After visiting the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt on display at the Turbine Hall at the TATE in the summer of 2025, I found myself deeply moved by the creativity and craftsmanship evident at all levels, alongside the poignant individual stories embedded in each panel.

This led me to research various quilts that particularly caught my eye, focusing on those lovingly made for Sandy Kane, a Canadian who moved to London to work for the Government.

Along with the Quilt made for Richard "Richie" McMullen, his life story is stitched with survival and relentless activism: abused by his father and, by his early teens, driven into sex work in Liverpool before leaving for London at 15, Richie turned his trauma into a mission, founding ‘Streetwise’ to support rent boys and later co-founding Survivors, a helpline for rape victims. He campaigned tirelessl ...