News
UK AIDS Memorial Quilt: Wakefield Exhibition
The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt is coming to West Yorkshire in 2026!
To mark World AIDS Day, Wakefield Council and the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt Partnership will bring the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt to Wakefield Exchange (WX) in June 2026. All 42 quilt blocks will be displayed at WX, with selected panels shown across the city, along with the rediscovered documentary There Is A Light That Never Goes Out. The free exhibition will run from 3–7 June 2026.
The Brunswick Centre stands proudly alongside our partners in honouring these stories, and reaffirming our commitment to HIV awareness, support, and advocacy.
The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt consists of 42 quilts and 23 individual panels, representing over 384 individuals affected by HIV and AIDS. It is part of the world’s largest community art project, started in the USA in 1985 by activist Cleve Jones, commemorating friends, family and loved ones lost to AIDS. Individual panels were stitched together to create larger quilts, which were then shown outdoors as a form of protest to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS.
Alex Sparrowhawk, Director of Delivery and Impact at George House Trust, said:
"The UK AIDS Quilt partnership is delighted that the Quilt is coming to Yorkshire in 2026. In the late 1980s into the 1990s, HIV activism across the north of England was driven by networks of volunteers and campaigners linking cities like Wakefield, Leeds, and Manchester. Together, these intertwined movements helped to transform services, challenge fear mongering and build a proud tradition of HIV activism across the north of England.
HIV support organisations in the North continue to work closely with each other, BHA for Equality, The Brunswick Centre, George House Trust, and MESMAC are equally excited to support the UK AIDS Memorial Quilts coming to Wakefield to honour the tradition of northern HIV activism.”