seeking floor space for 6 pilgrims to sleep on Saturday 6th April

I am reaching out to ask for help with finding accommodation for 6 pilgrims accompanying the Coat of Hopes, a precious community created garment on a long term pilgrimage through the UK, made by, and worn and walked by hundreds of people, carrying their hopes in the face of climate and ecological breakdown. The Coat recently arrived in Thirsk , where it is now on display at Holyrood House. 

With sincere apologies for the short notice, I am trying to find floor space for 6 pilgrims to sleep in Shipton next week, on the night of Saturday 6th of April ? To explain more fully: The Coat of Hopes is a patchwork coat, made up of over 600 blanket patches, each of which has been made to carry the griefs, remembrances, prayers and/or hopes of a person or group for the place where they live in the face of climate and ecological breakdown. Starting out blank, patches were sewn into the Coat on its way - worn and walked from the south coast of England to COP 26 in Glasgow in 2021.  A 9 week "pilgrimage" - with the sacred destination being the coming together of world leaders to make commitments towards a livable future on Earth. The Coat is always accompanied by its song, which declares its work and is sung each time a new person wears the Coat. Over 900 people wore the Coat on that original journey, and at least as many again have worn it since then. This 10 minute film gives a good sense of the Coat's original journey and way of working: https://youtu.be/hJia90YMwM8

Since the end of July 2023 the Coat has been on a (very slow) permanent pilgrimage, with the sacred destination now being each place we walk through and every person we encounter on our way - because each of us have (in our small way) commitments to consider regarding the future of life on this planet. We have walked across Scotland, and now having walked up the west, are walking down the east of the country. Our current leg being Edinburgh to York. Our commitment is to keep the Coat walking whilst we remain in a state of Climate and Ecological emergency - so it's a long road ahead! 

The Coat offers an open invitation to everyone to wear it, sing with it, walk with it and sew into it. Each person and place becoming part of the story it carries forward. This work is enabled by the kind generosity of communities all along our path - most often churches who offer us a place to sleep the night, and usually a venue to invite local people to come and meet the Coat to hear learnings from the journey, share stories and hear the Coat song. 

We have been finding it difficult to find somewhere to stay in Shipton as the Anglican Church has no toilet and the Methodist Church has now closed, so we would very much appreciate any suggestions about community space that we could use. Our essential needs are floor space enough for 6 people in sleeping bags on roll mats and access to a toilet. You can email directly to [email protected]

 With thanks and in hope,

Barbara Keal - Coat Guardian and instigating artist