Meet our volunteers: Terry Higgins Memorial Quilt

If you've been following along with us since 2022, you will be familiar with the collaborative project we are working on led by Terrence Higgins Trust. Our dedicated quilting community members have been tirelessly working alongside Terry's partner and close friends, colleagues at Terrence Higgins Trust and passionate volunteers to produce something truly amazing. Read on to find out more about the project from THT and our wonderful quilters and volunteers.

Richard Angell, Chief Executive of Terrence Higgins Trust says;

"Our charity was started in Terry Higgins' name to humanise the epidemic and shows its very personal impact on people's lives. To make it clear those dying in a such a terrible way were someone's son or daughter, brother or sister, lover or friend, just like Terry. The AIDS memorial quilts, each panel made by the friends, family or lover of someone lost, do the same thing in such a powerful, beautiful and often devastating way.

That's why, 40 years on from his death, we wanted to celebrate all that's been achieved in Terry's name with his own memorial quilt. We couldn't be more thrilled with what's been achieved in partnership with those who knew and loved Terry, The Quilters' Guild and the incredibly talented quilters who have worked on each panel."

"The project has been overseen by our co-founders Rupert Whitaker and Martyn Butler and Terry's close friends Linda and Maxine, who have worked closely with passionate quilters from across the country to let us all get to know Terry better. There are eight panels, including those about Terry as a friend, as a Welshman, as a gay man and from his time in the Royal Navy.

'The quilt is now very nearly finished, and I couldn't be prouder of it. It has already moved people to tears with its scale, the quality of the work and with the powerful story it tells. I can't wait for thousands to see if for the first time at the Festival of Quilts and am excited to see where it goes from there! I also hope it will help drive more attention to the original UK AIDS Memorial Quilt. But rest assured, we have big plans."

Although we can't reveal the full quilt to you yet, we'd love to share some sneak peeks and we decided to ask our wonderful quilting volunteers a few questions about their involvement.

Sarah Ashford, what has been the highlight of your experience so far?

"There have been so many highlights, it's hard to know where to start. I feel so privileged to have been a small part of its creation. There is something so powerful about being a small cog in a much bigger wheel. To be working collectively on a shared goal, and to create something that is so deeply personal to so many people can only be described as an honour. I have been so moved by the depth of feeling that people have towards Terry, Terrence Higgins Trust and the staff who do such important work to support those who need it the most."

Nigel Mansfield, why was it important to you to become involved in Terry's Quilt?

"Having spent my late teens and early 20s clubbing on the LGBT scene in the 90s there were always publications, information and literature from Terrence Higgins Trust raising awareness and reducing stigma. This work has enabled me to thank them for their positive impact on my life."

Clive Bruder, what does this work mean to you?

"Being part of the LGBTQIA+ community myself, one thing that drew me to this project was the importance of being part of something truly special. A memory quilt for a man who had never been given one himself when he passed away. To convey my love and respect for this amazing charity has been truly humbling and rewarding. Discovering the history around the HIV and AIDS pandemic has sometimes brought me to tears and I've really put my emotions and love into this project. I was very lucky to walk in London Pride this year with Terrence Higgins Trust, which was truly a highlight of this whole experience. I don't know if I'll ever get the opportunity again to represent my community in such a way. I will be forever grateful to all the staff and volunteers at Terrence Higgins Trust for allowing me to offer my skills to such a worthy cause. As a gay man myself I'm extremely proud to have done this. Words aren't enough to convey how much this means to me personally and professionally, to be a small part of this will forever be one of my greatest achievements."

Royal Navy Officer Oli Brown, what drew you to become involved in Terry's Quilt?

"It feels like a culmination of much work, work that started not in my lifetime but in 1963. With Terry seeking a place to be his true self, joining the Royal Navy and setting in motion more than he could have imagined. Ultimately enabling support after my diagnosis, support to challenging the rules on serving with HIV and changing attitudes. With that background, I was not drawn to be involved, I was dedicated to capture his story."

Sara Sullivan, what motivated you to become involved in Terry's Quilt?

