (Friday).

Previously, the coat was worn from the south coast of England all the way to the Glasgow, for the COP26 climate conference, in 2021.

Before leaving, the coat will don a new patch from its travels to Newark, before it goes on its adventures all the way to eventually Dover.