The Coat of Hopes – a ‘Troubadour Pilgrim’

Did you spot The Coat of Hopes as it travelled from Edinburgh to The Great Tapestry of Scotland centre in Galashiels?


Have you heard of the Coat of Hopes? It was the vision of one person during lockdown and created by many hands on the long walk to Cop26, each person hand-stitching their story of hope on to pieces of blanket before attaching them to the coat. 700 people carried the coat on their back during the nine week pilgrimage from Newhaven on the south coast of England to Glasgow and throughout Cop26, each sharing their hopes and prayers for the future. Above you can see the coat before the patches of hope and prayer for the future were added and as it was early last week with so many stories captured on its long flowing skirts.

Andrew Crummy, artist behind The Great Tapestry of Scotland, wearing the coast at the Tapestry Centre in Galashiels.

You can read the background on the Coat of Hopes website and see pics of the Coat at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral where it was displayed during the Fringe.

After that, on 30 August, it was walked over the course of a day from Edinburgh to Dalkeith, then from Dalkeith to North Middleton, North Middleton on to Fountainhall, and Fountainhall to Galashiels, with a special event at the centre for The Great Tapestry of Scotland in Galashiels on the morning of Sunday 3 September. Late that afternoon those accompanying the Coat of Hopes set off again, this time to Newstead.