To mark World AIDS Day 2018 on Saturday December 1, The Hankie Quilt was handed over to the guardianship of the Rainbow Fund to preserve for future prosperity.
WITH both founders of The Hankie Quilt no longer resident in Brighton & Hove it was felt the Quilt should stay in the city in which it was created.
Maurice McHale Parry, founder of The Hankie Quilt said: “The Hankie Quilt is an important piece of LGBTQ history in the city and the Rainbow Fund have agreed to look after it and supervise it’s display and exhibition. The Hankie Quilt is an independent project created to honour those we have lost to HIV & AIDS and to support those living in our community.
“The Rainbow Fund is an Independent organisation working within the general community with no biased affiliations within the various charities, groups and organisations in the city of Brighton & Hove and as such are best suited to represent The Hankie Quilt and it’s true ideals.
“I would like to thank the Rainbow Fund and Stuart Robe for their help and support in organising the handover and for becoming Guardians for the future of The Hankie Quilt in the city”.
Chris Gull, Chair of Rainbow Fund added: “The Rainbow Fund is proud and delighted to be asked by the quilt’s creators to be it’s guardians. It’s vital, now that an HIV diagnosis is no longer an automatic life threatening diagnosis in this country, that we remember those who died too soon and the devastation caused to our families and communities.
The quilt is an important reminder to us, and to future generations, of our history, and we will ensure that it is preserved. The Rainbow Fund grew out fundraising to commission and maintain the AIDS memorial, and the memorial and the quilt remind us not only to remember those we have lost, but to continue to work against stigma.”
The Quilt has previously been on display in The Brighton Dome, the Jubilee Library, Brighton Town Hall, and has lead the Brighton & Hove Pride Community Parade.