2,000-Mile ‘Coat Of Hopes’ Set To Arrive On The Isle Of Wight

An unusual visitor is arriving on the Isle of Wight on Monday 9 February – a coat made up of 700 individual patches, including one from the Island, which has already travelled more than 2,000 miles across the mainland.

Known as the Coat of Hopes, the garment was created to carry people’s hopes for the future of the planet.

Its first journey took place in 2021, when it was walked over nine weeks from Newhaven in Sussex to the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.

Created by artist Barbara Keal, the coat began its journey without any patches, gathering pieces of blanket along the way as people stitched their hopes for the places they live.

Since COP26, the Coat of Hopes has continued to travel across Britain, collecting more patches and inviting everyone it meets to wear it – under the idea that “the future of the planet is on all our backs”.

The Isle of Wight’s patch was created by St Helen’s Eco Church and features an image of the Island alongside a white-tailed eagle.

The Coat will be welcomed to the Island at the wet end of Ryde Pier at 10.30am on Monday 9 February.

Everyone is invited to attend and walk with it down the pier and along Union Street, before it is installed at Department, the cultural centre on Cross Street in Ryde.

Department will host the Coat for its first week on the Island during its “For the Love of Stitch” week.

On Saturday 14 February, it will be walked to St Helens before continuing in stages across the Island to Yarmouth.

Planned stops include Newport, where it will visit St John’s Church for Ash Wednesday services at 11am and the Minster at 6.30pm, as well as Independent Arts.

Other locations on the route include Carisbrooke Priory, Brighstone, East Cowes, Ventnor, Freshwater and Yarmouth. The Coat is due to leave the Island on 16 March.

Helen Bradstock from St Helen’s Eco Church, who helped create the Island’s patch, said:

“We’re really excited that the Coat is finally coming to the Island. It’s amazing how so many different groups have pulled together to make this visit possible in a short time span.

"We hope that many Islanders will want to meet with it, walk with it, and stitch their hopes for our Island into the Coat while it is here.”

Anyone who would like to help walk the Coat across the Island is asked to email coatofhopesiow@hotmail.com.

More information about the Coat of Hopes can be found online by visiting its website and clicking on the “Now” page for up-to-date details of Island events.