The Coat of Hopes arrived in Bristol on May 19th and was welcomed to St Paul’s by the Climate Choir singing the ‘Coat of Hopes’ song. For much of its five week stay in Bristol, it has been hosted by St Paul’s but has been taken out and about in Bristol to many different events and climate related groups.
The Coat was created in 2021 by Barbara Keal, and was then a much smaller version of today’s magnificent Coat. It has walked from Newhaven on the south coast (with its very first patch) to Glasgow for the COP26 Climate Summit. Along the way, it has grown as hundreds of people have added small patches to the coat to represent their individual and collective responses to the climate crisis. It was created through pilgrimage and continues to travel around the country as a focus for environmental action and activism. Its creators see it as a walking metaphor for shared responsibility, vulnerability and hope.
Ask me where I’m going
Ask me what is my purpose