"I vividly remember the AIDS campaign with the tombstone and the fear and stigma surrounding it. I have been aware of Terrence Higgins Trust for many years and always admired their work. That, combined with my love of a challenge, and a desire to work with other textile enthusiasts made me decide to volunteer. I am so glad I did. It has been a great honour to work on such an important piece of art."

Tim Cooper, what has been the highlight of the project so far for you?

"I have particularly enjoyed working with Terrence Higgins Trust and Nathan Wyburn, the artist on whose work our quilt panel is based. We have worked together on 'deconstructing' the artist's work for digitally printing on fabric, while respecting the original work. It has been an interesting and creative process."

Paula Doyle, what drew you to become involved in Terry's Quilt?

"When I was living in San Francisco in the 1980's, I lost a couple of good friends to AIDS, so my involvement is to honour them as well as Terry. I was asked by Sheila Evans, the President of The Quilters' Guild if I would work with Terry's partner Rupert to make a panel for this quilt with a quilted portrait of Terry from a photograph. I think this was because of my involvement with the Magna Carta Quilts project in 2015, where a group of us made 80 thread-painted portraits of Human Rights heroes for the four Legacy quilts in that project."

Portia Dadley of Hansard, what have you most enjoyed about the project so far?

"Everything! It has been a joy to work with Andie Dyer and the THT team, and to see my scribbly pencil outlines turned into a great design by Martyn Butler. I loved working with my colleagues, Hannah Minns and Anna Murray, cutting out and assembling parts of the Hansard panel, and handing over our work to the brilliant Pat Cave of The Quilters' Guild, who finished everything so beautifully."

Patricia Cave, what has been the highlight of the project for you?

"The highlight so far has been collaborating with Andie Dyer of Terrence Higgins Trust and staff at Hansard where Terry worked, being able to contribute and affect decisions on the outcome of the hanging and looking forward to completing this collaborative piece."

Hannah Minns of Hansard, what drew you to become involved in Terry's Quilt?

"I work at Hansard, where Terry worked in the 1970s. His story is an important part of Hansard's history, so I wanted to contribute to the project to help to raise awareness about Terry's time here and his story more generally. Working as a reporter within Parliament in 2023 is very different to when Terry was a typist here, and it is vital to remember and talk about the institution's history and the role of people like Terry."

Jo Riou, what drew you to become involved in Terry's Quilt?

"The charity has long been part of my life - my Mum?s cousin, Gordon Ellwood, died from AIDS in the early 1980s when I was a teenager. Aged 16, I embarked upon a career in the music industry and a few years later was working at an Australian record company called Mushroom Records where I met Vince Lovegrove, the manager of one of our artists, Jimmy Barnes. Whilst I was organising an event for World Aids Day, Vince asked me why I felt it was important, so I explained about Gordon and he then told me his story - his wife Susie and son Troy both passed away from AIDS in the 80s too, Susie passing it to Troy in the womb. A book and film followed detailing their awful experiences with ignorance and prejudice. When the opportunity arose to become involved in Terry?s quilt, I knew I just had to ? Terrence Higgins Trust has been at the forefront of not only supporting anyone affected by HIV but educating generations and ending the stigma once associated with the virus."

Merrill Tanton, what has been the highlight of the project so far?

"The highlight of the project has been working with the Young Quilters in region 13 who stitched words into the hearts to go on panel 8. They loved the stiches they learned and being part of a group quilt. Another highlight has been working with the team from Terrence Higgins Trust and my fellow members from The Quilters' Guild: we have had such fun at the virtual meetings and have shared personal experiences as well as had great negotiation of how we should work on panel 8, lots of agreement and expertise being shared."

Geraldine Edgington, what drew you to become involved in Terry's Quilt?

"It is Terry's legacy that made me want to get involved. Terrence Higgins Trust has done and is doing valuable work and it will continue to do this work in the decades to come. How can this 40th anniversary not be celebrated?".

The Terrence Higgins Memorial Quilt will be unveiled in Hall 9 at The Festival of Quilts, Birmingham NEC at 10.30am on Thursday 3rd August. Don't miss your chance to see this moving and impactful piece on show.

Read more about this project from Terrence Higgins Trust.

Read more about this project from Hansard.

Read more about Sarah Ashford's fundraising Half Marathon for Terrence Higgins Trust.