THE Coat of Hopes completed its journey from Edinburgh to Galashiels last week.

And the garment, which aims to raise awareness of climate change, went on display at The Great Tapestry of Scotland Visitor Centre on Sunday.

The Coat of Hopes is a patchwork coat, made, worn and walked by numerous people over hundreds of miles.

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After being on display at St Mary’s Cathedral during the Edinburgh Festival, it left the capital on Wednesday, August 30 was taken to Galashiels via Dalkeith, Middleton and Stow.

Border Telegraph: Kath McDonald (left) with fellow Borderer Sue Mclennan and others on the Coat of Hopes journey to the BordersKath McDonald (left) with fellow Borderer Sue Mclennan and others on the Coat of Hopes journey to the Borders

Newstead woman Kath McDonald, 77, helped carry the coat on its extraordinary journey.

And she was joined by members of Fridays for Future and XR Scottish Borders.

The public were also given the opportunity to add their patch to the coat.

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Visitors to the centre were also able to watch “Of Walking on Thin Ice”, an art documentary which tells the story of the walk between London and Glasgow for COP26.

The coat will remain in the Borders for the next two weeks before continuing its journey to Berwick.

Border Telegraph: Kath Macdonald helping to carry the Coat worn by Rev Peter Harris Rector at St Mary's Episcopal Church in DalkeithKath Macdonald helping to carry the Coat worn by Rev Peter Harris Rector at St Mary's Episcopal Church in Dalkeith

 

Yoga teacher Kath said: “I attended ‘The Big One’ demonstration in London where 80,000 people from Extinction rebellion, Greenpeace and various Christian groups demonstrated for four days before handing in a petition to the government.

“And that’s where I first saw the coat and learned that it was coming to Scotland.

“So on Wednesday we left Edinburgh and took the coat to St Mary’s Church in Dalkeith where we received a lovely reception.

Border Telegraph:

“The aim of the journey is to spread awareness of climate change. So many protests upset the public so this is a more gentle way to spread the message.

“We only walk around 10-miles per day and we stop to speak to people and invite them to wear it and sing songs. It’s all about meeting individual people.

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“The coat will remain in the Borders for a couple of weeks and we hope to leave for Berwick from Newstead on Friday, September 15. But we need help.

“It takes five people to walk with the coat as it’s heavy and at the moment we only have two.”

To help email info@coatofhopes.uk